A Prayer of Thanks to the Lord
By Tiffany Thibault
"Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all His benefits — who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion." - Psalm 103:1-4 NKJV
Life is hard, struggles are real, but the Lord is still good. In our lives, in the midst of all our hard places, we can still find so much that we can be thankful for. God calls us to be a thankful people. True thankfulness stems from living in a place of praise, where we have our eyes, our heart and our souls completely focused on the Lord. In this place of praise, thankfulness can freely flow, changing our lives and the lives of those around us.
Psalm 103:1-4 NKJV says this: "Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all His benefits — who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion."
It is through these words that the writer is telling himself what he should be doing, as he makes his life one of thanksgiving.
- He tells his mind to determine to not forget the Lord’s benefits.
- He is telling his heart and emotions to trust that the sovereign God, who controls the wind and the waves of the ocean, has everything in control.
- He is telling His lungs to breathe in and out the peace of God
- He is correcting his posture and actions, embracing where God has him physically and geographically.
- He is controlling his tongue to speak words of praise to God in the midst of every battle he is fighting.
The writer is encouraging us to praise the Lord and to not forget his benefits. Our Lord is a very generous Lord. He forgives all our sins. He died, taking all of our sin upon him, he was bruised for our transgressions, nailed to that tree, the weight of it crushing him, the sin on him so great that even God forsook him. All of that He did with perfect, complete love for you. You are forgiven.
Another benefit we can praise Him for is that he heals all our diseases. It says that “by his stripes we are healed.” He endured whipping, a shredded back so that we can be healed. As we praise him through the dark moments, we can be so thankful that He is with us, that He will see us through the pain and that someday we will be healed.
We can praise Him because He redeems our life from the pit. He has paid for your freedom. You are free from the darkness, the pit of depression, the stabbing pain of rejection. You are so loved, so important to the Lord that He redeemed you. As you praise the Lord, the darkness will dissipate, the chains will be loosened, and joy will fill you.
As we praise the Lord with all our being, we will be crowned with love and compassion. To be crowned is a high honor, to be crowned with love and compassion is the greatest honor we can receive. Jesus was crowned with an earthly crown of thorns. It was shoved onto his head with words of mockery. He was crowned with pain and hatred. Jesus, though, crowns us with love and compassion. He loves you. He is there with you, he is guiding you, protecting you and making a way for you. He has compassion for you. He will never leave you or forsake you.
So as you examine the things for which you are thankful, I challenge you to go deeper, to focus on reflecting these benefits that the Lord has given you. Praise the lord, praise his holy name, with all your being praise the Lord. We can not be truly thankful if we are not praising the Lord. He has given us everything that we need, he is our Shepherd, our Savior, our Redeemer, our hope, our anchor. For all He has done for us, we can praise him with a life of Thanksgiving. He is worthy of our praise, he is the reason we give thanks.
Let’s pray:
Dear Lord,
I praise you for who you are. I praise you that you forgive my sins, heal my diseases, redeem my life from the pit, and crown my life with love and compassion. I am so thankful for who you are and for all that you have done in my life. I love you Lord.
In Your name I pray,
Amen
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/AaronAmat
Tiffany Thibault is a Jesus-loving desert girl. She loves to spend time with her college-aged daughters, coffee with friends and taking long walks. She teaches 4th grade and loves to write in her spare time. She is the author of a Bible study and a devotional book. You can connect with her on Instagram.
Editor's Note: We're proud to announce we've just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You'll soon be able to subscribe to receive Your Nightly Prayer via email, or as a podcast, but for now you can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer. We hope it's a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on who God is.
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