O GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“O give thanks unto The Lord; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people.”  Psalm 105:1 (KJV)

EXPLANATION

This psalm was written by King David and it begins with the same words that he used when he brought the tabernacle into Jerusalem. (Chronicles 16:8-22)  He goes on to recount the history of the children of Israel emphasizing what The Lord God has done for them, giving them the reasons that they should be thankful. 

APPLICATION

We are encouraged throughout the Bible to give thanks unto The Lord.  Psalms 105, 106, 107, 118, and 136 all begin with the phrase, "O give thanks unto The Lord ..." and then they each go on to provide reasons for doing so.  However, Psalm 105 goes on to say, "... call upon His name; make known His deeds ... Sing unto Him ... talk ye of all His wondrous works ... Glory in His holy name ... rejoice ... Seek The Lord ... Remember His marvelous works ..." (Psalm 105:1-5)  When we think of all of the blessings that we have received from God throughout our lives, we ought to say, 'Thank you Lord'.  We all have so much to be thankful for; every good and perfect gift (James 1:17) comes from The Lord.  Also, think of the things and people that He kept us from.  We have been blessed in more ways than we can count, and we should be thankful. (Psalms 100:4 and Colossians 3:15)  We have been blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. (Proverbs 11:25)  Let us thank God for the blessings which we have received and let us share with those who are less fortunate.  Let us not worry about anything and pray about everything with thanksgiving to God. (Philippians 4:6)   O, give thanks unto The Lord. 

May you have a blessed Day of Giving Thanks.

LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO

Proclamation:

“Give thanks to The Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of The Lord tell their story; those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”  Psalm 107:1-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  This psalm is a song and the refrain in verse fifteen is repeated three times within it. (Psalm 107:15, 21, and 31)  David uses the phrase, “O give thanks unto The Lord …” at the beginning of several psalms. (Psalm 105:1, 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, and 136:1)  Here he follows it with the same two reasons that he identified in the previous psalm, “The Lord is good and His love endures forever.” (Psalm 106:1)  In the remaining verses David recounts some of the things which The Lord had done for the children of Israel.  After they had messed up and suffered because of it, they cried out to The Lord and He delivered them out of their distress. (Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, and 28)

Application:

We should all give thanks unto The Lord.  There are so many reasons for doing so that we cannot count them all.  Those of us who have been redeemed should say so, we should tell the world our story.  He has given each of us a testimony, which is uniquely ours, and we should tell others what The Lord has done for us.  “Oh that men would praise The Lord for His goodness …” (Psalm 107:15, 21, and 31) We should be thankful and praise His Holy Name for all of the good things which He has done.