A PSALM OF THANKSGIVING ❤

MAKE A JOYFUL SHOUT TO THE LORD, ALL THE EARTH. SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS; COME BEFORE HIS PRESENCE WITH SINGING. KNOW THAT THE LORD, HE IS GOD; IT IS HE WHO HAS MADE US, AND NOT WE OURSELVES; WE ARE HIS PEOPLE AND THE SHEEP OF HIS PASTURE. ENTER INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING, AND INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE. BE THANKFUL TO HIM, AND BLESS HIS NAME. FOR THE LORD IS GOOD; HIS MERCY IS EVERLASTING, AND HIS TRUTH ENDURES TO ALL GENERATIONS. Psalm 100 NKJV ❤ (Passage on Bible Gateway)

Psalm 100 is called A Psalm of Thanksgiving.

Isn’t this Psalm beautiful? I love how it encourages us to bless the Lord’s Name.

What if we wrote our own Psalm of Thanksgiving to God and read it to Him everyday? What would it say?

For years, when I would thank God for my blessings, I would mostly be focused on His gift of people, places, circumstances and possessions in my life. Basically, the motive for my gratitude was first and foremost focused on what God gave me or what He was doing in my life instead of Who He was to me.

All these things are wonderful but ‘moveable’ or touchable, if you know what I mean? When something would happen to those blessings, then thankfulness was extremely hard to muster up and I would question the intentions of God.

Notice the Psalmist above made no reference to the everyday struggles we all collectively face in life. Instead, He was focused on God’s immoveable character, presence, integrity, mercy, love, and goodness.

Every Autumn we joyfully strive to be more grateful by counting our blessings everyday until Thanksgiving. But instead of just counting our blessings during the month of November, what if this beautiful season could become a springboard to 365 days a year of gratefulness birthed deep within us?

I asked the Lord about this and He brought me across Psalm 100.

And as I read it, I realized alot of my talk about gratefulness in this season was still more self focused than God focused.

What God was doing for ME. What God was revealing to Me. My friends and I talk about OUR need to be more grateful for all God does for US and why it’s very important. Or we talk about why it’s so hard for US to be thankful when bad things happen. And we understand and amen each other. 

While it is extremely important to take notice and be very thankful to God for all that He gives us, we also need to spend time praising and worshiping Him for Who He is. Not just when He rescues us or does something for us but for the sole reason that He Himself is beyond worthy of our praise. 

When Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:5-15 and Luke 11:1-13, He instructed us to focus first on our Heavenly Father and His soverienty in our prayers. “Our Heavenly Father, hallowed by Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

… then we ask for our daily bread.

This is because Jesus wants us to keep our priorities in the right order so our earthly needs remain in their proper perspective and don’t overwhelm us. 

It is the same with gratitude. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says it is God’s will for us to be thankful in all circumstances.

After much discussion with friends about why it’s so difficult to be thankful to God when times are hard, I realize now it’s because we were more focused on what God can do for us (the daily bread for our bodies) rather than revering Him for Who He is first and foremost. (Jesus, the true Manna Who nourishes our souls)

I pray that God will help us to begin to cultivate a sweet desire that burns in our hearts for the Giver Himself more than the blessings He can give us. A hunger for the Creator more than the created, the Provider more than the provision, the Healer more than the healing, the Deliverer more than the deliverance. God told Abraham in Genesis 15:1 that He Himself was Abraham’s exceedingly great reward.

We are thanking God for Himself, and He is unmoveable and untouchable by life, people, circumstances, and the enemy.  

Bad times are never easy. But if we have been settling it in our souls to be more God focused than daily bread focused, we are less likely to question our Lord about His motives and jump to conclusions that God didn’t hear our prayers or is holding back on us.

Even in the midst of a messy, confusing situation … we will be able to confidently say, “God is good. He has my best interest at heart. I don’t understand what is happening right now, but my God does. And He always desires His best for me and will work all of this out for my good.”

Think about our best girlfriend. We love and appreciate her for all her wonderful qualities in the good times and bad. We don’t hold back our affection or see her differently when life gets hard. Unless we blame her for our misery or love her only for what she can do for us.

When we go through hard times, does that mean God is no longer on the throne? I had to pause and ask myself once again … why exactly do I find it difficult to thank my very beautiful God for WHO HE IS at ALL times, even when my situation is hard? 

There is at any given moment someone who is suffering from so much soul pain. Our graceful Lord never downplays our pain here on earth, and He never tells us we can’t ask Him for help or acknowledge/talk about the hurt or damage done.

It is truly His great mercy for us when we’re commanded to focus first and foremost on our immoveable, unshakeable God. It is for our own good so this life doesn’t consume us.

Lord, we bless Your Name. Thank You for Who You are. Thank You for Your goodness and loving kindness … Your faithfulness and mercy. I pray that the eyes of our hearts will be opened to the hope and spiritual blessings we so richly have in Christ. (Ephesians 1:18) Help us to have more of an eternal perspective. When bad things happen, help us to not grieve as those who do not have this hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13) We love you Lord and bless Your Name …

Once again my friend, if you were to write a psalm of thanksgiving, what would you say? ❤

❤

Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my
life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Psalm 146:1-2 (Passage on Bible Gateway)

The Thanksgiving Psalm @ freshgracefortoday.com

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