Oh Give Thanks

Psalm 106
"Praise the LORD. O give thanks to the LORD; for He is good--for His mercy endures forever. [2] Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can bring forth all His praise?"

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I was reading through Psalm 106 some time this week, and these few verses in the beginning really struck me. "Praise the LORD. O give thanks to the LORD; for He is good--for His mercy endures forever." We know to praise God. We hear it all the time. We know to thank God. We thank God at mealtimes (sometimes) and we thank God for good tests and for close saves. But how should we really do things? "Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can bring forth all His praise?" In other words, in my life, in my praise, in everything that I do for God, I should give it everything I've got--knowing that that STILL isn't enough, because nothing that I have or could say or could give is ever enough to be worthy of what our great and awesome God deserves.

And then there is why we do so. In my life, sometimes (not all the time), I forget that the reason why I am thankful and grateful and give everything to God is not duty, is not because He's done some good things but because "He is good" and because "His mercy endures forever."

Thank You, God. Thank You for being good, for being what You are. And that Your mercy endures forever.

Amen

Eh. Something different, but this I feel struck me this week. So, enjoy the Psalm amidst the many Proverbs I've been posting!

Thoughts and Works

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established."

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I was thinking about this verse lately. It is kind of interesting when you think about it. A bit flummoxing, a tad confusing one might say.





Oh, quite surely this verse is very straight forward. There is little to debate about it regarding its mere meaning. "Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established." If we commit, if we give, if we lift up our works in praise and worship to the LORD, then our thoughts will be established. But the significance of what these verses are telling us--that is what struck me as I examined it with my soul.





One might expect a verse like this to say, "Commit your thoughts to the LORD and your works will be established." And that may or may not be true. But in this verse, we are not promised that. If we commit our works, then our thoughts, not our works, are established.





And in the end, I suppose, that is what really matters anyway. Our thoughts--our hearts, rather, being established.





There is a work that I am itching to accomplish, and I want to do it for God and I want it to be awesome. So if I commit it to God, then surely my thoughts will be established in Him and that is all that matters.





Again, I know not how helpful or how little these things of which I spread. But I write for Christ, and in this I am glad.

Ponder our Path

Proverbs 4:26-27 "Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. [27] Turn not to the right hand or the left; remove your foot from evil."















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Every now and then it does a man (or woman) good to simply stop for a moment and to think about where his life is going, where the path is taking him. "Ponder the path of your feet" the proverb says, "and let all your ways be established." So now we have moved from simply thinking about our life, but now to establishing it. Many a thing can go awry if we do not establish our path, if we do not clearly mark it for our treading. Having an established breakfast, an established prayer time, an established bed time (hehe), and whatever else one may think of. Any way taken, truly it is wisdom that I in my life need to consider more often.

How, one may wonder, are is person supposed to establish their path, so to speak? "Turn not to the right hand or the left," God says to us, "remove your foot from evil." So, if a pattern in our life is by the wayside, or near the fence, or if our foot is stuck in some evil, then we must eradicate it.

Ponder our path, turn not to the side, continue straight on, and remove ourselves from evil. These things are what I get from this verses. Again, I know not who shall read, but it is good for me to write for Christ.