“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good;His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:1-5
I’m being predictable today, and instead of reading my generic Job study guide I looked up “thankful” in a concordance. Believe it or not, reading through the verses on thankfulness lead me right back to Job.
“’Naked I came from my mother’s womb,And naked I shall return there.The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” Job 1:21-22
We always hear about the suffering of Job and how even through all of his hardships, Job never turned from God. The verse above takes place after Job heard that not only did he lose all of his livestock, not only did his house burn and all of his servants killed, but his children had been crushed when his eldest son’s house collapsed. Job had just lost everything, and yet his response is to praise the Lord. I’m going to be honest, while I hope this would be my response, I’m not very confident.
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit;” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19
In everything give thanks. In the ESV translation that line reads, “give thanks in all circumstances”. David, who wrote the Psalms, knew a little about giving thanks in all circumstances. He experienced plenty, and he also experienced running for his life, being hunted by very powerful people, and living in caves. Yet that psalm of thanksgiving was written by him. I think I relate to David more than Job because David also wrote this:
“For I hope in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God. For I said, “May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me. For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin. But my enemies are vigorous and strong, And many are those who hate me wrongfully. And those who repay evil for good, They oppose me, because I follow what is good. Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” Psalm 38:21
David trusted, and gave thanks, and felt anxiety and sorrow. Reading through the Psalms helps me to better understand what James was saying about considering it all joy when I encounter trials. David could feel sorrow and anxiety and joy and thanksgiving all at the same time. It’s not easy being human.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful” Colossians 3:15
“Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:31
When times are hard it is difficult to feel thankful, but when we put our hope in the Lord, with thanksgiving, He gives us peace and rest. Whenever I’m feeling ungrateful, I do a Bible study, that changes my perspective VERY quickly. I also have Isaiah 40:31 memorized because it’s SO true. Finally, just a reminder:
“The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalms 34:17-19
David should know. Maybe we can’t all be like Job, but I think a lot of us can be like David. There’s a lot going on in the world right now, but I don’t want that to make me ungrateful for all the real blessings I have in my life. There’s still a LOT to be thankful for and, as silly as it sounds, taking the time to think about what I’m grateful for helps me to change my focus so I can see more good than bad.
I hope you all have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving! I need to remember to look up “thankful” more often, to keep this going all year long.
Training to be Batgirl 