Psalm Devotional
Give Thanks to the Lord!
Written by Ian Wise. This devotional was first published in the September 2012 issue of The Reformed Presbyterian Witness.
A fascinating thing happens in American culture each November. The longstanding holiday, Thanksgiving, is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month. At least that’s the holiday marked on our calendars. The real event comes a day later: Black Friday is the first official shopping day of the Christmas season, the day that gets all the press. Rarely do we get to see the Christian’s values and world’s values so neatly and visibly contrasted!
Psalm 107 reminds us that the Christian life is a life of gratitude. We have every reason to be a thankful people, but chiefly we’re thankful because of the full-orbed salvation we enjoy in Jesus Christ. Verse 1 is not only the introduction but also a summary of the psalm’s main point: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
It’s our duty to give thanks to God. (“Oh, give thanks to the Lord”)
The psalmist’s words aren’t a suggestion but a command to thank the Lord. Nor does such an exhortation stand alone in Scripture. “Enter His gates with thanksgiving,” says Psalm 100. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God,” says Philippians 4:6.
Colonial-era preacher Samuel Davies, in one of his Thanksgiving Day sermons, calls ingratitude “a heinous but common sin.” How often are you aware that your unthankful outlook on everyday life is outright sin? Perhaps really appreciating this song of thanksgiving will begin with repenting of a grumbling and complaining heart (Phil 2:14). We’ll find ourselves mirroring the refrain of verses 8, 15, 21, and 31: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord.”
It’s our delight to give thanks to God. (“…for He is good. His mercy endures forever.”)
Our delighting in Christ keeps the duty from becoming cold and formal. This psalm contains four miniature stories—each sharing a common trajectory—that together show us our greatest reason for gratitude: a wondrous salvation in Christ. Each cameo includes some sort of trouble, a cry to the Lord, His deliverance, and a thankful response.
Our provision in the wilderness. The life of sin leaves us homeless, rudderless and hopeless, always hungry for meaning. But then, by God’s grace, we come to our senses like the prodigal son. Christ rescues us, becoming to us our “way,” “dwelling place,” and satisfaction (vv. 7, 9).
Our liberty from bondage. Service to Satan means darkness and death (v. 10). We begin by thinking that sin will serve us, but we find too late that its desire is to make us its slave (Gen. 4:7). Before we know it, we are in its snare and powerless to resist. But into our darkness comes King Jesus, breaking our bonds and declaring liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18).
Our cure for sin-sickness. There’s no one else to blame: “Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted…and they drew near to the gates of death” (vv 17-18). We’re all spiritual lepers, marred and miserable, until the great Physician comes with healing in His wings, and ministers His grace, saying to us, “I make you well, whole, clean, through and through!”
Our calm in the storm. The voyage of life may begin placid, but it’s not long before the waves begin to pick up and a storm crashes down. A little boat on a raging sea—what hope do we have? We discover who this Jesus is who was with us all along: “He calms the storm, so that its waves are still.…He guides them to their desired haven” (vv. 29-30). And even when He doesn’t make the storm go away, He stays with us through the gray days and sleepless nights.
Hasn’t God given you every reason to give Him thanks? At the bottom of every blessing is His covenant love (Hebrew hesed). It is the refrain of this psalm (vv. 1, 8, 15, 21, 31, 43). Let it be the refrain of your life: “God in Christ has healed the breach that I created and perpetuated. I will praise Him; I will live for Him.” Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
