Psalm 100 is a psalm for giving thanks. It goes like this:
Make a joyful noise
to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence
with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us,
and we are his;
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 steadfast love
endures forever
and his faithfulness
to all generations.
Thanksgiving is an interesting concept for an increasingly self-centered, self-reliant, self-indulgent culture. Thanksgiving, by definition, requires admission of a few selfless truths. First, that someone has met a need on our behalf that we could not, would not, or did not meet for ourselves. Second, that our ego suffered no offense at the mercy bestowed upon us or the obligatory gratitude assigned to us by someone else’s intervening kindness (making gratitude a function of humility and an opposite to selfish pride.) Third, that gratitude alone is a fair return for grace, requiring nothing more of us to repay the debt than the simple offering of thanks.
Thanksgiving is the acknowledgment that our own hands have not supplied every need or want that we have, but that there are some things we possess or experience that are ours because of someone else’s grace. In this Psalm, thanksgiving is offered for life itself, because we are here by the will and work of God, not by our own efforts. In this Psalm, thanksgiving is offered for the generous and gracious oversight of the divine Shepherd who has committed himself to our care and well-being, not only in the present moment, but for all generations.
Kristina is cooking dinner this year. First-ever all-family dinner for her. In her own home, by her own hand, for her own family. It will be marvelous and she will deserve great thanksgiving for all the blessings she will bestow on us. God also deserves thanks for the blessings he has given, not only the ones we know of, but the ones we aren’t aware of and may never realize. He gives life and sustains it, even when that life fails to acknowledge him. He sent his Son to die, even for those who trust him not. Though some have died, you, reading this, have not. That is mercy.
God deserves our thanksgiving, because of all he does for us, even if we don’t understand the magnitude of what he has done. He has made us. We are his. That’s enough to start with. His love never ends. Give thanks.
Each month the clergy of the Cook County Ministerium offer spiritual reflections. This week’s contributor is Pastor Dale McIntire with The Good News. Pastor McIntire has served as pastor of the Cornerstone Community Church in Grand Marais since April of 1995.
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