praise and thanksgiving

DEVOTION

PSALMS

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Ps 66

66:1 For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

Shout with joy to God, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! 3 Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." Selah 

5 Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf! 6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot — come, let us rejoice in him. 7 He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations — let not the rebellious rise up against him. Selah 

8 Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; 9 he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. 10 For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. 11 You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. 12 You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

13 I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you — 14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble. 15 I will sacrifice fat animals to you and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. Selah 

16 Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. 17 I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; 19 but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. 20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

NIV

This could be a recounting of their exodus from Egypt as we see several references to things which happened during God’s rescue of them. The turning the sea into dry land so they could pass through the waters on foot would be the largest clue toward thinking this as a praise for their exodus. There is always something we can look back on and praise God for his work on our behalf. David recounts their being in captivity and how they had such a burden on them, making bricks, but he considers that too was at the hand of God. He says God let men ride over their heads. But they he also brought them out to a place of abundance. This is the story of life. Even as a believer we may not always be lying on a bed of roses. This is especially true when we take a world view. Many of us who live in America might not think we have someone riding over our heads, or going through fire and water. Surely Christians throughout the ages were persecuted, even onto death, and in a horrible death at that, some being burnt alive at the stake. Even today in other counties Christians are being dragged behind a truck, or set ablaze in a cage to show how their faith in God is hated.. For the most part most of us Americans live a fairly secure life. But the point is we once were in the darkness, in the abyss of the sea, being tossed to and fro by whatever wind blew. Our life had no anchor, no place to put in to a safe harbor. In essence we were lost at sea. But by the mighty hand of God, he directed the wind to blow and dry land to appear for us to find a place to land. He brought us out of the blowing wind and raging waters and set our feet on solid ground. He brought us to a place of abundance, himself. Let us tell what God has done for us. Let us recount all the things he has done for our benefit. Our life, no matter the circumstances we might find ourselves in, is blessed because he cares for us and watches over us. We can also find reason to praise him. We can always remember when he did something for us. He has saved us, he has healed us, he has directed our path, he has provided for us when we had little, and blessed us with much. He has lifted us up out of the fire and led us through the water to dry land, where our feet will not slip. He has given our life a firm foundation. There is no reason for us to complain about anything, for he is our God and we are his people. Although David needed to bring the fat of a lamb, bulls and goats to sacrifice to the Lord, all we need to bring is ourselves. We offer ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord which is our reasonable act of worship. So we praise him, we offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.