A Heart Of Greatfulness
A HEART OF GRATEFULNESS
Psalms 40:5
We are living in a world, where contentment and gratefulness are rare commodities. Spouses, parents and friends are realizing that the beneficiaries of all their good deeds and services are often ungrateful. The word “Thank you” seems to be out of style in our present generation. Parents have to beg their children to acknowledge their services by a simple word of ‘thanks.’ If the visible benefactors do not receive recognition, God, the invisible Giver of all good things, is often forgotten in the equation. If we spend the entire year taken for granted all the blessings of God, let us for a moment follow the example of David during that special time of Thanksgiving. Throughout his entire life, David acknowledges that:
A. I am who I am by the grace of God. I Sam.16:12
David was chosen by his family to be a goat heeder at a very young age. He was the youngest among eight boys, but the call to nothingness was upon him. His siblings were chosen to be part of the elite soldiers of Saul’s army. There was a big news at the house of Jesse, his father; the prophet Samuel came to anoint a king among the boys. David was not even invited to be part of the ceremony, because he wasn’t qualified for such a position. According to his family, David was not fit or met the criteria to be king. Discrimination is not always in the general public, but sometimes in our own household. The sixteen chapter of the first Book of Samuel teaches us a great lesson: ‘Man can’t hinder the project or the plan of God for his children.’ David received the last call from the bushes after the rejection of all his siblings. “So Jesse sent and brought David in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this the one!” I Sam.16:12
“This is the one!” Beloved, if men were given the job of picking people to go to heaven, to be able to have a decent life, have an education and a good job, I am sure most of us wouldn’t make the list. But, to God be the glory! We are who we are today by the grace of God.
B. I have all that I have by the grace of God.
The history of David is similar to that of Cinderella. Probably, many of my readers can’t relate to Cinderella. Our present should never erase from our memories the conditions and dire situations of our past. David was transferred by God from dust to palace. He became one of the richest men of his time. However, he never forgets to give credit, to whom, credit is due. He spent his life praising, glorifying, and lifting-up the name of the Lord. “Bless the Lord, O, My soul; and all that is within me, bless hid holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Ps.103: 1-2 The word ‘benefits’ used by David should help us to understand that everything that we are enjoying is from God. Ungrateful people often suffer with the disease called: ‘Spiritual Alzheimer.” We forget our past, and pretend that our present conditions are exactly the way things used to be. We tend to complain more than finding reasons to praise God for all his benefits. David is encouraging us to remember the blessings that our Lord bestowed on us daily and throughout our life. To God be the Glory! For all that we have are from Him.
C. A heart of gratefulness Ps. 40:5
It is in our nature to spend time counting all our little difficulties and problems, but shoving into our ungrateful closets the multiple blessings of our Lord. As the song teaches us: “Count our blessings, name them one by one…” If we decide to finish that month counting all the blessings of God from birth to the present, ‘Thanksgiving’ will be on our lips. David in Psalms 40 verse 2 says that the Lord has put a new song in his mouth. He concluded that God’s blessings are too many to be reckoned up. “Many, O Lord my God, are your wonderful works which you have done; and your thoughts which are toward us cannot be recounted to you in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” Ps. 40:5 (v.6) French Bible
A grateful heart always finds a reason to give thanks to God. Many people may take for granted their daily meals, their health, their shelter, their going-out and coming home, the fact of waking-up in the morning. The student of the bible should have no difficulties finding through the Psalms that David composed a song of praise for every single benefit received from God. A grateful heart doesn’t wait for a major miracle to thank God, but gives thanks for even the unseen miracles. A heart of gratefulness is an encouragement to a Gracious and Giving Father.
Concl. The life of David wasn’t without difficulties. From adolescent to the grave, he had heartaches, headaches, enemies, family troubles and many more. However, David isn’t known as a complainer, but a praise and worship servant of the Lord. That lifestyle of Thanksgiving was possible, because of a grateful heart. May you find a few reasons to thank God for during that Thanksgiving season, and for the rest of your life!
Happy Thanksgiving to all the members and friends of Redemption Baptist Church!