Praise the Lord

You will say in that day:  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me.  Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.  And you will say in that day:  Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.  Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth.  Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.  

Isaiah 12:1-6

The sky is crystal clear, changing colors as the sun advances up toward the horizon.  Smoke rises from water behind the house, revealing the air’s cool temperature.  Except for the rising smoke, nothing moves.  Leaves lie motionless on the grass.  Trees stand still.  Birds huddle silently in their nests.  Two contrails hang in sky, undisturbed by wind, one stretching to the north, the other to the west, making a cross in the sky.  It is a perfect morning to sit with a warm cup of coffee, enjoying the warmth of my sweater, taking it all in.

My mind wanders back over recent months, pausing to consider health scares and healing, faces of friends who we will not see again on earth, quiet moments shared laughing, the joyful delight of our grandson, time with family and friends.  And through it all, through the contrast of joy and sadness, fear and assurance, suffering and hope, I see the thread of God’s grace running through it all, connecting it all, drawing us to Him.  

I thank God for Lori and our marriage and our family and our health and our life together.  My heart overflows and I praise His holy name and I worship Him because He is who He is, and it is awesome beyond words that He invites us to commune with Him.  Holy, awesome God, the Creator of the universe, is with us, offers salvation and sanctification, and desires to commune with us.

I thank God for who He created us to be.  Thank God for the purposes He designed us to fulfill.  Thank God for the opportunities He grants us to serve in His great mission on earth, for His strength, His power, His salvation, His grace, His life that He bestows upon us.  Thank God for the air we currently breathe, for His Holy Spirit dwelling within us and surrounding us, for Christ Jesus, for the warmth of our homes, for the clothing we wear and the food we have to eat, and for friends and family and loving relationships.  Thank God for the beautiful sunrise and the birds that are just beginning to sing once again on this glorious morning.

None of this is an accident.  Isaiah foretold the time we are living in.  He said a shoot would sprout from the root of Jesse, and the Spirit of the Lord would rest on Him – “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2).  And He will judge, not by faulty eye-based vision, but with spiritual righteousness.  And “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6).  Through Isaiah, God foretold the coming Messiah and the age of peace the Messiah would usher in, and through Him His peace and rest and comfort are available to us.

After establishing that setting in chapter 11, Isaiah continues with the Scripture first set forth above writing, 

You will say in that day:  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me.  Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.  Isaiah 12:1-2

We each deserve God’s wrath.  Holy God has every right to be angry with each of us because we sinful, unrighteous, unclean.  But through Christ Jesus, we are redeemed, forgiven, cleansed.

Paul reminds us,

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  Colossians 2:6-7

The psalmist reminds us,

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits – who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  Psalm 103:1-5

What are you thankful for?  How do you express thanks to God?  May your heart overflow with thanksgiving today and always, Amen.