“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night…” (Psalm 92:1-2 ESV)
On our way to church Sunday morning Robbi and I were talking to two of our girls in Michigan. We had planned to leave the next morning to make the trip to Michigan to visit with all four of our daughters because our daughter who has been battling Covid-19 and her husband were up there and it was a good excuse to visit our newest grandson. Our plan was to leave early Monday morning and return on Tuesday but then we found out that our two nurses were going to be working Monday night so we decided to leave right after church. We rushed home after church, packed the car, and then headed to Michigan. It is a trip of a little over 4 hours so there is plenty of time to talk, think, listen, and pray. Robbi and I were both very tired so she was able to sleep for a little bit and when she did that I found myself praying. I am always amazed at how quickly my prayers turn to asking God for things and stuff. Some of the things are real needs, in my life and in the lives of others; people like you. It is a time when I can work through my grocery list of prayers for me, my wife, my children, and my church family. Whenever I do that, I come away feeling pretty good in that I did what I said that I was going to do and that was to pray for you. It is always a time of satisfaction and I feel pretty good after doing that, but there is still that …”ugh”. Why is that?
On Monday morning I was up before everyone so I showered and told Robbi that I was going for a ride. As I did that, I determined that the focus of my time behind the wheel was going to be spent giving God thanks for everything that I could think of. The cool thing is that I never reached the end of my prayer list. There was plenty of material for that prayer. I did not exhaust that list. I had plenty to talk to God about and the funny thing is that as I talked and He listened, that other list from the day before became almost silly. Almost. I realized that the God to whom I was talking already knew that list from the day before. I have prayed that several times before. It is the list that will be attached at the end of this brief devotional. It is a good list, but the list from Monday morning did not come from the email that I put together. That list flowed out of a heart of gratitude for all that God has done and all that He continues to do.
Look at the verse above: “It is good to give thanks to the Lord…” Why would the psalmist write that? First of all because God told him to, but then I have to believe that this truth is something that he learned. It goes on to say: “to sing praises to Your name, O Most High…” Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to complain and gripe and worry when you are busy giving thanks and singing praises to God? If you have not noticed that yet, then you have not even given it a try. Try it! Give thanks to God! Start with your salvation. Move on to the children that He has given to you. If you do not have children, thank Him for your spouse. If you do not have a spouse, move on to your parents. Everyone has parents. Maybe you don’t know them; maybe they are no longer here; but you do have parents that God determined in eternity past. From there you can move on to your health or home or food or friends. If you are reading this, I know that you have a church that loves and cares for you so thank God for that!!! Then, sing praises to Him! Try some of the old hymns like “How Great Thou Art” or “It is Well With My Soul.” There are some great Praise & Worship songs that are full of praise. Why do it? Because the Bible says that it is good.
If you don’t know what to do or when to do it, or you need to be reminded, look at what the psalmist says next: “…to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night…” Talk about the love of God in the morning. I promise you that it will set the tone for your day. Think about how much God loves you. There is an old hymn that I absolutely love when I think about the picture that it paints. Read the words and let your mind paint the picture yourself.
The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.
Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
Talk about, meditate on, and bask in the Love of God as you start your day. When the day is over and you are exhausted, lay your head on your pillow and think about the faithfulness of God this same day. Just look at today and you be be blown away. “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God hath done.” It is perfectly ok to fall asleep praying and counting your blessings. God will be good with that! Another great hymn to reflect on morning or night, or both in the same day is Great is Thy Faithfulness. Check out the words in just the chorus:
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
I guess that what I am learning is that the more that I do this the more it causes me turn my eyes away from the prayer list and to Jesus. It is amazing how much it will impact your day. Sort of sounds like that could be a song, doesn’t it?
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.
Morning and Night. Give it a try and then tell someone about it.
Know that we are praying for you and that we are always here if you need someone to talk to or pray with.
Jerry & Robbi