The best is yet to come

Psalm 118:1

Psalm 118 begins with a call to give thanks to the Lord.  The Bible calls God’s people to give thanks.  Thanksgiving is part of being a Christian.  We are commanded to “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4) and to bring our prayers to the Lord “with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6).

Giving thanks is normal Christianity.  In fact, giving thanks to God should be part of being human, since all things come from Him (1 Chronicles 29:14).

But what if we don’t feel like giving thanks?  Psalm 118:1 helps us by telling us why.

“He is good!”  He is good all the time.  The word “good” in Hebrew expresses so much – He is good, valuable, beautiful, glorious, desirable, full of blessing and favour, kindness.  Because He is good, all that He does is good, even when we can’t see it.

“His steadfast love endures forever!”  This is the covenant love that we have looked at before.  It is that totally committed, unchanging love.  This love flows from who He is, the unchanging God; it is unbreakable love, it doesn’t depend on how good and faithful we are, but never changes because He never changes.  It never changes because He brought us into the new covenant by the blood of Jesus.

These things – He is good and His steadfast love endures forever – never change.  So, when we find it hard to give thanks because our circumstances are difficult, we need to focus on the things that never change.

Brothers and sisters, think about His goodness today.  That will help you to start giving thanks to Him.

Think about His love today.  Think about how He has shown you His love through Jesus.  That will help you to start giving thanks.