The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: because His mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 118:1).

All of my adult life I have been a public speaker. However! The older I grow, the more I seem to misspeak. I’ll say something opposite of what I meant to say. Or I will call someone by the wrong name when I fully know their correct name. Have you ever experienced this? I know that you have!

Of all the possible ways to misspeak, there is something that you will never, NEVER hear me say. You will never hear me say, “Give me what I deserve!” I don’t want what I deserve. Neither did the Psalmist. He expressed his thanks for the goodness of the Lord demonstrated in His mercy. Let me think, “give me what I deserve or give me mercy?” That’s easy to answer! I’ll thank the Lord for His precious mercy every day. This doesn’t give me a license for sinful living. It does encourage me, however, in my walk with Him.

For today: The Lord has extended mercy to us. Doesn’t this cause you to be thankful?

We are counting the days until Thanksgiving. Actually, for the believer, this is more than just once a year on our calendars. However, it is good for us to stop and remember how thankful we really should be every day.

“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High” (Psalm 92:1).

It is a beautiful name of our great God. The name “O Most High” is Elyon (el-YONE).   What an honor to belong to the Lord Who is the highest, greatest, most glorious, all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present, only true and living God.

What else can we say? He is the God Most High. Throughout my day today I want to be giving thanks to Him. How about you?

I can’t help but ask you: How will the truth about the Lord Most High impact your life your life today? Be watching!

“So we Thy people and sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks for ever: we will show forth Thy praise to all generations” (Psalm 79:13).

One of my former ministry partners, Steve, loved to target practice. One day he encouraged me to shoot a few arrows with him. It is a good thing that my family’s meat did not depend on my archery expertise! What does this have to do with giving thanks to the Lord? Well, quite a lot, to be honest with you!

The words “give thanks” come from the Hebrew word yada (yaw-DAW) which means “to shoot with an arrow.” The picture is beautiful. We are to aim at the throne of God with our thankfulness. Our praises are directed to the Lord! Hang tightly to that word picture throughout the day. Be better at directing your thankfulness than I was with my actual bow and arrows. I think I came close to the target once or twice. Don’t just come close to thanking the Lord. Hit the target with reverence and with joy. Throughout your day, pick up your thanksgiving, take aim, and shoot!

Here’s what I am thinking of today: We have so much for which to give thanks. Direct it to the Lord your God.

Here we have another reason to give thanks to the Lord in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

“Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness” (Psalm 30:4).

I love that wonderful hymn written by Reginald Heber (1788-1826), a pastor, hymnwriter, and missionary to India. The first verse of the lyrics proclaims,

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning Our song shall rise to Thee
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty
God in three persons, Blessed Trinity!

I am sure we won’t be able to get that wonderful hymn out of our minds today, will we? Good! That’s just what I was hoping would be the case! Love you folks and truly, give thanks with me at the remembrance of His holiness today.

The countdown to Thanksgiving Day is on and we are thinking about a few verses of Scripture that speak of being thankful.

“O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; for His mercy endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34). David used beautiful word pictures to express the extent of this wonderful rejoicing. He speaks about the heavens being glad and the earth rejoicing (16:31). He says the fields are rejoicing and the trees sing at the presence of the Lord (16:32,33).

Then he writes of himself giving thanks. Of the hundreds of reasons why this thanksgiving should take place, he chooses two wonderful blessings about our awesome God. First, He is good. Second, He is merciful.

I needed to stop and let that sink in for a bit. Good and merciful. That’s what causes me to be thankful today. How about you?