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Daily Devotion: Psalm 136:26

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Psalm 136:26    "O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever."

This entire Psalm is one of counting blessings and being thankful for each one.  We sing the old hymn, "Count your many blessings, name them one by one."  We saw back in the 40th Psalm, verse 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."  If we stopped to try to count our blessings each day, we would understand the sentiment of gratitude that seemed to have flooded the heart and mind of the writer of Psalm 136.   Each verse speaks of a blessing from God that had brought him to the very point of expressing such heartfelt gratitude.

Certainly it is understood that God's mercy and grace is at the very top of our list of things to be grateful for. He goes down the list from creation to deliverance from bondage in Egypt that he is grateful unto the Lord.  The Lord is God of gods and Lord of lords. He is with us each day that we live. He is our shield and our refuge. He delivers us from those things that seek to destroy our peace. He renews us, refreshes us, and provides our every need. He sees us in our struggles and gives strength for each day.  He is with us in our low times of life and He lifts us to places where we can rejoice in all around us.

This morning, as I read this 136th Psalm, my heart is made glad to know that as the Psalmist wrote these things, I can also feel gratitude filling my heart and my mind. As I read his list of things for which he was grateful, I can add my own list of blessings given to me so freely and abundantly by the Lord God Almighty.  How about you?  What are you thankful for?  I know Thanksgiving isn't until November, but wouldn't it be nice if today was also a day to give thanks unto the Lord?

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