Daily Devotion – March 15, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
107:1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble
107:3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
107:17 Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction;
107:18 they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
107:19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
107:20 he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
107:21 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
107:22 And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.

Thank the Lord.

That’s what it’s all about. Give praise to the Lord. The Lord is gracious and worthy of thanks and praise. How often is that written in the scriptures?! And it ought to be .

And it has to be written so often. Because we always forget to do it. Praising the Lord should be the first thing we do in the morning and the last thing we do at night. There are psalms about that, too.

So, we know this is to be the case: God created the world and us. God blesses the world with all good things – too many to count. We get distracted by all these good things and lose our way in them, and forget about their source. And God even likes us when we do that, and sends the Holy Spirit to help us focus. And death, which awaits every living thing, has even been vanquished by God so that we do not need to fear that as an end, but we can accept it as a gateway to God’s heavenly kingdom for evermore.  God is GOOD.

So let us praise God, already. How shall we do it? Think of one way you will remind yourself to praise God in the morning – maybe staring into your coffee cup or looking into the eyes of your companion or your child, first thing every morning. Link a new habit, praising God, with something you do already.

And then think of one thing you can do in the evening so that praising God will happen before you drift off to sleep. I can only imagine that if more of us did these two small acts of praise that we have just been thinking of, the world would be a better place, our lives would be more filled with joy, and our relationship with our loving God would be better, stronger, and more wonderful. I know my life would be better the more often I remembered to do this simple and most logical thing.

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being so good to us. Help us now think of ways to praise you in the morning and in the evening. We want to show that we are grateful to you, our Creator, Savior, and Sustainer.  Amen.