Benefits of Praise and Thanksgiving

UV 1001/10,000 Benefits of Praise and Thanksgiving I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 89 v 1 Sitting in my garden I can hear the birds chirp. Each bird has its own song. Why do they seem so cheerful early in the morning but go about their business the rest of the day, mostly flying around quietly? The birds deem it fit to thank the Lord, the Creator whom they know instinctively though not personally for giving them another chance to taste of life. These birds are not given the intellect or memory to think and recall. They are not given clothes or food or transportation. Yet all their lives they sing with apparent joy at being given one more day to live. In contrast, most people have nothing to rejoice of sing about. A song is the reflex of a grateful heart. As they think they have nothing to be thankful for, they are not cheerful. But those who know the Lord have tasted of the multitude of His tender and precious mercies- health and healing, safe journeying, peace and joy, forgiveness of sins, grace to overcome faults and failures, relationships, fruits of character, protection from the evil intent, jealousy and hostility of powerful enemies, foes, and rivals, eternal life, strength to endure, victory, success, abundance of provision, wisdom and divine insight, guidance, blessings of every kind..The list is virtually endless. We can thank God for our context as well as the text He gives us from His Word that builds our faith in His unseen, unsearchable but experienced and varied mercies. We have no pretext not to thank and praise Him. We need to make known the great faithfulness of the Lord to our children so that their faith grows. We need to describe and give evidence of His faithfulness to the generation of our children. We need to speak of His faithfulness to older generations. We need to speak of His faithfulness to our own generation. It is not enough to appreciate the mercy ad faithfulness of God in the silence of our souls. It is necessary to speak it aloud as a witness, as a testimony and in worship of the Lord. We need to take time off to recall all His goodness to us all our lives. A sister in faith was telling me the other day that she found a particular friend always looking youthful. She asked him, “ What is the secret of his renewed youth?” He replied that several times a day, he prayerfully recited Psalm 103, “ Praise the Lord, my soul. Praise His holy name and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases…” God’s Word acts as an elixir in renewing his youth. The word “ benefit” means something that promotes or enhances our well-being. We need to thank the Lord for all the beneficial things He has done for us and all the beneficial things He has given us, not taking for granted even the smallest of our blessings. The mercies of the Lord are numerous, fresh every day, sufficient, certain and wholesome, blessing our spirits, minds and bodies. Prateep V Philip