Ps.136:1 – Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Ps.45:1 -MSG – My heart bursts its banks,
spilling beauty and goodness.
I pour it out in a poem to the king,
shaping the river into words:
This constant inundation of grace upon our lives should flood us with gratitude. We see that everything we have comes from Him. All we can do is give thanks to the Lord. King David was a picture in the Old Testament of what our New Testament experience would be like. He was just an average teenager watching his father’s sheep. He was set apart by the Lord to be a king, a warrior, and most of all a worshipper. Grace fell mightily upon David when the prophet Samuel anointed him with oil. From that day, David’s heart was literally spilling over with grace. He had tasted grace upon grace and all he could do was give thanks. David wrote the Psalms, many of them filled with thanksgiving. He wrote, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good,” and he also wrote, “We will enter His gates with thanksgiving,” and “Let’s come before His presence with thanksgiving.” We have been filled again and again with His grace. All we have left is to worship Him from our heart filled with gratitude.
Think for a moment about these admonitions of David. First David said, “give thanks to the Lord for He is good”. Touching the Lord’s goodness is the foundation of worship. When Solomon and the priests were dedicated the temple they were singing this song of David. As they magnified the goodness of the Lord the glory of the Lord filled the house. Next David told us to “enter His gates with thanksgiving”. This is the basis for our worship, “we thank you Lord for who You are and all that you have done”. Apparently giving thanks to the Lord puts us in a place to become aware of the presence of the Lord. This is often the way we enter into His glorious presence. Finally David said to “come into His presence with thanksgiving”. Worship is not just to bring us in, worship continues after we are standing in the presence of the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord today, drink again of this fullness of grace upon grace. This is the very heart of our Christian life.
