A Season of Thankfulness (Part 2)

This is Day 2 in our 5 Days of Thankful Preparation

I won’t repeat all of my introductory comments (See Part 1) but will keep it short.

My hope is that this sequenced release of verses this week will tenderize our hearts with thankfulness and re-center our view of the God-loving map of our life.

With each of the following passages from the Psalms, take time to read it out loud, and then after you finish it, ask two simple questions…

1. How does this passage reveal God’s goodness?

2. What can I learn from this passage about my gratefulness?

This is a short week, and we all have lots to do, so much that we need to be intentional about practicing our gratitude and allowing our hearts to respond to God's goodness!

Psalm 44:7-8

But you have saved us from our foes
    and have put to shame those who hate us.
In God we have boasted continually,
    and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 54:6-7

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 57:6-10

They set a net for my steps;

    my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
My heart is steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
    I will sing and make melody!

Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
    I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
        your faithfulness to the clouds.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 75:1

We give thanks to you, O God;

 we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 79:12-13

Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors

    the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!

But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

    will give thanks to you forever;

    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 86:11-13

Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

In case you are curious, here are just a few of my own answers to the questions asked above:

• Psalm 44... I can trust that his goodness will restore our reputation and deliver us from enemies, though things may get worse before they get better. Gratitude talks about what God has done more than what I have done.
• Psalm 54... The best offering is one given willingly; gratitude is no different. Just because we haven’t been at war doesn’t mean that God hasn’t delivered me. How has God given me victory recently?
• Psalm 57... He faithfully loves us to space and back…and his love changes everything! Gratitude is not shy but eager, bold, and far-reaching in a desire to share the blessing.
• Psalm 75... The name of God represents all that he is in character, power, and deeds. Our gratitude is evidence that he is near to us.
• Psalm 79... God's goodness multiplies and redirects the taunts of those who trash-talked against him. Gratitude is a wonderful inheritance to pass down to our kids and their kids.
• Psalm 86... The more we know God, the more we will respect and love him. Gratitude should be shaped by the steadfast goodness of God…wholehearted and enduring.

A Season for Thankfulness (Part 1)

This 5-part series is also posted on my pastoral blog, Our Long View.

The Psalms have provided the language of worship for God’s people for thousands of years. As we have seen, they express the whole range of human emotions (rising out of a diverse set of circumstances) and process those emotions through the character of the Lord.

This week is the time we have set aside in the United States to give thanks to God for his goodness to us—not because we deserve it, but because we need it. Very little Biblical gratitude arises out of material wealth and prosperity, but out of remembering a desperate need for God’s deliverance and his faithfulness to answer that need. Recent studies on PTSD have shown that those who go through traumatic experiences and are most resilient to their negative effects are those who choose to focus on thankfulness for what they have rather than focusing on anger or fear in the face of what they may have lost or nearly lost. 

I have compiled a fairly complete list of verses from the Psalms that express human gratitude to the Lord God and will post a few each day this week for your devotional reading. Gratitude is one spiritual practice at which we need more practice.

May we not gather primarily for a football game or turkey and potatoes and pie, but to celebrate the faithfulness of God and to share his goodness with our family and friends.

My hope is that this sequenced release of verses this week will tenderize our hearts with thankfulness and re-center our view of God's loving map of our life.

With each of the following passages, take time to read it out loud, and then, after reading it, ask two simple questions…

1.       How does this passage reveal God’s goodness?
2.       What can I learn from this passage about my gratefulness? 

Psalm 7:17

I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
    and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

• His goodness?
• My gratefulness?

Psalm 9:1-2

Photo by Alex Woods on Unsplash

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;

    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

• His goodness?
• My gratefulness?

Psalm 28:6-8

Blessed be the Lord!
    For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
       in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
                  my heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to him.

The Lord is the strength of his people;
            he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

• His goodness?
• My gratefulness?

Psalm 30:3-5

O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
    you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
    and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment,    and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,    but joy comes with the morning.

• His goodness?
• My gratefulness?

Psalm 33:1-3

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
    Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

• His goodness?
• My gratefulness?

Here are just a few of the answers to the questions asked above:

• Psalm 7... We should be thankful that God is righteous and not corrupt like worldly powers.
• Psalm 9... Grateful people take the time to remember and retell the good things that God has done for them.
• Psalm 30... Gratitude confesses how messed up we were inside before God’s love rescued us.
• Psalm 28... My enthusiastic gratitude expresses my adoration for a strong salvation.
• Psalm 33... Music lends itself to expressing thanks to the Lord. Gratitude is expressed joyfully through diverse creativity.