11/10/2026
Where does our help come from? Understanding the nature of God is more than simply important, and we can see this best in those things for which we praise and thank Him. The Psalms are a wonderful place to turn to as we look for God, and search out His impact in our lives. Do we praise Him enough? Do we see Him in every corner of our lives? Do even the most subtle nuances of his nature have major impacts on who and what we are?
“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.”
Psalms 145:13-15, 21 ESV
One of the most revealing questions teachers can ask is for their students to tell them how something affects their lives, or the world around them, “Tell me class, how did this impact our world.” When a question like this is asked the classroom typically gets very quiet, and there is a long pause as teachers stand waiting at the whiteboard with a marker in their hands. You see we take so much for granted... we travel through life doing the things we need to do, and at the end of the day we don’t stop to look back on the amazing things that have transpired. We skim right over the smell of coffee brewing in the morning, a sleepy child who stumbles into the kitchen to be fed, the sun that is coming up over the horizon as we head off to work... well the list is enormous. This is equally true, and even more so, in our faith. Do we regularly ask ourselves, “What are the ways that God has blessed me today?” If you have already attempted to do that, did you find yourself struggling to recall those things?
Why is it that we have such a hard time recalling what has occurred during our day? I propose to you that it is because we spend most of our time rushing through the present. We are so busy absorbed in the here and now that we seldom revisit what we have already done or experienced, even if we did them a few minutes before. As parents we meet our children at the door when they come home from school and ask, “How was school today?” to which they reply “OK.” Does this sound familiar? Then we ask, “What did you do in school today?” To which they answer “Stuff”, or maybe “I don’t know.” So, we begin asking them even more specific questions “Did you have your spelling test?”
It isn’t that our children have forgotten everything they did for the last several hours... it is more likely that they are focused on right now! What snacks are in the kitchen? Are cartoons on television? Can I go out and play? They are in the moment, and it takes concerted effort on our part to make them leave that moment long enough to tell us what happened earlier in school.
This is us at the end of our day too... instead of telling God about our day, or thanking Him for what He did for us earlier, we are concentrating on what we need right now, or, on occasion, what we will need tomorrow. Praising God, and Thanking God, require us to pause... take a few minutes out of our NOW, and look back on our day together. The Psalms are wonderful in reminding us to remember, thank, and praise Him!
“I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law.”
Psalms 119:55 ESV
The Psalms also remind us to place those things into His hands that we have been doing all day; especially those things that might have been painful, mournful, or too much for us.
“I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, "Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Then my spirit made a diligent search:”
Psalms 77:1-6 ESV
God meets us at our spiritual door when we come home from the school of life, and He asks us what we did today. How do we answer Him? Do we ignore the question and head to the pantry of prayer to satisfy our current hunger? Do we look at Him with a blank stare? Do we shrug our shoulders and say, “I don’t know.”? Maybe we begin to tell Him what we need for tomorrow. God is interested in us, and has been working to provide for us and bless us all day long, now He wants us to talk to Him about it. He wants us to acknowledge the things He has done and to thank Him... He wants us to praise Him for His efforts.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,”
Psalms 103:1-2 ESV
Praise and thanksgiving are powerful; they show that you care, and express your love. When my wife prepares a wonderful meal for me she wants me to tell her how amazing it is, how special she is, and how much I am enjoying her efforts! If I say, “It is good” or “that was a fine dinner”, it isn’t enough, and she will continue to ask me questions about the meal she worked to prepare until I remember to praise it, and her, appropriately. I need to tell her how much I really did enjoy the food, and appreciate the work she did to prepare it for me, otherwise, heaven forbid, I will have hurt her feelings. We all want to know that the things we do are appreciated, and that what we do every day is more than just nice. We want to hear that the things we do have actually been received as being done out of love by others, and have enhanced their love and appreciation for us too.
When was the last time you went to a quiet place at the end of your day and recalled the many ways that God blessed or provided for you that day... then began to thank Him, and praise Him for them? I am not talking about a quick “Thank You Lord!” when something good happened during the day, I am talking about a true and concerted effort to praise God, and thank Him for all those things that blessed you and made up your day. When was the last time you sat at the dinner table with God and really told Him how wonderful the meal was that He had prepared for you, and how awesome He was in His provision... without Him having to ask?
Recognition, praise, and giving thanks, are very important to us in our lives, and they are also incredibly important to God. Make an effort to praise the Lord for all He does for you, and thank Him for His efforts. Not just with just a quick “Thanks!”, but by saying, “It was wonderful and amazing, the best meal you have prepared for me in some time, and a really special recipe that needs to be saved.” Tell Him how you feel with this type of thank you, and praise! Praise and thank Him as a heartfelt expression of love and appreciation that comes from the depth of your soul.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for all that you do in our lives each day, and for watching over us as we walk the narrow road of righteousness through this world filled with sin, hardship, and suffering. Thank you Holy Father for sending your Son Jesus Christ to be the narrow bridge between heaven and earth; a bridge that takes us over the sin and past the death that has long separated us from you. Thank you Father for His pain, suffering, death, and resurrection that have allowed us to be reunited with you once more. Thank you for showing us that the cross on Calvary, which jutted skyward, and on which Jesus bled and died, was more than an obelisk and object of suffering, but was the very bridge and pathway by which we are able to travel into your presence and experience your grace, and your forgiveness, as we give glory to you. You are great above all God’s, and our one true God. In you we have found our rest and peace forevermore, and we find grace and mercy for which there is no end. In you we find the eternal love of a Father that meets us as we awaken to the dawn of every new day, and watches over us throughout our darkest nights. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God and worthy are you of all praise and thanksgiving. Worthy are you of our eternal love and worship, and we thank you for your Love which is the foundation of our lives! Help us Lord to remember all that you do and how you bless us.
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV
Amen. Amen, Amen
Rich Forbes