Psalm 138 Thank you! Everything in me says "Thank you!" Angels listen as I sing my thanks. I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: "Thank you!" Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word. The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength. When they hear what you have to say, God, all earth's kings will say "Thank you." They'll sing of what you've done: "How great the glory of God!" And here's why: God, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, he knows everything about us. When I walk into the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the angry turmoil. With one hand strike my foes, With your other hand save me. Finish what you started in me, God. Your love is eternal - don't quit on me now.(The Message version)
Imagine God sending you to a foreign country. You go not knowing the language, knowing only key phrases that you believe will get you by, and someone close to you says, "If in doubt and you have no clue what is being told to you, just say, 'Thank you!'" When I was in seminary there was a dear man from Japan whom lived like that. He knew very little English, but he knew God and wanted to prepare for God and so he left family and friends behind, came to the United States and embarked on a seminary education. He could understand most things but there were times that a friend and I, who together befriended him, heard him say, in awkward response to questions or statements we made to him, "Thank you." To hear thank you is to hear a response of gratitude, even if it makes no sense to what was being asked or said. Thank you seemed to disarm or placate situations. The Psalmist took a similar response to life. In this version of the Bible the first verse of this psalm is Thank you! The majority of its content is about thanking God for everything. He wants his very being to be all about thanking God and it matters not who hears him. His attitude toward worship is about giving thanks. He is thankful for God's love, and for God's faithfulness. He is thankful to have the gift of God's Word. For his life, like ours, was one where when he needed help, God stepped in to help. When he felt small and weak, God made him large and strong. As he spoke of this, the news was for all people, even kings: Thank you, God!
Last night Nellie and I watched The Book Thief. It is a powerful movie set in Nazi Germany and tells the story of a little girl whose love for books blesses others, including a Jew that is hidden in the basement where she lives. During a bombing raid when all are safely hidden in bomb shelters, this Jewish man whom she nursed back by reading to him, walks out into the streets and gives thanks for being able to see the stars in the sky. The sound of bombs were all around him, people below him in the safety of the shelters were terrified, but he was glad to be able to breathe air from the outside after months in a basement, sick and fearing for his life. Like this character, many times we walk with those scared and fearing for so many things, and bombs of all kinds may be going off around them and us, but a grateful heart to God will allow you to see the things God has placed all around us to see Him.
PRAYER: Loving and awesome God, though at times we get distracted by the challenges and obstacles that come my way; grant me the thankful heart that gives me grateful eyes and a loving mind, to see You and Yours. This I pray in Christ Jesus my Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Say Thank You to God at least once today!
Eradio Valverde
