Thanksgiving - Pt. 4

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-9 ESV).

 

The little quote in the meme today has been attributed to Lewis Carroll.  There are similar exchanges between Alice and the White Rabbit, though this is not one of them. The sentiment is thought provoking, especially when we ponder the meaning of our reading today. Of course, we have experientially learned the meaning of this word depends on the context in which it occurs. Our culture, however, plays so fast and loose with this word that it becomes difficult to define what it means. Sometimes it can mean a time period stretching indefinitely into the future; and, in other contexts, characterized by unexpected and unwelcome waiting, “forever” has a subjective connotation that the wait will be endless. And sometimes, especially when listening to some preachers drone on, we are little surprised to find a distinct difference between what the speaker intends by “forever” and what the listener perceives as its meaning.

 

There are some clues in this psalm as to the meaning of the writer. If you read the entirety of the psalm you see the writer list numerous works of God on behalf of His people. At each one of these wondrous miracles the writers calls on his audience to remember them and then be prompted to thanksgiving. It is a means of recalling time qualitatively rather than quantitatively.

 

Perhaps I can illustrate that a bit better. You may recall that my new “toy” is a full-size wood lathe. I never owned one before now, and now that I do I wonder why in the world it took so long to get one. I find myself doing lots of things during the day. Most of them are relatively benign. These are tasks that simply need to be done – laundry, cooking, errands to the grocery store or pharmacy. I simply don’t measure how long they take in terms of minutes or hours. I just do them. There are other things I do, however, that are not particularly enjoyable. For example, when I spend an hour at the dentist, it seems like “forever”; and, when I spend an hour on the lathe creating the latest piece, that seems to rush by in moments. Here’s the point: when I remember all that God has done for me, it’s too easy to minimize the impact. Stop and let each memory pour thanksgiving into your heart and mind. The quantity of time is the same, but the quality is enormously greater!

 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

 

Indeed, He is!