"A Prayer of Thanksgiving"

PSALMS 138 [A Psalm of David.]

  Do you feel lucky? Isn't that the voice of the world and how they expect us to respond with a yes, just in order that we give a little hint of denial to the power and majesty of the God we so faithfully serve? This Psalm is filled with some very important nuggets; some of which, you can, as they say, take to the bank! In other words, if words had worth, then these Words would be worth a very large sum of money! I like how Matthew Henry leads this off, as he says, "It does not appear, nor is it material to enquire, upon what occasion David penned this psalm." This is a psalm of thankfulness of God's word, that God keeps and upholds His word, even when we might not be able to keep ours! It is interesting to see how that works, because if we think God is shocked by our inability to keep our word, the promises we make, or the covenants that we enter into, He most definitely is not! He could have informed you at the time of your promise, you were going to fail; to be more specific, He could tell you the day and the hour it was going to happen; because there is nothing hidden from Him and nothing that He needs to learn! That is the basis of this thankfulness! As David reflects on what God has done, he anticipates what God is going to do, and the result is a thankful heart; a heart that says, O, it is so good to be loved by such a Wonderful God! Not that it might shock anyone, but this is a Psalm that many of the Pastors, that I have listened to and respected over the years, have used to explain the reason we must focus upon the teaching of God's Word. Don't doubt me when I say this, but there is some serious opposition to teaching God's Word. Seriously! I am not going to name any names, but there have been people I have shared with, which are moving out of the area, and I always ask them if they have located the church they might be attending yet in the place they are moving to. I don't know about you, but I don't move anywhere that I don't know where I am going to be feed! Anywho; when I bring up Calvary Chapel and the reason I love going to them, no matter where I might be going, the conversation seems to get a little weird when I tell them that it is because they teach the Word. Every once in a while I will visit a Calvary Chapel that might not be committed to line-by-line teaching; but truth be told, most of my visits are on Sunday's. I know it is the midweek service that is more in depth and digs for the nuggets; Sunday's are usually explanations and celebrations of what has been, or will soon be revealed: Which, in case you might have not been paying attention, is where David is taking us...

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1:6)