Well, if Psalm 103 is a call not to forget the blessings of being a child of God, Psalm 107 is a call to live a grateful life-it's a call to gratitude. Psalm 107 really sits in the Psalms and in the Bible to remind you of the importance of a thankful, grateful heart.
Grateful people are joyful people. Grateful people live with hope. Grateful people tend to be motivated and courageous. Grateful people tend to love well and serve well. Grateful people are not entitled and demanding. Grateful people praise more than they complain. Grateful people tend to be generous and tender to those in need.
You could argue that gratitude is the fuel of a life of faith, because when you're grateful, you're not focusing on what you don't have or what you wish you had or how, if you were in control, what you would make your life like. When you're grateful, you're focusing on what you have, what you've been given.
Let me read Psalm 107.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
(I like this:)
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
(It's just beautiful how God gathers people from around the world to be the objects of his love.)
Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
till they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
The message of the Psalms is important because, for most of us, I think if we examine our lives, gratitude is not natural. Discontent is natural. I mean, for some of us, a flat tire on the way to work is like a tragedy that wrecks our whole week. We get mad when we have to wait in traffic or wait in line at the grocery store. We can't handle when somebody disagrees with us. We open a refrigerator filled with food and cry out, "There's nothing to eat!" We just live, often, discontent lives.
And so, the refrain of this Psalm is real important. This is repeated four times: verse 8, verse 15, verse 21, and verse 31.
(Verse 8) Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
(Verse 8) Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for His wonderful works to the children of man!
(Verse 8) Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
(Verse 8) Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
Now, if you've read the Bible, you know that God doesn't waste words. Paul says to Timothy that all Scripture is profitable. So, when God repeats himself, he does it for a reason.
When God repeats this phrase, this sentence, "Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!" He repeats that because you and I need to live that. He's identifying a struggle for us.
Do you live a thankful life? Do you? If the people that live with you or near you would describe you, would they say something like this? "My dad, my husband, my friend, he's the most thankful person I'm around! All the time, he looks around and finds reason to thank God."
Well, we should all pray for the grace of a thankful heart so the full blessings of the Lord would be the thing that shape our thinking and shape our living.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. Would the people who live with you or interact with you the most describe you, generally speaking, as more of a grateful person or more of a discontent person? Do you have the courage and humility to actually ask them for their honest feedback? Spend some time preparing your heart for whatever the answer may be, ask them, and don't argue with their verdict.
2. How can you help others live a life of gratitude more than complaint? How can you point out or help others see the numerous blessings that God has showered upon them? When you talk with others, are you positive, optimistic, and cheerful, or is your tone typically negative and bringing down the mood?
3. What hassles or inconveniences interrupted your plans last week? How did you react? What did you reaction reveal about what is important in your heart?
4. What do you have to be grateful for? Meditate not only the large blessings of your life, but write down--literally, number them on a piece of paper or digital notepad--all of the small blessings that you take for granted or neglect on a daily basis?
Conversation Prompts to Use with Children
For Younger Children:
• Did you complain at all today? What did you complain about? Why did you complain? Did complaining helping solve the problem or make things better?
• What good things happened to you today? Did you "give thanks" for those good things when they happened? What do you think it means to "give thanks"? Who should you have thanked when that good thing happened to you?
• What are some of the good things that God has given to you that you get to have every day? Have you thought about thanking God for those good things?
For Older Children:
• Would your friends and family consider you a positive, happy person or a negative, grumpy person? Do you bring the mood up when you walk into a room, or do you bring the mood down? Which of your friends brings the mood up and which brings the mood down? Who do you enjoy being with more?
• Write a list or share with me some of the good things that you are currently experiencing in your life and some of the bad things? How can you focus more on the good than the bad? (Being a grateful person doesn't mean you have to pretend that nothing goes wrong in your life, but it's about the attitude you have in both the good and the bad.)
• Do you struggle to be grateful? Do you want to be happy and positive but find yourself negative a lot? Can we ask the Lord together to give us a spirit of gratitude more than complaint?
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