Thanksgiving Day this year is November 24. That is 17 days from today. As Christians, our attention should be on praising and thanking our Savior every day, but I have talked to many a believer who has problems with praise and thanksgiving.
Their attention is often on the temporal things going on around them – all of which will pass away at some point. Our praise and thanksgiving to our eternal LORD, however, will never die. I believe our praises will echo through the ages of eternity.
Sometimes we struggle with praise and thanksgiving because we just do not know where to begin. So, I thought for the next 17 days, let’s go back to some basics. If you want to know about the wonders of God, one of the best places to start is in the Psalms. They often tell us about who God is and what we are in relation to Him. They plainly express praise and things for which to be thankful.
Psalm 3 in my translation is titled, “Confidence in Troubles Times.” That pretty well sums up why we should be reading Psalm 3 in our day! After expressing the scorn of the foes, David reminds us, “You, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.” [vs 3 HCSB]
God is our shield “around” us. To me that says He protects us in every direction. North, south, east, west, no matter where our foes try to attack, God is our shield.
He is also our “glory.” I am an almost 76 years old woman of little consequence to this world. I will have little acclaim or honor from this world when I leave it one day. But my God – He is my glory! When I enter His presence, when I proclaim “I am a child of God and I have come home,” all heaven will rejoice! Not because of what I have done, but because of Whose I am.
And my God “lifts up my head.” The world will try to beat me down, but it can only do so much. When the LORD lifts up my head, I see Him in all His glory and know that I am His!
Thank you, LORD. Today our praise focuses on You as our shield, glory, and the lifter of our head! Amen
