7 times 7 - A study of Psalm 106

Day 1 - Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

For the next 49 days I will be exploring the 48 verses of Psalm 106, using the ESV version (http://www.esvbible.org/Psalm+106/). I read a Psalm each day in my quiet time and this past week I hit Psalm 106. It was in the middle of me adjusting to regular life after having been gone on vacation for 9 days straight. You'd think I'd be relaxed and reminiscent of how great the vacation was and thankful for the wonderful experience. You'd think I'd be recounting the blessing of God's provision to be able to afford a terrific cruise with my husband. You'd think I'd be expounding on the amazing relationship with our best friends who came with us and the wonderful memories we share with them. That would make sense.

But in fact, if you read my journal, you would see comments regarding the days immediately following my vacation as being "horrible", "exhausting", "so behind at work", "busy every night", "need another vacation". Then I read Psalm 106 and I was convicted immediately.  This Psalm explores the loving-kindness of our great God and Israel's continual rejection and complaining attitude. Aren't we all like that sometimes? Don't we all turn to God and say, what have You done for me lately? Don't we all credit ourselves with the good and blame Him for everything that seems bad or doesn't make sense?

I felt an immediate need to repent and focus my heart on His amazing grace. I felt a call for a focused study of His love and intentional effort in thanksgiving and gratitude. So, in thanks of my 7 days cruise, I am spending 7 times 7 days (a biblical symbol for completion) studying this psalm to address my own heart that so quickly turns from the loving provision of my God and tries to live in my own strength or rejects His plan for my life to follow my own will instead.

We are called that give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. Before any mention of what He has done, we begin with His character. We praise God for WHO He is. There will be a time when Christ returns and the whole world will see Him and worship, regardless of their nation, language, religion, or ethnicity. They will see He is God and that there is no other. They will see He is holy and know their sin. They will see His majesty and understand their insignificance. They will understand His eternal nature and know their mortality. When we all see Jesus - every knee will bow. Just because of who He is. He will still judge and those outside His forgiveness will be banished for all eternity, separated from His glory. But we, who know now - even though it is only in part, we know His character as it is revealed in His word, through His creation and the innate understanding of our souls. We know He is God and we praise Him, because He is worthy of praise.

This idea really sets the tone for the next 48 days, because it is not thanking God for any particular gift, provision, miracle or blessing. We aren't praising God only because we remember His faithfulness to us (although that is important too). We begin praising Him and giving Him thanks just because of who He is. If we simply meditate for a moment on His power and glory and splendor, we cannot help but begin to sing praises.

On the cruise I looked out and saw the ocean, stretching out in this gorgeous color blue, as far as the eye could see. And then I saw the sky, a different shade of blue, nearly cloudless, stretching out to meet the sea. All I could think of was Genesis and the Lord creating the ocean and earth and sky. He spoke it all into being because it pleased Him to do so. This great expanse of blue - beyond a length or height I could measure or even imagine. And He spoke it into being. I began to sing Amazing Grace, just thinking "when we've been there, ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we've first begun." It isn't hard to picture praising God for all of eternity, when you take a moment to look at His creation and realize how great He is. And then imagine seeing Him, instead of just looking at His creation, seeing Him - with our own eyes! We praise Him for who He is!

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.