Friday, November 17, 2023
Give Thanks for His Faithful Love – Psalm 106 submitted by Kay Crumley
Love is defined as an intense feeling of affection. We use that word to mean a lot of things in our language. We love food, games, clothes, hairstyles, etc, and people. But we love people in different ways using the same word. The love we have for parents is different from that we have for children which is different from how we love a spouse. We proclaim love for friends and relatives, but each has a unique meaning even with the same word. Then there’s the word faithful, used in today’s title, that may have a more universal definition.
The dictionary defines faithful as remaining loyal and steadfast. Our pets are faithful to their owner. We hope our spouse will remain faithful to our marriages. These are the dictionary definitions; how do they align with the Biblical definitions?
The Bible defines love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a this way; Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. That’s not how we love material things or our pets. Hopefully it does describe how we love those closest to us. We also find that the Bible teaches in 1 John 4:8 that God is love. He sets the standard for love.
Then what does the Bible say about faithful?
John 15:13 says Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
1 Corinthians 1:9 says God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
These verses show that Jesus, who laid down His life for us because of the promises God made to provide salvation to the world is the embodiment of faithfulness. He promised the most difficult of all
promises and followed through at the cost of His life. Because of that sacrifice He provided a way for us to have fellowship with God the Father.
Then why are we to be thankful according to the key passage, Psalm 106:1-5?
1 Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts
or proclaim all the praise due Him?
3 How happy are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, Lord, when You show favor to Your people.
Come to me with Your salvation
5 so that I may enjoy the prosperity of Your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of Your nation, and boast about Your heritage.
We can be thankful, the kind of Hallelujah shouting from the roof tops thankfulness, because He is God, His love lasts forever, and His acts on our behalf are more than we can even name. He will never fail in His love, His goodness, or His mighty acts of mercy toward us. We are not capable of giving Him all the honor and praise He deserves. However, we can thank Him daily as we remember His kindness in the provision we receive from Him every moment of every day.
We should be happy to live a righteous life, one that is in right standing with Him. We must know His desire for us and live daily to grow more like the character of Jesus that He demonstrated for us in His human form. He shows favor on His people, His chosen ones which leads us to brag about our heritage in Him. Through Jesus Christ we become His adopted children. That means our heritage is the creator of the universe. The One for whom nothing is greater than and nothing or no one will defeat. That, my friend, is reason to be Thankful. We have that reason because He came to live in our hearts when we surrendered to His lordship.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good!
