In just a few weeks, Thanksgiving will be celebrated nationwide. This holiday enjoys acceptance like none other; protests are not waged against it; “boycott Thanksgiving” petitions are not circulated; even Ebenezer Scrooge would have found time to give thanks for his business. It has survived commercialization, remaining a day for giving thanks. For what are we thankful? We express thanks for our spouses, our children, our jobs, our country; what about our God? Have we given God thanks just for being God?

Psalm 63:1 was written to teach us this principle. David wrote, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” I love this Psalm. I love its focus on our need for God; I love its focus on our emptiness without God; I love it, mostly, because of its introductory statement, “A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.”

Did you catch that? This psalm was written while David was fleeing from King Saul; it was written after David had been chased from Jerusalem; he had survived an assassination attempt and was living in the wilderness; he was alone, except for God; yet, David was content. He sought God, thirsting for Him, longing for His presence. Why?

Because one principle had consumed David; realizing how much he needed God, he thus was constrained to call out to Him. Many reading this article today are living in adverse circumstances; loved ones have passed away, jobs have been lost and illnesses endured. The principle that we learn from this Psalm is this: because we have a faithful God, we can be thankful regardless of our circumstance. Notice, some principles found in Psalm 37 about being thankful for God.

We give Thanks for God by Being Confident in His Provision

Psalm 37:1 “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity…Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.” This proposition has plagued Christians for centuries. We struggle with answering the questions, “Why do good things happen to bad people while bad things happen to good people?” Do we not ask ourselves these questions daily? Why me? Why him? Why her? Why us? Why now? Just at the right moment, the answer is presented, “Trust in the Lord and do well; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.” What’s the principle?

Quite simply the little a righteous man has is better than the riches of the wicked…the Lord upholds the righteous. The mistake is examining success based upon earthly possession, rather than eternal riches stored in Heaven on our behalf by our Heavenly Father. Earthly poverty does not equate to failure. Be confident in His provision.

We give Thanks for God by Being Consumed by His Person

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” This is perhaps the greatest verse in the entire Bible, teaching that God gives the desires of our heart only when we learn to delight in the Lord; that is, we learn that having Jesus means having everything. It means earthly poverty plus Jesus equals eternal riches. What’s the principle written for us?

Make God the sole basis for joy in life. God is still God even if He never does a single miracle; God is God, we are not. Delight yourself in the Lord and be consumed by who He is.

We give Thanks for God by Being Committed to His Path

Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Many seek the key to contentment. I am convinced; the key to contentment is commitment. Commitment to whatever path God chooses for you, whether pleasant or problematic. The principle is that God receives greatest glory from us, not by achieving success on our own, but by being committed to His path, regardless of its leading. This passage was written near the end of David’s life, as he reflected upon the mountaintop and valley experiences of his life. What was the lesson? “O God, You are my God, early will I seek You...” An easy path was never promised; health and wealth were not guaranteed. Earthly riches were not to be treasured. We were promised an even greater treasure: God himself at the end of the path.

Pastor Jim Mead

New Covenant Church