Gratitude is good for you. My friend Lynn Pryor, (check out his blog at www.lynnpryor.com), writes that studies are showing a variety of health benefits tied to gratitude: better sleep; better regulation of stress; better regulation of hormones; decreased depression and anxiety; improved relationships; reduced physical pains.
It is estimated that humans take approximately 23,000 breaths every day. When was the last time you thanked God for one of them? Inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide is a complicated physiological task that requires a lot of precision. We tend to thank God for the things that take our breath away. That’s fine, but perhaps we should thank him for all our breaths!
When I become lost in my lack of gratitude, or I begin to drown in self-pity I read the Psalms. When I feel my prayers rise no higher than my bedsheets, I read the Psalms. When I don’t know where to begin in communing with God, I read the Psalms. The Psalms express Israel’s emotions, and ours, to God. Having multiple writers and many moods of expression, you can find most any way you feel in the Psalms, and they help you begin to express yourself to the Lord.
Last week, I began listing things for which I am grateful: My bride; my children; my grandchildren; my extended family; my past, good and bad, which has led me to where I am. Most of all, though, I am grateful for so great a salvation through Jesus Christ my Lord. I am grateful to know God and to be known by God. I am grateful for God.
The Psalms, particularly toward the end of the book, also express God’s greatness. David wrote many of the Psalms. David was a man like the rest of us, experiencing highs and lows, good times, and bad times. In Psalm 137, we read of the Israel in captivity and being unable to sing praises to God in their gloom. Psalm 138, however, is well-placed in complete contrast to 137. This Psalm of David is a letter of gratitude to the Lord. It is wonderfully suited for Thanksgiving.
Take a moment to read Psalm 138. Here’s a link to one translation: https://www.esv.org/Psalm+138/. Psalm 138 is a letter of gratitude to God. As David expresses his emotions in the letter, he begins by telling God he chooses to give God thanks. He gives thanks with all he is and all that is within him – with his whole heart. These thanks are given before all the “gods,” (whether the angelic hosts, false “gods” created by man, or princes and earthly rulers), and David chooses to give overt thanks to the true God. God is preeminent and above all!
How does David give thanks? He does it by singing his praise! Praise can be defined as honor and adoration expressed to God in celebration of his being and worth. No matter where he finds himself, David chooses to bow toward God. He bows toward God’s temple – he simply worships God. In worship, he lifts God’s name, his Word, and everything about God, above everything else. We must place God above everything. Like every breath, as in our illustration, we are to constantly thank God.
Why does David thank God? He gives several reasons. He declares God love is everlasting, never yielding, never changing, and always faithful. He recognizes God as holy and greater than all. He also declares that God answered his prayers and strengthened his soul when David prayed to him. The Lord revitalized David’s soul, giving him the ability to praise, worship, and live for God.
Friend, you may feel distant from God this Thanksgiving. You may be hurting. You may be lonely. You may have even suffered loss. God still loves you, just as he loves David. Perhaps ask God to renew your strength of heart. Ask him to allow you to worship him and see him for who he truly is. Ask him to give you strength to have faith and confidence in him.
David is confident in the future. There will come a time when all the realms of the earth, all leaders of the earth, will recognize God’s greatness and praise you above all, as well, because they will have heard his Word. In that day they shall lift the Lord’s name in song, praising you for who he is and what he has done.
We are to be part of this work. Praising, faithful, confident Christians share the hope which we have in Jesus! This begins with being confident in the Lord and praising him with all we are all the time. Although he is above all, he regards the lowly who humble themselves before him, but he does not honor the proud, independent, aloof people. God does not redeem the self-sufficient. They choose themselves and their ways. In the end, their self-sufficiency is insufficient. One who fails to bow before Jesus while living on earth will find himself begging Jesus for eternity. This truth should motivate us to stay close to God and serve him with gladness.
David is firmly secure in the Lord. Even in times when he has been in trouble, God took care of him. God saved him from wrath of enemies and delivered him from demise. With one hand God defends his children from enemies and with the other he delivers and rescues them. David recognizes God has plans for his life, and these plans will be fulfilled to see God’s purpose come to fruition. His unending, unchanging love for us will last eternally. Philippians 1:6 reads, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Those who truly know him experience his rescue time and time again. He who rescued us from hell and began shaping us into his image has a plan for our lives. That plan brings glory to the father. Rest, assured, and be grateful that he will be faithful to complete the plan he laid out and initiated.
Eugene Peterson wrote a paraphrase of the Bible entitled The Message. To get a sense of how we might express Psalm 138 in today’s language, (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20138&version=MSG). Although you can look it up, I’ve included it below:
Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!”
Angels listen as I sing my thanks.
I kneel in worship facing your holy temple
and say it again: “Thank you!”
Thank you for your love,
thank you for your faithfulness;
Most holy is your name,
most holy is your Word.
The moment I called out, you stepped in;
you made my life large with strength.
When they hear what you have to say, God,
all earth’s kings will say “Thank you.”
They’ll sing of what you’ve done:
“How great the glory of God!”
And here’s why: God, high above, sees far below;
no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.
When I walk into the thick of trouble,
keep me alive in the angry turmoil.
With one hand
strike my foes,
With your other hand
save me.
Finish what you started in me, God.
Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now.
Can you thank God like that? Can you joyfully thank him for everything he is all he’s done? If not, what is between you and thanking God? Is there a relationship problem? Is there an attitude problem? Is there a moral problem? These things cloud our fellowship with the Father. Take an inventory and spend some time asking God to strengthen your soul. He revitalized David’s soul, giving him the ability to praise, worship, and live for God, and he can do the same for you.
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