“Give Thanks to the Lord”
[Psalm 118]
Looking back over this past year, when and how have you and I truly experienced God’s goodness and mercy? Personally, what stands out most clearly to me is attending funeral services. This year, I have attended six funerals, and especially during two of them—while leading both the viewing and the burial services—I vividly experienced God’s goodness and mercy. In both services, we sang Hymn #40, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” praising God who governs life and death, celebrating His greatness and majesty. Through this, I was able to more deeply experience God’s great love and His wonderful goodness. Particularly, when I reflected on the final moments of the late grandmother Jang Sang-su and the late Pastor Kim Chang-hyuk, I thought of the saving grace God bestowed upon them, and because of God’s goodness and mercy, I remember giving thanks and offering praise to God.
Why must we give thanks to God? Because God is good, and His mercy endures forever. Look at Psalm 118:1: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” In verses 1 through 5, we see the psalmist giving thanks to God because, after praying in the midst of suffering, God answered his prayer. Verse 5 says: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me and set me free.” The psalmist is likely David, who suffered God’s discipline because of his sins (verse 18), experiencing hardship and suffering. God’s discipline was accompanied by nations that hated Israel (verse 7) and surrounded them (verse 10), causing not only suffering but also fear of death. How do we know this? Verses 10, 11, and 12 repeatedly say, “They surrounded me,” “They hemmed me in,” and “They encircled me.”
Despite being surrounded by hostile nations, David and the people of Israel confessed that God did not deliver them to death (verse 18). In this situation, David cried out earnestly to God. Though trapped with no way out and in distress, he prayed to God. At that time, God heard David’s earnest prayer and set him in a “broad place,” meaning an “unlimited wide land” (according to Park Yoon-sun and Delitzsch) (verse 5). In English Bibles, this is rendered as “set me in a large place” (NASB) or “set me free” (NIV). In other words, God responded to David’s prayer by rescuing him from the surrounding nations and leading him to a spacious place. Simply put, God granted David the grace of salvation.
David also expresses this answered prayer by saying, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (verse 22). This means that although David was persecuted by many powerful people (“the builders”) in his early years, God ultimately established him as king (“the cornerstone”) (Calvin, Park Yoon-sun).
In conclusion, David prayed earnestly to God amid suffering, discipline, hardship, and fear because of his sins. When God delivered him, David experienced God’s goodness, who works all things for good, and God’s unchanging eternal love.
How many times do we doubt God’s goodness and mercy (love) when we are suffering through difficulties and hardships? In such times, how often do we hold in our hearts the question, “If God truly loves me, why must I endure such suffering and pain?” and fail to patiently endure while wondering where God’s good will is? Especially in those moments of suffering and hardship when it feels like every direction—east, west, south, and north—is blocked, and there is no sign of a solution, when it feels like every path is tightly closed—haven’t we all experienced such times in our lives?
In these moments, we should take the opportunity, like the psalmist, to cry out to God. And through God’s saving grace, we must experience God’s unchanging love and His goodness that works all things together for good. We need to experience God’s unchanging goodness and mercy more deeply and certainly, both in hard times and in times of peace.
But how is this possible? How did David, even while facing God’s discipline and a fearful situation where his life was threatened, pray to God and experience God’s goodness and mercy? It was because David had a fearless and courageous heart and a confident assurance of victory in battle (verses 6–16).
Look at verse 6 in today’s passage:
“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)
There is no fear in love, and perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18). Even in that fearful siege where his life was threatened, David trusted fully in God’s perfect love and boldly prayed without fear. He could have lost courage and become discouraged, fearing defeat in battle—but how was he able to pray without fear? Because David trusted God completely.
Look at verses 8 and 9 of Psalm 118:
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”
One of my favorite Bible verses, Isaiah 30:15, says:
“In quietness and trust is your strength.”
As I meditated on this, I was reminded again that quietly trusting God is my strength. When I do this, my heart gains strength and I receive assurance of salvation and courage instead of fear.
Because David trusted God completely, he not only prayed without fear but also had courage, boldness, and confidence in victory. How did David have this confidence in victory while surrounded? Because God was “on his side” (Psalm 118:6, 7), so he had no reason to fear. He believed that God, who was on his side, would help him and the people of Israel with His mighty right hand (verses 15, 16) (verses 7, 13).
Look at verse 13 in today’s passage:
“You pushed me to make me fall, but the Lord helped me.”
How did David respond when he received salvation through God’s help? He confessed, “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” (verse 14), and he resolved to enter the house of the Lord to give thanks to God (verses 19–21, 28). Look at verses 21 and 28 of Psalm 118 in today’s passage:
“You answered me and have become my salvation; I will give thanks to you, Lord” (v. 21);
“The Lord is my God, and I will praise him; my God is the Lord, and I will exalt him” (v. 28).
He also decided to proclaim by faith the saving acts of God who had rescued him (v. 17). Not only did he give thanks and proclaim God’s saving acts, but he also encourages all of us:
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (v. 29).
Let us all give thanks to God. He is good, and his love endures forever. In this season of thanksgiving, as we remember Jesus Christ, the stone the builders rejected who has become the cornerstone, let us give thanks for the grace of salvation God has bestowed upon you and me.
Even in situations where it seems impossible to be thankful, when we consider God’s grace of salvation given to us in Jesus Christ, we cannot help but give thanks.
Shared by Pastor James
(Thanking God for the grace of salvation)