Being a primary teacher for years, I love choral response readings.  All the kids are chiming in together, listening to one another and speaking as one voice.  Psalm 136 was used as a liturgy of praise.  Today I want to look at the first 3 verses.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

I love this repetition of reason for our complete trust in God, His steadfast love endures forever.  What else in all creation endures forever?  God alone is eternal.  Therefore, we need to thank Him for His goodness and love, and that He is the Almighty God, above all other gods.  He alone is to be our LORD.

I would encourage you today to repeat these lines with a sincere, prayer-filled heart and mind and see if it doesn’t bring His love right into your life.  You can depend upon His steadfast love, no matter what.  His enduring steadfast love is worthy of our thanks and praise.

Have a blessed day,

Linda

Let this beautiful Psalm begin your day with thanksgiving on your lips and in your hearts.

A Psalm for giving thanks.

 

Have a blessed Sunday.

Linda

Isaiah 51:3  The Lord will comfort Israel again
    and have pity on her ruins.
Her desert will blossom like Eden,
    her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found there.
    Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.

Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet that delivered severe messages to the people of Israel due to their sin filled ways.  He also delivered messages of great hope to a people facing God’s discipline which resulted in deportation to Babylon for 70 years.  Isaiah knew that God would bring them back and restore them after their time of discipline.  Isaiah 53 speaks of God’s promise to redeem them and fill them with joy.  He knew that their joy would result in thanksgiving and praise.

Do you cherish the times of restoration given by God?  Do you soak up God’s comfort? The people of Israel allowed God to teach them during their exile so they returned stronger and more fully committed to God.  He gave them words of comfort in their future restoration to give them hope during their exile.  Do you allow God to comfort and restore you?  Are you comforted by God’s grace and mercy? Comfort comes from God to help us through times of trial.   Restoration always results in praise to the Restorer for His grace and mercy.  Let thanksgiving and praise be on your lips as you look to Him with a grateful heart.

Linda

Psalm 50 brings to life who God is and what He alone does for mankind.  As believers we are told in verses 14 and 15 the part thanks plays in our attitude towards God.

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
    and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Then call on me when you are in trouble,
    and I will rescue you,
    and you will give me glory.”

God desires us to live a life filled with thankfulness, making thanks a sacrificial offering to God.  It is not to be an after thought of faith but a living sacrifice always on our lips.  Thankfulness on our lips brings honor and glory to God.  Hearing our thanks, God promises to always to be ready to hear our pleas.  God loves us and desires to hear from us- both thanksgiving and petitions.  Remembering to put thanks and praise before petitions is honoring to God and puts things in perspective.  He is the God who is able to do all we ask, let us thank Him even before we ask.  

Later in the Psalm the unbeliever or the one who has fallen away from God is addressed.  16 “But God says to the wicked: 22 Repent, all of you who forget me, 23 But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.     If you keep to my path,    I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”    Here God is reminding us again that thanks honors Him and will point us towards salvation.  It does not save us but turns us around and points us to God, the only one who can save us in Jesus Christ.  James 4:7-8a says it this way: “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. ”    God wants us to draw near to him with repentance and thanksgiving on our lips.  He promises to reveal himself to us and show us the way of salvation.

  I was convicted by this What if… thought today.   May you have thanksgiving on your lips all day; it is honoring to Him!

Linda

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
    You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever! (NLT)

David described his state of thanksgiving as being eternal in Psalm 30:11-12 .  Why was he going to be thankful forever?  Earlier in the Psalm David said God had lifted him out of the pit, saved him from his enemies, healed him physically and spiritually, had shown him forgiveness and favor.  David had experienced God’s forgiveness as he mourned over his sins.   Paul quotes David’s Psalm 32 in Romans 4:7-8 ““Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”  Experiencing God’s forgiveness, seeing that God had covered his sins and that his sins would never be used against him in judgement made David eternally thankful and filled him with joy.

What about you?  Have you experienced God’s hand lifting you out of despair or trouble, have you been rescued by God from your enemies or really bad situations, has God touched you physically or spiritually to heal you, have you been given favor by God, blessings you did not expect and in no way deserved?  God had shown himself faithful to David and David recognized this.  His responds was eternal thanks that was filled with joy.  What is your response to God’s grace and forgiveness in your life?

Begin today to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving that is based on God’s grace and forgiveness.  You will experience joy from now to eternity.

Linda

David was the anointed king of Israel, yet he fled from Saul the current king for 13 years.  Pursued and persecuted by Saul, David did not lose heart but placed his trust in God and gave Him thanks.  He knew that God would make him king as promised when the time was right.  Psalm 28 is one of several psalms David wrote that show his reliance, dependence and complete trust in God.  As David looks at what is happening around him, he sees the Lord as his strength and shield.  He proclaims his trust and joy inc the Lord.  His Lord fills him with joy and thanksgiving for all He has done for him.