Monday, November 24, 2025

             The Bible is filled with examples of and occasions for giving thanks.  That makes sense.  We serve a gracious and loving God who “does not treat us as our sins deserve” (Psalm 103:10).  We serve the LORD who is quick to give and to supply the needs of His people.  Psalm 117 is only two verses long but it is a compelling call to express our gratitude and thankfulness to the Lord God.  We read, “Praise the Lord, all you nations extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord” (Psalm 117:1-2).  As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we can be encouraged by this short Psalm.  We learn three lessons about expressing our gratefulness to the Lord from these two verses.
            First, the Lord is deserving of our praise and gratitude.  Only the Lord is worthy of our worship.  We gather collectively as God’s people on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, to worship together.  But we are called to praise and be grateful on individual occasions too. Thanksgiving week is a clarion call to be grateful—individually and specifically before the Lord.  This week is the Super Bowl of giving thanks!  It is a call to name and count blessings.  It is a call to express our gratitude with words and feelings and even through our actions.  We can often show our thankfulness to the Lord by paying it forward through serving others and using our blessings to bless them.
            Second, we are reminded of God’s enduring love and faithfulness.  He is never lukewarm or unpredictable.  At any moment, the Lord is loving, gracious and faithful.  He expressed that love to Israel by setting them free from slavery and Egypt.  He expressed that love to Paul by providing sustaining and sufficient grace as the apostle battled his thorn in the flesh.  He most fully communicated His love and faithfulness to us by sending His Son who would go humbly and obediently to the cross to die for our sins in our place. God completes our salvation by lovingly and graciously welcoming us into His presence when our lives and service on earth are done.
            Third, we are commanded twice to praise the Lord.  This command frames Psalm 117 at the beginning and end.  Any time the Bible issues a command, we should pay attention. If a command is issued twice or doubled, then we should take a much bolder approach in our practice of that command.  To praise the Lord is something we can do throughout the day.  God commands us to praise because He knows full well the benefits we will enjoy through praise.  Praising God can relieve stress or tension.  Praising God can frame the relatively minor things that unsettle us in the proper light.  Praising God can lift our spirits when we might be running on fatigue or fumes.  Psalm 117 reminds us twice to praise the Lord because it is not something that we do often enough.  Unfortunately, complaints and discontentment can rule our lives more commonly and completely than praising the Lord.
            Take time this week to explore some of the Psalms if you are looking for reasons to be thankful and grateful.  Read these amazing chapters aloud as a praise to the Lord.  Be grateful for the blessings that surround you.  Open your eyes and ears to the things that your senses can take in each day.  Be grateful because the Lord is good and is forever on the throne.  As Psalm 118:1 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.”  Have a great Monday!  Remember you can worship any time at YouTube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.