The psalmist opens up the 107th Psalm with the proclamation: O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Here, David called for the nation of Israel to thank the Lord for His goodness. Instead of directing the attention of the country to his own power and authority, David turned their eyes to God's mercy since that is what has sustained them all along. Throughout his many Psalms, David had a reoccurring theme of praises and honor unto the Lord. He even went as far as to beg God to not let him forget how much he needs Him: LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. David had the proper perspective of who he was and Who God was in the grand scheme of things because he was a thankful person.
As a teenager, I remember hearing from the pulpit, "You don't thank because you don't think." The thought behind that statement is that we might not be as thankful as we should be because we don't put any thought into what others have done for us. Sometimes we forget how good God and others have been to us, which causes us to grow unthankful. A great habit to develop is to, like our hymn reads, "count your blessings" daily!
Here are a couple of blessings that we can rejoice in together:
God's Provisions - We can all thank the Lord for providing for our physical needs. He has blessed us with a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes over our backs. We might not have all that our eyes can covet—which is a good thing, but we are all very well off in comparison to the rest of the world. Did you know that there are 689 million people who live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 a day? There are around 1 billion children worldwide who are multi-dimensionally poor—without access to education, medicine, housing, nutrition, sanitation, and water! May we grow more thankful to the Lord for His blessings in our lives!
Our Church - We all have many reasons to be thankful for Pacific Baptist Church. For most, it is where we and our families were saved. For others, it is where marriages were restored and strongholds of sin were broken. Some have been reached through its bus ministry, while others are here because of a tract left on their door. Some have children in the Christian school, while others serve in its ministries weekly. Whoever it is, we ALL have so much to be thankful for in our church!
His Word - We should be a thankful people for His Word! Not only is It the reason we are saved, but also the reason we live! God directs our step by It and gives us so many promises and incentives if we obey It. Through His Word, we are warned and by It we are challenged. It is also a tremendous blessing that there has never been a point in time when we've had more access to it than today!
Our Position - Salvation is the greatest blessing that could ever be offered! No longer are we bound for eternal separation from our Creator in Hell, but we are destined to that mansion He has promised us. No matter how grim and miserable things may appear on this side of eternity, we have the blessed hope of His return for us!
May we not follow in the same footsteps of the children of Israel. They were greatly blessed by the Lord through their deliverance from Egypt and through their journey in the wilderness. Despite seeing God's goodness, they soon forgot all His works and grew unthankful. Unfortunately for them, God had to remind them Who He was and what He did for them through much judgment and tribulation. May we habitually think about His goodness and blessing in our personal lives so that we may appear unto Him a thankful people!
