How Good it is to Thank the Lord

It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night. Psalm 92:1-2

Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
He also is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and joy are in His place.
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him;
Worship the LORD in holy array.
Tremble before Him, all the earth;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
And let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD;
For He is coming to judge the earth.
O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. I Chronicles 16:23-34

How Good it is to Thank the Lord
Words from the Psalter

How good it is to thank the Lord,
And praise to Thee, Most High, accord,
To show Thy love with morning light,
And tell Thy faithfulness each night;
Yea, good it is Thy praise to sing,
And all our sweetest music bring.

O Lord, with joy my heart expands,
Before the wonders of Thy hands;
Great works, Jehovah, Thou hast wrought,
Exceeding deep Thine every thought;
A foolish man knows not their worth,
Nor he whose mind is of the earth.

When as the grass the wicked grow,
When sinners flourish here below,
Then is there endless ruin nigh,
But Thou, O Lord, art throned on high;
Thy foes shall fall before Thy might,
The wicked shall be put to flight.

Thou, Lord, hast high exalted me
With royal strength and dignity;
With Thine anointing I am blest,
Thy grace and favor on me rest;
I thus exult o’er all my foes,
O’er all that would my cause oppose.

The righteous man shall flourish well,
And in the house of God shall dwell;
He shall be like a goodly tree,
And all his life shall fruitful be;
For righteous is the Lord and just,
He is my Rock, in Him I trust.

O Render Thanks to God Above

Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 106:1

Thinking about and meditating on God's lovingkindness through the ages is a great antidote to weariness when you're feeling down. His mercy has withstood the test of time, and shall forever last. We can certainly be thankful that His mercies are new every morning!

The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

God's mercy is demonstrated through the many stories in the Old Testament, all of which point to the ultimate gift of mercy - the gift of Jesus, God's son, who took our sin upon Himself, and died in order to pay for those sins so that we could be free from our lives of death, and saved from the wrath of God.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-7

I love that word to us from Paul in Ephesians that so demonstrates God's mercy toward us. He is rich in mercy: He saved us, made us alive with Christ, raised us with Him, and seated us with Him -- all so that He could show the surpassing riches of His grace, shown to us in Christ Jesus!

And His mercy isn't contingent or dependent on what we have done. He saved us, not according to what we did, but according to His mercy!

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3:4-6

I love the picture of the last verse of this hymn: the writer asks that he would be worthy to see all the saints that have prospered under God's mercy so that he might join the joyful chorus in singing praise to God for His mercy, and count God's people's triumph as his own. I so look forward to that day! When we will gather with the saints in heaven and recount God's mercies from the beginning of time, through our lives, and on in the lives of others.

It brings to mind the verse from Amazing Grace:

When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
Than when we've first begun.

Let's be faithful to give God glory for His mercies while we are still here on earth. May others be encouraged by our thankfulness and praise of God's great mercies, new every morning.

O Render Thanks to God Above
Words by Na­hum Tate and Ni­cho­las Bra­dy

O render thanks to God above,
The fountain of eternal love,
Whose mercy firm through ages past
Hath stood, and shall forever last.

Who can His mighty deeds express,
Not only vast, but numberless?
What mortal eloquence can raise
His tribute of immortal praise?

Extend to me that favor, Lord,
Thou to Thy chosen dost afford;
When Thou return’st to set them free,
Let Thy salvation visit me.

O may I worthy prove to see
Thy saints in full prosperity,
That I the joyful choir may join,
And count Thy people’s triumph mine!