This morning, we are here to express our sincere gratitude to the Lord, our Creator, for what He has done for our loved ones and us. We are also gathered to show our genuine thankfulness to the Lord our Christ for what He has done for our community and church. Do you know the relationship between the following verbs: Think and Thank? The difference between the two is one letter in the very middle of each word, whether I or A. The similarity of each verb comes from the root word “to consider.” When we spend some time thinking about God’s blessings in our lives, we cannot thank the Lord enough. In our Holy texts for today, we can find two praising stories. Both bible characters count their many blessings and make the Lord their Creator and Christ pleased. This morning, I want us to explore their attitudes toward God, reflect on God’s benefits, and recognize as many as possible.

In our Psalm, King David praised the Lord and was so grateful for God’s blessings. In this scripture, David named all of them one by one. Interestingly enough, we can discover the four personal thankful items since the possessive determiner or adjective, “your,” is used. In other words, David’s grateful list can be yours and mine.

Firstly, David gives thanks to the Lord since He forgives all our sins. God cleanses all your sins and my sins with the blood of Jesus Christ. I want to emphasize one word for “all.” God’s forgiving ministry has applied to all the mistakes we have made in the past. God’s compassionate work is being used for all of our failures at present. It will be continuously placed on all of our shortcomings in the future. Our Lord Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has paid for all our sins. What an amazing God’s merciful task has been done in our faith journey! One comment I often hear from people and/or I sometimes talk to myself is related to our previous wrongdoings. We regret what we have done improperly in former times. We also wish that those things should never have taken place. Regardless of what we hope for, things have already happened. Whether we like it or not, we need to deal with our unpleasant memories. Some people try to erase them by doing good deeds. Some want to justify themselves by comparing their misbehaviours to some others’ worse crimes. Some like to deal with them by condemning themselves. Some wish to forget them by controlling their minds. We need to remember that none of those attempts would work. The reason I can be sure is that all of the violations have been done to God as well, whether we realize it or not. In Noah’s day, God was so sad when He saw all the people’s minds were inclined toward evil. The Lord, our God, would be upset if we use our God-given precious time, resources, and talents for the wrong purposes. Due to our sinful status in our hearts, we, who want to follow and try to obey the Word of God on our own, may often cry out to God for His mercy and grace. We all were and are sinners. Without God’s pardon, we cannot have God’s salvation since the Lord’s nation is only offered to those who have been forgiven.

Did we notice one of the profound statements in this psalm King David described God’s merciful ministry? “For as high as the heavens are above the earth… so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Do we know how far it is between the earth and the heavens? The short answer I have for you is an incomprehensible distance. If we drive a car to one of the closest planets in this galaxy, it can take more than our lifetime. When we repent of our sins before God, Christ will remove them from us. Since God will not remember them, we cannot find our debts, trespasses, or sins. The Apostle Paul proclaims the goodness of God in the following statement: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Can we count all the forgiving acts Christ has done for us one by one?

Secondly, David gives thanks to God for He heals all our diseases. God has carried all your sicknesses and my illnesses by His mighty power. One of God’s central ministries we can learn from the Bible is His supernatural acts for the sick. When Moses found his sister, Miriam, with leprosy, he cried out to God to heal her. The Lord cured her with His mercy (Numbers 12). When the prophet Elijah saw the son of a widow become ill and die, he prayed to God for the boy. The Lord brought his life back to the mother (1 Kings 17). When Naaman, an army commander, got leprosy, he sent one of his servants to the prophet Elisha. Naaman was healed when he dipped himself at the Jordan River seven times (2 Kings 5). During Christ’s public ministry, Jesus exercised the ministry of divine healing. In our Gospel, He made ten lepers clean from their diseases.

In this fallen world, we have heard and seen many people deal with life’s hardships. We are sad when our loved ones are sick. It is not easy to provide proper words for those in challenging situations. In the book called “Psalm”, God’s Living Word can give us His comfort, peace, strength and power. We can pray and praise the Lord as King David did. “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony” (Psalm 6:2). “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:13-14). “O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me” (Psalm 30:2). We can also pray that God may touch each heart of our loved ones. We need to remember that there is no permanent cure since we are all immortal. We also need to remember that eternal healing comes only from the Lord. Our Creator God still does many marvellous wonders through modern advanced medicinal treatments and/or the Lord’s miraculous medication. Good medicine and godly miracle can go together. Think about the times God has healed our loved ones and us. Can we count them one by one?

Thirdly, David thanks God for He redeems our lives from the pit. Here the verb “redeem” can be replaced with another verb, “rescue,” and the word “pit” can mean danger. God protects your life and my life from many challenges. As a shepherd, warrior and later king, David would have faced many difficulties from animals, enemies, and evil spirits. One time, he used the following numbers: a thousand of his adversary attacks and even the ten thousand in his faith journey (Psalm 91:7). Confidently, he confessed that none of them had come near him since God sent His angels guarding him in all his ways (Psalm 91:9-11). In another Psalm, David echoed God’s great protection in the following declaration: “The LORD will keep you from all harm; he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore” (Psalm 121:5-6). Please understand this. I am aware of our loved one’s challenging matters. The Bible does not answer all of our honest wonderings. However, one thing we can be sure of is that in all things, whether they would be good or not, “God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Have we ever added up how often we come in and go out of any place during our life journey? We cannot calculate those frequencies. We all have many of our God-protected experiences. Some might be dramatic, and most may be simple. Some might be known to us, and many can be hidden from our knowledge. Have we also ever summed up how many somewhat bad things have not occurred? In other words, we may often think of unfortunate things and worry about them. However, most of them would not have happened. Very few of them would have taken place; however, all of them have been intervened by God’s angels. We thank God, who works on godly safety behind the scenes for our loved ones and us. We thank God, who provides all the protections in our faith journey to enjoy “each new day.” Can we count them one by one?

Fourthly, David thanks God for satisfying our desires with good things. God pours out His sacred happiness upon your life and my life. David experienced this holy joyfulness and expressed his thankfulness toward God by saying, “The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing” (Psalm 23:1). The reason David had been fully content during his spiritual race was not the position, possession, and power, he had got as the king of the United Kingdom of Israel. David was so grateful due to his relationship with the Shepherd God. The Lord was not only David’s forgiver, rescuer, and protector but also his provider. God made David lie down in green pastures and led him beside quiet waters (Psalm 23:1-2). As a sheep of the Shepherd God, David had been completely satisfied with all of God’s provisions. Later, David concluded how the Lord had met his desire by using the Word of God: “With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (Psalm 91:16). God not only supplied all things that David would need on earth but also provided the gift of eternal life that David would need in heaven. What a significant present God has given to His loved ones!

In our children’s video, we learned how to overcome many worrying matters. Jesus mainly categorized them into two areas. One is related to the inside of our body, for instance, eating and drinking, and the other is connected with the outside, for example, wearing. Both are important for our existence of us as human beings. In that scripture, Jesus values us as the apple of His eye among His creatures. Christ promises us all the things we will need when we trust in God and seek to do the right things before the Lord. God knows best for us and provides us with the best of the best in His time and in His way.

One of God’s blessed provisions for me, when I looked back on this previous year, was associated with my mother. I’ve shared with some of you that my mother was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment a couple of years ago. A few months after she got that diagnosis, Covid-19 occurred. She seemed isolated since she lived alone, on top of the global pandemic’s lockdowns. That made me worry about her a lot. With the help of the Lord, my family and I brought my mom here in Canada when we returned home from our travel to Korea last year. She was delighted while spending many days with us. This past May, my wife and I took her back to her home, and we stayed with her for a while. During that time, our biggest concern was about how my mom lived at home all by herself and all day long. Disconnecting from others would not be suitable for her or even anyone. When we prayed about this, God amazingly gave us a fantastic solution. While helping my mom have various medical appointments, I would say some God-prepared and caring people guided and advised us on what to do for her in terms of proper care. They also helped her be qualified to attend senior care programs run by the government and community. Without them, we would not know such great caring activities designed for seniors with memory issues, like my mother. Since the following day, my wife and I left for Canada, she has been attending two different programs. Of course, she also worships God on Friday evenings and Sunday mornings at the church which is very closely located at her home. Since having her God-given schedule, she often tells me that she has ever been busier than before. She seems more energetic than before and loves participating in those fellowships with other people. My family and I thank God for providing the best of the best for our loved one. Even though I wanted to help her with my best on my own, I could not have provided those types of provisions for her. But God has done them for her over the years and I am confident that the Lord is doing more even now and will continuously do better in the coming days. One more time, I can humbly and honestly confess that God knows best and can provide the best for my family and me. We thank God, who accomplishes our God-given longings and makes our loved ones and us happy in His presence. Can we count them one by one?

In our Gospel, one leper among the ten praised Jesus and was so thankful for Christ’s blessing. When that leper revealed his authentic appreciation to Jesus, He blessed him with more of His divine benefits. And then Jesus asked His audience, including us, the next question: “Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17). The reason why Jesus had this type of inquiry was not that He did not know where they were but because He wanted them to be spiritually healed as well. One of the rooted problems is not to glorify the Lord and give thanks to Him (Romans 1:21). Many evil things come from ingratitude minds. Are we somewhat stressed out about things we cannot bear by ourselves? Are we overwhelmed with what we have to carry on our own for our loved ones and us? Suppose we feel that we are in any situation. In that case, we need to pause sometimes, count our blessings, and name them individually. Let us remember how blessed we are. Again, we have received so many of His forgiving benefits since we all were and are sinners. We have been healed on so many occasions from our diseases. We have been rescued from so many dangerous situations, whether we realize it or not. We have been happy with so many God-given provisions, whether little or big. On Thanksgiving Sunday, when we ponder some time and think of God’s benefits upon our loved ones and us, we can glorify the Lord and give thanks to God by counting our many blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

*In this sermon, I have used some thoughts and materials from various messages on Psalm 103:1-22 & Luke 17: 11-19.