Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
We have much for which to be thankful. Expressing our gratitude to the Father improves our quality of life. I pray you have a very blessed time with family and the Lord.
Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face continually.
This verse is placed in a “Psalm of Thanksgiving” found in First Chronicles. I find it interesting that in the midst of a Song of Thanksgiving David would include these words. This was his source of strength. He recognized that his source of Thanksgiving came from his seeking of the Lord. His great praise comes from his having sought the Lord on many occasions. He knew that he was enjoying this wonderful time of praise because he sought his Lord prior to the abundance of blessing.
We learn from this passage that the blessing is in the seeking. In other words, when we seek the Lord, we find the multitude of blessings that are just naturally a part of Him. David is teaching us that we should praise and thank the Lord but that we should also remember to continue to seek God’s face continually. Jesus prepared a way for us to commune with he and the father and it is in that communion with them that the greatest blessing is found. Then there is great ground for praise and worship.
Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my life from their ravages, my precious life from these lions. I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you. Let not those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; let not those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye, they do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.
23 Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord. Vindicate me in your righteousness O Lord my God.
Yesterday we saw David forlorn and depressed. He moaned under the weight of his grief. In today’s portion of Psalm 35 we see David beginning to transition. He is beginning to look for the answer and he knows that his God is the answer. He recognizes God as his vindicator and his own role as praising and thanking the Lord for his salvation.
As you listen to David’s words you may think that his problems are not that different from our own. Perhaps we would be well advised to view our role in the battle in the same way as does David. David understood the lesson from 2 Chronicles 20: 12 – 25. In this great adventure the people learned how to fight a battle. God told them, “You need not fight in this battle” (v. 17). Instead they gave themselves over to praise and thanksgiving while God routed the enemy for them. They didn’t even go down to where the battle took place. They stood on the high ground and praised their God.
Maybe your tormentor, like King Saul, seems misled and unreasonable. That is what David had to contend with. He said his enemies hated him without cause or reason. It is said of Saul that he was influenced by an evil spirit, or that he suffered from a mental disorder. Those who plague us have their own issues. Often, probably most often, their suffering is the genesis for the agony they cause us. This, I believe, is why Jesus taught us to pray for those who persecute us. (Matthew 5: 44). They have their own pain and it is that hurt that causes them to persecute us without cause.
So what do we have to say to these things? Look to God to be your vindicator. Stand in trust. Pray to the Lord your God giving Him praise and thanksgiving. Sing to Him with a glad heart for all that He is. Expect Him to rescue your precious life from the roaring lion. Stand and see the glory of the Lord.
I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Sometimes we really do not slow down enough to take account of all the Lord has done for us. When the world is swirling around you, it can be very difficult to notice all of the kindness your Father has shown on you. When you really do take account of your life and all that you have, you will see His fingerprints on many things. You will see many blessings and many times He has protected you. You weren’t just lucky, you were blessed. When you really stop and take notice of Him in your life, you will find plenty to sing about. You will find plenty to praise Him over. That praise and thanksgiving brings you closer to the Father and you will find more and more to praise Him over.
From them will proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who celebrate; and I will multiply them and they will not be diminished; I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant.
We offer the sacrifice of Thanksgiving because God so deserves it but did you ever realize that God treats it as seed. And honestly, is it any sacrifice at all to give thanks to our Father? I surely don’t think so.
Some people may think they have nothing to be thankful for this year. Well, I asked our family member who is sick if we had anything to be thankful for this year and she gave me a resounding, “Yes.” “We have friends and family and all the people around us,” she said, adding that some people are alone. Well, on this Thanksgiving Day if you can’t find something to thank God for you just aren’t trying hard enough. Even if nothing drives you other than self-interest look at how God honors and promotes those who can get out of themselves for one moment and honestly thank Him for any one of the blessings in their lives.
I am sitting in a warm house right now. Someone is cooking dinner for us. There is electricity, music playing, an HD television twenty feet away, I am typing on a nice little computer, I have all the drink and food I need. My family is safe, I am loved and Jesus is here. Although, this is a difficult time in my life, I realize that I have very much to be thankful for. In some parts of the world people’s lives are threatened just for reading this.
Let us give thanks with a joyful heart. No matter the troubles, regardless of pain, there is light and love. Our Father loves us with a love that is beyond words. He wants to honor you and magnify your name in the world. Give Him seed to work with. Your offering of thanks builds mountains. Let your voice celebrate our God and Father with thanksgiving.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I pray your day will be full of joy. Do you know the easiest way to insure that it will be full of joy? The answer is to inject it with thanksgiving and praise. When we enter God’s presence with thanksgiving, our hearts immediately fill with joy. Sometimes we are so busy that we don’t acknowledge all of the blessing that is ours every day. That is what makes Thanksgiving Day so special. It is a day when we stop and regard our lives and in so doing take notice of all of the faithfulness that God, our Father, fills our days with.
My encouragement to you today, then, is to not only come before God with your offering of thanksgiving but also to be loud about the multitude of blessing that He provides for you daily. Sing psalms and shout because He is worthy of our praise and because when you fill your heart and mouth with praise you minister to your own soul. Make a joyful noise to the Lord for He is good and so worthy to be praised.
Have a great day!
