A Refrain Worth Repeating

“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever…Let those who fear the Lord say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever.’..You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” –Psalm 118: 1, 4, 28-29.

Psalm 118 is called a “Hallel” or hymn of praise.  Used in the Hebrew worship services in synagogues and the Temple, this Psalm, like others in this series, calls upon all of God’s people to praise Him for His steadfast love.  That call to thanksgiving and prayer was such a strong belief that it bore repeating, again and again.  From November 10 through today, these daily devotionals have focused on some aspect of giving thanks.  My aim was to lead us through significant scriptures that teach a definite lesson, one worth repeating:  God’s people should be a thankful people, individually and corporately in churches, because God is steadfast in His love and provision for us.  Many churches sing “The Doxology” each Sunday in worship services.  The Hallel Psalms were much like our Doxology—extoling God for His love, His steadfastness and His provision.  Thanksgiving is not just an aspect of days in November when we are called especially to give thanks.  Thanksgiving should be incorporated into the Christian’s lifestyle.

It is interesting to note the progression in Psalm 118 of how the people are encouraged to express thanks.  The first verse is a general invitation, repeated again to close out the Psalm in verse 29.  Next comes, in verses 2-4, a corporate invitation to praise God, specifying “Israel, Jacob (ways of referring to the Israelite nation) and all “those who fear the Lord” (v. 4).  Then comes the “personal testimony” part of the worship: the first-person, I, declares:  “The Lord is on my side, I will not fear.  What can man do to me?” (v. 6).  Verses 8-9 declare that it’s better to trust in God than the government of the land!  Verses 10-13 goes beyond national issues and acknowledges shaky ground in dealing with international issues, but through it all God helped the worshiper.  Deliverance leads to another outburst of praise from one who has known victory in the Lord, and his song of praise is expressed in verses 14-16.   

Verse 17 has a special personal meaning to me.  It is underlined in my Bible and how well I remember the occasions of my being encouraged by it.  It was November 16, 1993.  I was in the guest room of Atlanta Medical Center (formerly Georgia Baptist Hospital). I was there because my husband was in the hospital about to undergo serious heart surgery early on November 17.  I sought assurance from the Lord, and as I prepared to read my Bible, it opened to Psalm 118:17:  “I shall not die but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.”  That was God’s reassurance that Grover would come through heart surgery (five bypasses) and live to again recount the mercies of the Lord.  And he did.  The two other occasions—and these two times I knew exactly where to find that verse!—were the night before I had serious aneurysm surgery at St. Joseph’s hospital in Atlanta on December 30, 1999 and the night prior to my own five bypasses heart surgery on August 30, 2007 at Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon.  How wonderful to have a reassurance from God’s word that His presence and mercy would see us through difficult times.  This is a verse worth repeating again and again!

Prayer.  Thank you, Lord, that Your word provides the encouragement we need.  Amen.

An International Invitation

“Praise the Lord, all nations!  Extol Him, all peoples!  For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord!” –Psalm 117 (ESV).

I find it very encouraging that the shortest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 117, with just two verses, is an invitation for all peoples everywhere to recognize God’s steadfast love and faithfulness and to praise Him. 

The hope recurs in the Psalms as well as in the remaining 65 books of the Bible that the Gentiles will come to belief in the one true God.  Paul the Apostle quoted Psalm 117:1 in Romans 15:11, and then launched into his reasons why he became a “minister to the Gentiles.”  At the heart of Christian missions lies God’s love for and inclusion of all peoples in His plan of redemption. Paul again quoted from the Old Testament in Romans 15:21:  “Those who have never been told of Him will see, and those who have never heard will understand” (quoting Isaiah 52:15)

Christian missions is at the heart of everyone internationally hearing, understanding and coming to salvation in Christ.  When Jesus was ready to ascend into heaven, after His mission of redemption was completed, He gathered with His disciples and other believers on a hillside outside Jerusalem.  He was ready to ascend back to the Father in Heaven, but He had a final word for believers.  In this powerful message He repeated what He had told them was their major task:  “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20. ESV).

In my church and denomination, we have a special missions emphasis throughout the month of December.  It is a time of remembering that Christ came to earth at Christmastime because God loved all the world.  Because of this love, we in turn have the responsibility to follow through on the Lord’s Great Commission to us to make disciples of all nation, to go and spread abroad the Good News of salvation, to make disciples, to baptize believers, and to teach converts  how to live the Christian way.  A timely theme has been selected for this December’s missions emphasis.  It is “Be Obedient:  Be His Heart, Be His Hands, Be His Voice.”  With that theme we hear victorious accounts of how God is touching lives throughout the world because missionaries are being obedient servants—going, making disciples, baptizing and teaching—as ambassadors of Christ whose heart, hands and voice they (and we) are.  We can have a vital part in this international invitation as we are faithful where we live and work in our own Christian witness and as we give of our means to support missions.

Prayer.  As we refresh our minds on God’s wonderful invitation to all peoples, may we rejoice that we can share through witnessing where we are, praying for those who go as missionaries, and giving our money to support missions.  Thank you that in being obedient we are Your heart, hands and voice to others. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

A Prayer of Personal Thanksgiving

“I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.  Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live…What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.  I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.” –Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-14 (ESV).

If you, like the Psalmist, were writing a poem to the Lord to catalog all His benefits to you, what would you list?  You might try this spiritual exercise; it is sobering to see how hard it is to remember all His blessings.  First of all, it is nigh-to-impossible to list them all.  Where to begin?  The air we breathe?  The provision of the necessities of life, like food, shelter, clothing, nurture?  What do we take for-granted that we seldom mention in our prayers of gratitude?  These are important, too. 

Psalm 116 is a personal hymn of thanksgiving in which the psalmist begins by saying he loves the Lord.  That’s always a good place to begin.  I like the prayer acrostic:

•  A – Adoration (This is acknowledging God, honoring and exalting Him)
•  C – Confession (Confessing our faith in God, and our sin and rebellion against Him)
•  T – Thanksgiving (Make a gratitude list; name blessings one by one)
•   S – Supplication (Make yourself available to God to be used in His service)

Psalm 116 begins very dramatically by the psalmist thanking God for snatching him from “the snares of death” (v. 3).  When you think about it, that’s a very justifiable reason to give thanks, for the Lord holds in His hands the gift of life and death.  Two times in my life (thus far) I was near the brink of death, and each time as I had to undergo very serious surgery, I had such calmness and assurance of the Lord’s presence that it was as though He walked that corridor with me into the operating room.  I knew that either way, death or life, He was with me, and I had everything to gain.  To die would take me immediately to His presence and my heavenly reward.  To awake, recover and get on my feet again, I would know, as a popular gospel song states, “God’s not finished with me yet!”

When the Psalmist came through the hardships—even the threats of death—that beset him, he was elated and he wanted to show his gratitude (v. 12).  “The cup of salvation” was evidently a part of the sacrifice of thanksgiving, a portion mentioned specifically by the worshiper.  How much more should this expression call to our minds when we pray that we know the ‘salvation full and free” in Jesus Christ our Lord!  The psalmist determined to give thanks “in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the house of the Lord”—a very definitive reason to assemble ourselves for worship—so we can corporately thank God for ‘all his benefits’

For Prayer and Action:  Do I need to begin, continue or update my ‘gratitude journal’?  Help me know, Lord, that my ACTS of prayer are important to my spiritual growth and faithfulness.  Amen.

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble, and gathered in from lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south…Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man!  And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His deeds in songs of joy!...The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.  Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.” –Psalm 107: 1-3, 21-22, 42-43 (ESV. Read Psalm 107).

Scholars are generally agreed that Psalm 107, another long Psalm, is both an historical psalm and a psalm entreating the people to give thanks to God, expressing gratitude to Him for His “steadfast love” during times when they were in exile.  Now that they have returned to their homeland, they are to remember God’s care and provision and bring sacrifices of praise to Him, recalling the distresses through which the Lord led them.  The divisions of the Psalm are significant:

                ·Introduction and invitation to praise and thank God (1-3)

                ·God’s care during desert wanderings (4-9)

                ·God’s provision to those in darkness, in prison, in forced labor (10-16)

                ·Those who suffered for their own folly but who turned to God (17-22)

                ·Those who suffered on the seas, in forced service, were spared (23-32)

                ·God accomplishes reversals in situations to benefit His people (33-38)

                ·His children are brought low, but God restores them; praise be to God! (39-43)

    

It is good for us to give sincere testimony to the Lord’s work in our lives.  A caution is also necessary:  do not allow personal testimony to reflect one’s own goodness; the credit for any personal accomplishments should go to the Lord God.  “Thank God for His steadfast love and mercy” should ever be the theme of our personal testimony; and this with humility.  One of “the life verses” I claim is Philippians 4:13:  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Daily in my work and in my life I want what I do to be a reflection of Christ who gives me incentive and strength. Recently I have been re-reading some journals I kept over the long period of my husband’s illness when I would visit him daily while he was in the Veterans’ Home, seek to feed him at least one of his three daily meals (sometimes two), and do what I could to make him comfortable and encourage him.  Physically, I would not have had the stamina to continue this long vigil.  I will admit that sometimes the days grew long and I myself would become very weary.  But then I would recall the exceedingly godly life my husband led before his illness, the many people he turned to the Lord, and the encouragement he gave to others.  Remembering, my heart would fill with gratitude for the “steadfast love” of the Lord and the privilege I was given to be able to keep vigil by the side of one of His choice servants.  These journals, for whatever worth they may be, recall for me how the Lord was with us, even in the “desert wastes” of long-term illness   To God be the glory!  He never leaves His own helpless, and, indeed, “His steadfast love endures forever!”

Prayer:  Oh, Lord.  Help us remember all Your benefits to us.  Let the redeemed give thanks!