“O Give Thanks Unto The Lord (1)”
SIH’s Think On These Things: Psa 106:1-2
-
Ps 106:1-2 (KJV) Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? [who] can shew forth all his praise?
As we complete our series on thankfulness to the Lord, I am trusting that we have a better understanding of what Psa 106:1-2 is teaching us…
“Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD;…”
As the people of God, we have the responsibility to both “praise” and “thank” the Lord. What do we mean by these terms?
“Praise” – When the Bible speaks about “praising” the Lord it is describing our responsibility to make Him “shine” in the eyes of others. It is the idea of making the Lord look attractive to others, to point their attention to Him and to come to a better understanding of Him.
One of the easiest ways for us to accomplish this is by telling others what He has done for us. When we do this we are not only telling others about His actions, but we are telling them much about Him as a person…. It shows others He is gracious, kind, loving, all-powerful, just (the list goes on and on).
“Thank” – If you remember from our first devotional in this series we saw that to thank the Lord involved three ideas… acknowledging our need of Him; we are pointing the attention to Him; and sending out our message of His goodness to us.
If you notice the idea of thanking Him is very similar to praising Him and rightfully so. When we thank the Lord in the way that we should, it will certainly bring praise to Him. Likewise, one aspect of praising the Lord is showing our appreciation for all He has done for us. When we understand this principle, it is easy to see why the psalmist linked these two ideas together in Psa 106:1-2.
Over this past month we have been keeping our hearts and minds centered on thoughts of appreciation and gratefulness to the Lord. Hopefully, throughout the month, we have been motivated to share with others truths about who He is and what He has done for us. In doing so, we have been fulfilling our call to bring offerings of thanksgiving to Him resulting in Him being praised.
As our devotional series comes to a close over the next few days… lets continue on with thoughts of thankfulness towards the Lord and sharing these thoughts with others. By doing this we will be continuously bring praise and honor to Him who has done so very much for us.
May the Lord bless us as we “Think On These Things”.
SIH Homepage: http://www.settledinheaven.org
SIH Text Blog: http://settledinheaven.wordpress.com/all-about-salvation/
SIH Video Blog: http://youtube.com/settledinheaven/
SIH Email: settledinheaven@gmail.com
I really appreciated your description of what praise is and of showing how closely thankfulness and praise are linked. Would it be correct for me to think of them as similar as two sides of the same coin? They belong together. Our thankfulness to God should not be a secret – but an attitude that creates praise in our walk and talk… I have always stumbled over what the difference was before – I think I get it now. Thank you!
Blessings ~ Wendy
Yep, I think that looking at it like two sides of the same coin is a good analogy. They do belong together and basically, you can’t have one without the other. Lord bless you Wendy. Hope your son stitches have healed well. Lord bless
Thank you! My son is happily playing his guitar again. He is my quiet prodigal – so do say a prayer for him. We don’t inherit faith; it’s a personal decision to trust. I am believing for him to come to faith one day. He respects my faith and continues to ask questions and debate respectfully. He’ll make a good apologist one day!
Hi Wendy,
Glad to hear your son is doing well. It is a blessing ot hear that he is asking you questions. It may be the Lord is working in his heart leading him to the truth. Lord bless you. I will be in prayer for your son as well.
I have nominated you for the Blog of the Year 2012.Please see the rules at my post :
http://cristimoise.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/blog-of-the-year-2012/
Thank you for the nomination Cristi. Lord bless you.
This has been such a great month’s series, Pastor Rob. Praying to keep my praise and thanks to Him at the front of my mind and on the tip of my tongue! God bless you!
So glad it has been a blessing to you. It always encourages me when I stop and think about some of the individual ways He has blessed us. Lord continue to bless and keep you.
Thanks for the month of praise, Rob. Praise and thankfulness are two essentials of being a blood-bought, adopted child of the living God. How can we do other than thank and praise Him for the abundance of His blessings towards us?
We serve an amazing God.
Hi Angela,
It has been a great blessing for me to study. Really helped me appreciate the many blessings I easily overlook. Lord bless you.