Devotional: Thanks to the Lord

Psalm 106:1; Psalm 107:1; 136:1

“Oh give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever” Psa. 131:1, KJV).

Parents that love their children know what it means to have mercy. They know what grace or favor is. As a parent I know how upsetting some of the things that my child says and do are. Yet, in spite of my desire to speak up, I say nothing. I think of ways that I ought to respond, but I do nothing. I “suck it up.” Why? It is because love brings about grace, mercy, compassion, patience, and hope. It’s not that I am weak. It’s not that I do not care. It’s not that I have given up. When I think about it, I am reminded that my parents were in the same place with me that I am in with my child. What about God and our relationship to Him?

Each of the psalms above begins with the same words. Each of these psalms gives us a history of God’s journey with Israel. Israel was not a nation. The people were slaves in Egypt. God sends Moses and delivers them out of the hands of Pharoah. They are free, and God has plans for a great future in the land that He promised to give to Abraham and his descendants. The people rebel and complain. They turn to idolatry, and become unjust in their dealings with their neighbor. God has every right to abandon them because they have broken the covenant. However, God remembers His words to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their fathers.

God does not abandon His plans. He does not lose hope for His children. God will wait on His children. He will allow them to make their mistakes. He will allow them to suffer because of the errors of their ways, but He will redeem them; He will restore them. He will not forget them. God is love. “Love is patient, love is kind” (1 Cor. 13:4, NASB). Love “does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (vv. 6-7). Thus, we say along with the psalmist: “Oh give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.”

Prayer: Our Father in heaven. In the season of Thanksgiving Day we praise you for what you have done for us; for what you are doing for us; and for what you will do for us. We give you thanks for you are good: for your mercy endureth forever. Amen.