(1) Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
(2) Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
(3) Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
(4) Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
(5) Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
(6) Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
As I reflect on Thanksgivings gone by, I begin to wonder how well I have fulfilled Psalm 150 in my associations with the holiday. Sure, I praise Him for His "mighty deeds" (the things that He does and has done), namely the safety and peace He brings His people and the comfort that gives my family and I. However, David gives another reason why God is worthy of praise and adoration. He tells us that we should also thank God for His "excellent greatness". This refers to character, not action. Although we know that all of God's "mighty deeds" spring forth from His "excellent greatness", and, that being the case, it is impossible to separate the two; I still wonder how often I specifically thank Him for who He is. How often do I really consider the nature and essence of Christ as beautiful as His redemption, his salvation, and his grace? How beautiful would He be to me if I were not experiencing the wealth of blessing that His "mighty deeds" have purchased me? If His hands were to close toward me (which He promises they will not), would I still seek His face or leave Him? I pray for my family and yours, that we make every effort as ourselves these questions with an honest and sincere heart. I pray we teach our children that God is inherently good and worthy of praise whether we are full and content or cold and hungry. There is no true devotion without this reality. There is no eternal life without this truth. Jesus said,"and this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." The grim and honest reality is, there may be coming a time when the manifest, tangible blessings of God are stripped away. If our motivations for loving Him rests on lesser things, when those things are removed, then love will cease. Let us cling to Christ and count everything else as loss compared to knowing Him for this is eternal life.
We are blessed to have so many loved ones to celebrate with this time of year. Here are just some of those whom God has set along side us:
Jordyn loves to memorize scripture. Here are some from the past month that we have been working on. Be sure to quiz her when you see her.
Sola Deo Gloria,
A&C
