Psalm 107:1

Psalm 107:1

Give thanks to the Lord

This Psalm is closely related to Psalms 104-106, but whilst Psalm 106 highlighted the feckless faith of the Israelites and their constant rebellions against the Lord God, these next 43 verses place greater emphasis on the faithfulness and unfailing love of the Lord for His people. Time and again, the Lord hears the cries of the Israelites, and He reaches down and saves them. Many commentators suspect that this was written after the Babylonian exile when a grateful Levite wanted to give the Lord the praise and thanks for His deliverance, and He contrasts this with the waywardness and disobedience of Israel. 

 

V1        “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” It would be easy to overlook these words and dismiss them as a familiar introduction to a Psalm. However, sometimes we need to stop and break down just what those familiar words are saying!

“Give thanks to the Lord.” This is not just a polite request for all believers to say grace before meals! It is a plea for corporate thanksgiving, that all who know and love the Lord God should be forever grateful and thankful to Him, not necessarily for what He has done but first and foremost because He exists and without Him, we would never have been created. Secondly, we should give thanks to Him because He has breached the spiritual barriers between His world and ours and made Himself known. Thirdly, He has reached out to insignificant individuals like you and me and drawn us to Himself to love and protect us, as a father loves and protects His children. Add to those, a million other reasons why we should give thanks to Him, and you realise that there is never enough time in a day to stop being thankful!

“For He is good.” This verse draws our attention to the fact that God is good, that is another reason why we should give thanks. In a world of deceit and evil, living as part of a creation that has been spoiled by sin, fighting off the lures and temptations of the powers of darkness, we need someone to focus upon, someone to raise our hopes and expectations, someone who shows us the better way and is able to liberate us from the world, the flesh and the devil. That someone has to be different, has to radically challenge the ideas and cultures of the world, that someone has to offer a higher, greater, better alternative, that someone is our God and He is good.

“His love endures forever.” Finally, we cannot follow Him or be drawn by Him just out of religious duty or discipline. Mantras or fear-driven obeisance are the demands of the false gods, our God draws us by His love. To be loved by a higher being is an exceptional privilege and there is only one Being who can do this. And His love is not temperamental or temporary, it is forever. 

Good reasons to give thanks? Hallelujah! 

 

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