Psalm of Thanksgiving

Each year, our church does a Thanksgiving dinner. During the dinner this year, the pastor decided to have us write Thanksgiving Psalms. I thought it was a really neat idea. Here's mine. 

Oh Father, a psalm of thanks can barely scratch the surface of everything You have done for me. With every breath I draw, I'm reminded to thank You. I thank You for my nieces and nephews who keep me smiling. I thank You for friends and siblings who encourage my dreaming. I thank You for parents who keep me grounded. I thank you for love to keep me happy and sorrow to keep me turning to You. Thank You for imagination to keep me curious. Thank You for boundaries to keep me safe. Father, even though I'm a despicable sinner, may I always keep my voice lifted to You in thanksgiving. 

May I encourage you to write your own psalm of thanksgiving? It doesn't have to be anything long or spectacular. Just let it come from your heart. You might be amazed at being reminded how much you have to be thankful for. 

Thoughts On The Fall

In Sunday School yesterday, I was struck by many new thoughts about the Fall. (As in the fall of man, not fall the season. Just to clarify.) Here we go:

First, it wasn't like the fruit automatically flipped a switch in their brain and they knew good and evil. It was the conscious choice to "make" their own definition of good and evil. By choosing to eat the fruit, they took what God had said was bad, and declared it to be good. Now, God is the only one powerful enough to decide what is good and what is evil. So by deciding that they "knew better", the first man and woman attempted to set themselves up as gods. (This was actually something D.A. Carson said on a video we watched, not my thought! Also, this conclusion was drawn from Genesis 2:16-17 and Genesis 3.)

Secondly, making a compromise is choosing to invent good and evil. So if you're talking to someone who is slandering God, and you point out where they're wrong but then decide to compromise and complain just a bit about Him, you chose your own good. It is equivalent to thinking "This person liking me is good, and God's glorification in this instant isn't so good." 

Third, God didn't step in during the temptation. He didn't make an appearance and say, "Excuse me, but this snake is leading you astray." Even in a crucial moment like this, He allowed humans free will. Along those lines, can you imagine how painful it must have been for Him to allow them that choice, and watch them choose to partake of the one thing He had forbidden them, thereby ruining the paradise He had placed them in? The teacher did say one thing that hit me in the gut. "Think about it this way: If you knew your very best friend was going to betray you, would you still be friends?" Ouch. But God didn't immediately kill Adam and Eve for their impudence. He banished them, yes, and they had to live with their consequences. But He also promised to send a Redeemer, His very own Son, to save them. 

Puts the Fall in a whole new light, doesn't it? A simple summary of all that is that man attempted to de-God God. God was (and is) merciful. And yet we still struggle to glorify Him. Aren't we pitiful? 

And on a slightl unrelated subject, someone quoted this to me, and I really liked it. 

"When you can't see the hand of God, you just have to trust the heart of God." 

Heartsong

There is something I have recently noticed in the Bible. There are many verses that talk about having a song in your heart. Here are a few of my favorites:

Isaiah 12:2b "For the Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.

Job 35:10 "But none says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night?'"

Psalm 40:3 "He put a new song in my mouth, song a praise to our God."

Sometimes I fall away from God and into sin. Then the song in my heart is dimmed. But God is merciful, and when I ask, He will remind me what my song is. The glory of the Lord is my song. His love is my song. His grace and mercy are my song. Only through Him can I sing. When I feel lost in the darkness, I still have a song!

Everyone has a song in their heart. Some good, some not so good. What is your song?