Friday July 11th, 2014 Psalm 65:1-13
... you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. (verse 8b)
When I first began writing this devotion for Psalm 65, I had two initial thoughts. The first was the phrase, “pray, praise and give thanks.” After doing a bit of sleuthing, I realized that the phrase was part of Luther’s explanation of the Second Commandment found in his Small Catechism. I had memorized it over fifty years ago in catechism class. My second thought was that the psalm’s theme had to do with giving thanks.
Though readers of Eternity for Today won’t see this devotion until July, I am writing it on American Thanksgiving. As a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, I officially have the privilege of thinking about gratitude twice a year, and I am not sorry about that. I’m not sorry that I get to eat two Thanksgiving dinners either.
Psalm 65 feels like the right psalm to read on Thanksgiving Day, but gratitude is an appropriate sentiment any day of the year. The psalmist’s heart bursts with thankfulness for God’s generosity throughout creation. In Psalm 65, heaven and nature sing, and it makes me want to join with the morning and evening in shouting for joy!
God, thank you for the psalmist's reminder that our cups truly do run over with your blessings. Amen. — CKA
Contributed by Pray, Praise, Give Thanks
When I first began writing this devotion for Psalm 65, I had two initial thoughts. The first was the phrase, "pray, praise and give thanks." After doing a bit of sleuthing, I realized that the phrase was part of Luther's explanation of the Second Commandment found in his Small Catechism. I had memorized it over fifty years ago in catechism class. My second thought was that the psalm's theme had to do with giving thanks.
Though readers of Eternity for Today won't see this devotion until July, I am writing it on American Thanksgiving. As a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, I officially have the privilege of thinking about gratitude twice a year, and I am not sorry about that. I'm not sorry that I get to eat two Thanksgiving dinners either.
Psalm 65 feels like the right psalm to read on Thanksgiving Day, but gratitude is an appropriate sentiment any day of the year. The psalmist's heart bursts with thankfulness for God's generosity throughout creation. In Psalm 65, heaven and nature sing, and it makes me want to join with the morning and evening in shouting for joy!
