A Thank-You List

 "The valleys also are covered with grain..." Psalm 65:13 

Round bales near Chetwynd B.C. - Photo by V. Nesdoly

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 65:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "You crown the year with Your goodness,
And your paths drip with abundance." Psalm 65:11

On this Thanksgiving Sunday (in Canada), Psalm 65 reminds us of how wide-ranging and robust God's goodness to us is.

He has made a way for us to approach Him (Psalm 65:1-4):

• He hears our prayers.

• He provides atonement for our transgressions (sins—the times we miss the mark). [Atonemebt = kaphar, which means to cover over, atone for sin, make atonement]

• He chooses and draws us to Himself (Psalm 65:4 compare to John 6:37).

• Our worship spot—for David a temple, for most of us a church—has its own set of benefits and goodnesses.

He is responsive to us (Psalm 65:5-8):

• He answers our prayers in righteous and awesome ways.

• The storms of nature and human conflict which mystify and frighten us—He has power to still them.

• Nature's beauty, as in each sunrise and sunset, is a joyful reminder of Him.

He provides for us (Psalm 65:9-13):

• He sends rain. This summer even our normally rainy corner of B.C. was dry, dry, dry. In late August on the first day of rain in weeks and weeks, I'm sure I heard the ground and plants sigh with relief. This year I particularly thank God for rain.

• There is abundance—green sprouting in the desert, hills bursting into bloom, sheep dotting the landscape, fields of ripening grain. We might add orchards dropping fruit, vines heavy with reddening tomatoes or sweetening grapes, grocery store shelves so bountifully stocked we have a hard time choosing.

Let's pause with David on this weekend set aside for gratitude, to sincerely thank God for His gifts to us in every department of life!

PRAYER: Dear God, please forgive me for my often ungrateful and entitled attitude. Thank You for salvation. Thank You for my relationship with You. Thank You for more than enough for my physical well-being and enjoyment. Many, many thanks! Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.