Thanksgiving - Pt. 6

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. (2 Samuel 7:19-21 ESV).

 

We have always had a “feast” for Thanksgiving. This was especially true when Mary’s mom cooked a traditional Thanksgiving meal. The extra leaves were put in the dining table not for the extra seating as much as the space to spread the food out on the table. She would cook at least two additional meat dishes along with the turkey. Vegetables and salads abounded. All of it was wonderful. When it was time to go home we had enough leftovers to take with us to last several more meals. The leftovers were almost always as good, or better, than the first servings.

 

It’s interesting that is not the case with other things. Leftovers are almost always not as good as the original. I am reminded of a time early in my ministry when I received a call from a dear lady in the church offering to donate a piano to the children’s ministry. As I began to talk to her about it, she told me that all I needed to do was come by and pick it up. I gathered a few of the men of the church, a truck and dollies, and we went to get our new piano. After arriving, she said she was so grateful we would come by to “haul it off.” After all, the county was going to charge her twenty-five dollars to come and get it. She went on to say it was “mostly working”; though several of the keys no longer more to strike a note and the ivory had long since worn off about half of the keys. In fact, it didn’t play anymore, but she needed to get rid of it to make room for a new sofa!

 

I am reminded of the exchange that David has with Samuel in our reading today. David was a praying man. He also was a man of constant action: hiding, surviving, fighting, negotiating, conquering, building, marrying, and ruling as king. Then something happened that arrested him completely. It compelled him to stop and sit down, in awed stillness. The staggering scope of God’s awesome promise stopped David in his tracks and moved him to awe and wonder at the unequaled greatness of God. David had long been a follower of God, but this opened his eyes to God’s greatness with a wonder he had never known before. When life is just too good, God is calling us to come into his presence with thanksgiving, wonder, and joy. He doesn’t want our leftovers, He wants to be first, just as He has placed us in His relationship.