As we approach the Thanksgiving season, there is not a better psalm to have on our minds, our hearts, and our tongues than Psalm 34. We live in a crazy world full of conflict and turmoil, and it can be easy to forget that we have a God who is good and merciful and who loves us as a Father. We also live in a culture that desperately tries turn the Thanksgiving season into quite the opposite. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, we’ll be bombarded with endless advertisements and commercials designed to tell us we don’t have enough and need more stuff. As Christians, and especially as Faith Driven Consumers, we should resist this temptation and instead, turn our eyes on Him who is enough.
The words of the Psalm below can help us keep our eyes not on the craziness of this world, or the material goods and endless stuff it has to offer, but on our loving Father. He is sovereign over the entire world and everything in it, and provides us with everything we need while He works all things for our good and His glory. Be encouraged and ponder the greatness of our God this week as we read this beautiful psalm of David:
[1] I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
[2] My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
[3] Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
[4] I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
[5] Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
[6] This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
[7] The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
[8] Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
[9] Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
[10] The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
[11] Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
[12] What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
[13] Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
[14] Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
[15] The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
[16] The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
[17] When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
[18] The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
[19] Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
[20] He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
[21] Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
[22] The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (ESV)
God is there for us in our times of trouble, and He promises to never forsake us. When we are downtrodden or weary, He comforts us and lifts us up. May we enter into this Thanksgiving season with gratitude for all that we have been given and praise our Father in heaven for His great works and His everlasting kindness toward us.
