Psalm 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Oh Friends, our Lord is truly something else yes! About forty minutes ago, since I had nothing particular in mind to write about, I asked for His direction. I soon got the idea that rejoicing was the order of the day. And that was fine with me, for recently we’ve been delving into too much negative stuff; a change would be good. However, there are so many passages on ‘rejoice’ and ‘rejoicing’ in the Good Book that I spent at least half an hour poring over them, purposely staying away from the Psalms. Why? I just felt like I was using them too often and had possibly exhausted all the rejoicing in them. But nothing else I looked at felt right, so I finally turned to them. When I read; ‘And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing,’ I immediately felt a li’l burst of joy in my heart and knew that was the right verse for Today’s Bit. But then I had to check to make sure I hadn’t used it already, cause it sounded too good to have been bypassed. But I should have known better than to doubt the Spirit’s leading. And I was also rather arrogant to think that I could ever exhaust the Word eh. (smile) For that I sincerely apologize Lord, and ask for your forgiveness. Forgiveness granted and accepted. So let’s move on. Ah mih people, there’s so much dread and drudgery in our world today that rejoicing and giving thanks seem to be things of the past. But Psalm 107 is a song of praise and thanks; in part stating various troubles that the Lord rescued His people from, also alluding to Israel’s journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land, having anointed them as His Chosen People, for which they ought to be eternally grateful. The Psalm is titled, ‘God’s wonderful works to the children of men, and is set up like a song with verses that spell out the problems, then a chorus, though this one seems to have two choruses. It obviously begins with a call for thanks and praise. ‘O Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.’ (vs.1) Then it goes on to list the first set of problems: Israel’s been lost in the wilderness and scattered all over with no place to call their own. ‘Hungy and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.’ (vs.5) Now Friends, what ought we to do in times of desolation and distress? Cry out to Almighty God! And that’s what they did. ‘Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.’ (vs.6) Yes Friends, that’s our great, marvellous and merciful God! That verse is one of the two choruses. So please remember, whenever we cry out to Him in sincere, heartfelt anguish, He will not only hear our cry, but also answer our pleas with mercy, justice and LOVE. ‘And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.’ (vs.7) That’s why the Psalmist in his wisdom declares: ‘Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men!’ (vs.8) And why not my people? We ought to be thankful to anyone who helps us, and when it’s our God, even more so. Now that’s the other chorus. ‘For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.’ (vs.9) The choruses appear after each affliction is mentioned. Those who rebelled and were bound in chains in prison. ‘Therefore he brought down their heart with labour: they fell down, and there was none to help.’ (vs.12) Yes my brethren, that’s what happens when we rebel against the Lord and His dictates; we’re brought low with none to offer us help. But there again when in distress, even by our own doing, what’s the right thing? ‘They cried out unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.’ (vs.13-15) And so it goes my Friends, until the Psalmist declares, ‘Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.’ And what are ‘the sacrifices of thanksgiving?’ Leviticus Chap.7 talks about sacrifices in detail, we’ll just quote verse 12. ‘If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanks-giving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.’ Meanwhile, Psalm 50:14-15 says: ‘Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’ Not to be outdone, Bruh Paul declares; ‘By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks (confessing) to his name. But to do good and to communicate (share) forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.’ (Heb.13:15-16) So we see Friends, there are all sorts of things we can do that are considered sacrifices of thanksgiving. But in conjunction with thanks we must also ‘declare his works with rejoicing.’ That’s joyful singing my people. As Bruh David said: ‘I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praises to thy name, O thou Most High…Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.’ (Ps.9:2,11) Yes Friends, regardless of what’s happening in our lives, as followers of Jesus, we must give Him the praise and glory to which He’s entitled. Whatever we have, be it little or much, has been graciously provided through His efforts, so we need to be thankful. And yuh know what, it’s strange, but whenever we’re down and sorrowful, even if the cause of our dismay is not solved, just raising our voices, or even humming a prayer of thanks does wonderful things to our souls and spirit. I can attest to that, for many a time I’ve been sad, sometimes for no good reason, but then I begin singing a song of praise, and pretty soon I’m feeling better, my spirits are lifted. So my people, it augurs well for us to give thanks and praise, for whatever reason, even for just being alive. Let’s make it a habit to thank our Creator, cause He’s done a lot for us in the past, He’s doing much now, and He most definitely has good things planned for us in the future. Till tomorrow then…Much LOVE!…voices raised in praise…are the sweetest sounds to God’s ear…
Oh Friends, our Lord is truly something else yes! About forty minutes ago, since I had nothing particular in mind to write about, I asked for His direction. I soon got the idea that rejoicing was the order of the day. And that was fine with me, for recently we’ve been delving into too much negative stuff; a change would be good. However, there are so many passages on ‘rejoice’ and ‘rejoicing’ in the Good Book that I spent at least half an hour poring over them, purposely staying away from the Psalms. Why? I just felt like I was using them too often and had possibly exhausted all the rejoicing in them. But nothing else I looked at felt right, so I finally turned to them. When I read; ‘And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing,’ I immediately felt a li’l burst of joy in my heart and knew that was the right verse for Today’s Bit. But then I had to check to make sure I hadn’t used it already, cause it sounded too good to have been bypassed. But I should have known better than to doubt the Spirit’s leading. And I was also rather arrogant to think that I could ever exhaust the Word eh. (smile) For that I sincerely apologize Lord, and ask for your forgiveness. Forgiveness granted and accepted. So let’s move on. Ah mih people, there’s so much dread and drudgery in our world today that rejoicing and giving thanks seem to be things of the past. But Psalm 107 is a song of praise and thanks; in part stating various troubles that the Lord rescued His people from, also alluding to Israel’s journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land, having anointed them as His Chosen People, for which they ought to be eternally grateful. The Psalm is titled, ‘God’s wonderful works to the children of men, and is set up like a song with verses that spell out the problems, then a chorus, though this one seems to have two choruses. It obviously begins with a call for thanks and praise. ‘O Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.’ (vs.1) Then it goes on to list the first set of problems: Israel’s been lost in the wilderness and scattered all over with no place to call their own. ‘Hungy and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.’ (vs.5) Now Friends, what ought we to do in times of desolation and distress? Cry out to Almighty God! And that’s what they did. ‘Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.’ (vs.6) Yes Friends, that’s our great, marvellous and merciful God! That verse is one of the two choruses. So please remember, whenever we cry out to Him in sincere, heartfelt anguish, He will not only hear our cry, but also answer our pleas with mercy, justice and LOVE. ‘And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.’ (vs.7) That’s why the Psalmist in his wisdom declares: ‘Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men!’ (vs.8) And why not my people? We ought to be thankful to anyone who helps us, and when it’s our God, even more so. Now that’s the other chorus. ‘For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.’ (vs.9) The choruses appear after each affliction is mentioned. Those who rebelled and were bound in chains in prison. ‘Therefore he brought down their heart with labour: they fell down, and there was none to help.’ (vs.12) Yes my brethren, that’s what happens when we rebel against the Lord and His dictates; we’re brought low with none to offer us help. But there again when in distress, even by our own doing, what’s the right thing? ‘They cried out unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.’ (vs.13-15) And so it goes my Friends, until the Psalmist declares, ‘Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.’ And what are ‘the sacrifices of thanksgiving?’ Leviticus Chap.7 talks about sacrifices in detail, we’ll just quote verse 12. ‘If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanks-giving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.’ Meanwhile, Psalm 50:14-15 says: ‘Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’ Not to be outdone, Bruh Paul declares; ‘By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks (confessing) to his name. But to do good and to communicate (share) forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.’ (Heb.13:15-16) So we see Friends, there are all sorts of things we can do that are considered sacrifices of thanksgiving. But in conjunction with thanks we must also ‘declare his works with rejoicing.’ That’s joyful singing my people. As Bruh David said: ‘I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praises to thy name, O thou Most High…Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.’ (Ps.9:2,11) Yes Friends, regardless of what’s happening in our lives, as followers of Jesus, we must give Him the praise and glory to which He’s entitled. Whatever we have, be it little or much, has been graciously provided through His efforts, so we need to be thankful. And yuh know what, it’s strange, but whenever we’re down and sorrowful, even if the cause of our dismay is not solved, just raising our voices, or even humming a prayer of thanks does wonderful things to our souls and spirit. I can attest to that, for many a time I’ve been sad, sometimes for no good reason, but then I begin singing a song of praise, and pretty soon I’m feeling better, my spirits are lifted. So my people, it augurs well for us to give thanks and praise, for whatever reason, even for just being alive. Let’s make it a habit to thank our Creator, cause He’s done a lot for us in the past, He’s doing much now, and He most definitely has good things planned for us in the future. Till tomorrow then…Much LOVE!…voices raised in praise…are the sweetest sounds to God’s ear…
SCRIP-BITS 