Sing unto the Lord O ye
saints of His and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. Psalm 30:4
Dear Congregation,
When you observe secular attempts at
Thanksgiving the word thankful is used and is most often applied to visible and
physical things. The more heart felt secularist may express a gratitude for the
relations in his or her life. My question is, who or what are they thankful to?
The expression of thanksgiving comes from a theistic world view and really
cannot exist outside it. The Christian can marvel and thank God for the
blessings and comforts he or she has been given, but even then a sense of merit
may be lurking beneath the expression. The Scripture most often calls the
Christian to give thanksgiving for God and His works. Thanksgiving for Grace is
true gratitude. Psalm 30 redirects us towards this foundational exercise.
When times are good and comfortable, Sing unto the Lord and
give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. When life is miserable,
physical pain is overwhelming; family has abandoned you, and tomorrow could be
worse, sing unto the Lord and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
The wonder of being an eternal saint is that when your life fluctuates, God
does not and His holiness is still worth singing about.
Because He is holy, He sent His son to live a perfect and
holy life and accomplish salvation where we cannot because we can never achieve
holiness. Because He is holy, He has brought us up from the eternal pit of hell
and given us the status of son or daughter with everlasting life, joy, and
peace! Because He is holy, we know that whatever hardship we are facing will
eventually pass away and be remembered not more. Because He is holy we have
more than temporary comfort to find security in. Because He is holy, you o saint
can always sing His praise. A secularist may pretend at a brief shallow
thanksgiving but you Christian can give thanks beyond any for Christ died for
you. No matter what happens in this life, we can give thanks to Him forever!!
In Christ,
Pastor Basile
