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Daily Devotion: Psalm 116:12-14

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Psalm 116:12-14    "What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?  (13)  I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. (14)  I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people."

What shall I give unto the Lord for all that He does for me every single day?  First, let's think about those benefits. We saw back in Psalm 68:19, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah". And going farther back in our study of the Psalms, we saw in Psalm 40:5, "Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."  Thinking about the fact that the Lord daily loads us with blessings to the point that they cannot even be numbered, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?"  How can I possibly thank Him for all He does in my life every single day?   It seems the first thing we can do is to simply acknowledge that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from our Heavenly Father. See James 1:17.

The first gift that I think about is mentioned in Psalm 68:19: "our salvation".  If that was the only thing God has ever given to us, we could never thank Him enough for the gift of His precious Son Who went to the cross to die in our place. He was perfect in every way. He had no sin within Himself; yet, in the fullness of time, He was made sin for us that we would be made the righteousness of God in Him. "What shall I render (give) unto God for that blessed gift?"  But not only has He secured our eternal home in heaven, the Lord has given to us blessings each day that we cannot begin to number.  Let me list just a few, our heart beating, being able to breathe, seeing the sunrise and sunset each day, watching beautiful clouds float by - some are filled with rain and some are just puffy clouds of vapor - but to be able to watch them is an incredible blessing. I'm listening to the birds outside and they are singing praises to our Lord. What a blessing that is to be able to hear those things.  What about the blessing of our families? The blessing of a warm house, a full stomach, lights to be able to see in the darkness.  I've numbered some wonderful blessings, but that does not even begin to scratch the surface. What shall I give unto the Lord for all these blessings.

"I will ... call upon the name of the Lord." What shall I render unto Him? Could it be that His design for  us is to simply enjoy the fellowship of being able to talk to Him and then to be still and listen to what He has to say to us? I will render unto Him by studying His Word for me. I will render unto Him by publicly professing His Lordship in my life and walking according to that "in the presence of all His people."  Yes, I will render thanks unto Him by being what He has called me to be:  His child.

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