Focal Passage: Psalm 107:1-9
When we think of the types of sins that God will judge we do not often think of ingratitude being on that list. But according to Romans 1:21 ingratitude will be severely judged by God. And we have become an unthankful people in an unthankful nation.
The french fries are not hot enough, the service is never good enough and we’re never thankful enough. Outlandish expectations have caused us to demand our rights and privileges in ways that are born out of anger and selfishness. Psalm 107 gives us at least three reasons for living with a heart of gratitude: salvation, guidance and provision.
Grateful for God’s salvation (Psalm 107:1-3). To be thankful for our salvation is the pinnacle of gratitude. God is good and He is faithful (v. 1). His goodness and faithfulness are best demonstrated in how He redeems His people (v. 2). God has redeemed us from the “power of the foe” (v. 2).
Our greatest foe is sin and death. In the person of Jesus Christ sin has been defeated, death has been conquered. Any person who repents of sin and believes the good news in Jesus Christ will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). God gathers scattered, sinful people to Himself, sinners from all parts of the land (v. 3). God loves to redeem sinners. Let us be thankful.
Kevin Shrum
Grateful for God’s guidance, (Psalm 107:4-7). An attitude of gratitude for our salvation is important. But God doesn’t just save us. He leads and guides us.
Those who have wandered (v. 4), who were spiritually hungry and thirsty, and have failed are not only promised redemption, but guidance throughout life (v. 5). Those who cry out to God (v. 6) will be heard and delivered by the God who rescues. He will lead us in the right path, giving us wisdom and peace for the journey.
How many times have you been confronted by one of life’s dilemmas, only to be given an otherworldly wisdom that comes from God alone. God’s Word is the epicenter of God’s wisdom.
This is why II Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us that not only is God’s Word inspired, it is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equiped for every good work.” So, let us be thankful for God’s guidance, a guidance that comes to us through God’s written Word.
Grateful for God’s provision (Psalm 107:8-9). In addition to God’s salvation and guidance, God provides for His people “daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). No wonder the Psalmist wrote that out of God’s wonderful love He satisfies the spiritually thirsty and hungry.
It has been said that where God guides He provides. This truism is true. God has promised, as Psalm 23 so eloquently states, to lead “me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (vv. 2-3).
As we consider developing an attitude of gratitude, let us consider I Thessalonians 5:18, which asserts that we are to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Ephesians 5:20 adds that we are to give “thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
In a world of ingratitude, let us be known as the people filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. B&R
