Psalm 138:1-3
“I give you thanks, O LORD, with all my heart; 
I will sing your praises before the gods. 
I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. 
I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; 
for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. 
As soon as I pray, you answer me; 
you encourage me by giving me strength.” (NLT)

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Thanksgiving and praise go together like peanut butter and jelly, like hands and gloves. 

This psalm begins with thanksgiving and continues with praise. King David’s worship focuses on God’s nature and character. God’s love is unfailing. God’s love is faithful and true. God’s promises are backed by all that he has done throughout history. His track record is incomparable. 

How well does God know our hearts and minds? David gives us the answer:

“As soon as I pray, you answer me; 
you encourage me by giving me strength.”

God hears and answers our prayers with one motion. As the thoughts form in our minds, and as the words are shaped by our mouths, God is already in motion to answer them better than we pray them. He gives us the strength we need for the issues at hand. 

Thanksgiving is our automatic response when we pause to reflect on what God does. Courage and confidence shape our lives as we recognize God’s activity in our lives. 

Seven lines of poetry express decades of delight. If you were to write your own psalm, what would it say? How would you express your love and trust? How would you declare God’s goodness?

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I will sing to God a new song of gratitude and praise.

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Our Father, you are better to me than I would be to myself. I want everyone to know how good you have been to me. I can consider your every promise as if it were already accomplished. I can live in the bold assurance of what will be. I can live in the fullness of your trustworthiness. I can enjoy your authority over everything that comes my way. Amen.