Aug 22 - Psalm 9:1

I will give thanks to the Lord

with my whole heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 9:1

NRSV

Several years ago someone gave me a book by some famous self-help guru. It was called something like “The Secret of Happiness.” Since I counsel a lot of people with depression – and since I’ve occasionally dabbled in a little depression myself – I was curious to see what they said the secret was.

It was a big fat book. I skimmed for a whole hour. Finally I found “the secret of happiness.” What was it?

Psalm 9:1

Thanksgiving is the key to happiness.

Most of us are naturally selfish. We want what we want. And when we get it, we usually want more. We’re never really satisfied. Thanksgiving is the simple, wonderful antidote. It is, indeed, the simple, wonderful secret to a good life.

Instead of saying, “I want.” The secret to happiness is looking at our life, and saying thank you for whatever we do have.

My favorite story about thanksgiving is from Corrie Ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. Two elderly sisters hid Jews from the Nazi’s. When they were found out, they were sent to a Nazi Concentration Camp. Through a series of miracles, God enabled Corrie and her sister, Betsy, to keep their Bible and teach other prisoners.

One day, in the midst of deplorable conditions, they were reading 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and Betsy said, “It says to ‘give thanks in all circumstances.’ Therefore, we need to give thanks for the lice.”

Corrie screamed, “I will not give thanks for the lice.”

Betsy was insistent. Finally, Corrie complied – very grudgingly and very angrily. But the lice were a gift. The lice kept the Nazi guards out of their barracks and allowed these two sisters to proclaim light in the midst of darkness.

As you learn the art of thanksgiving, I won’t ask you to start by saying thanks for the lice in your life. (That takes an advanced degree in Gratitude.) Nevertheless, I will absolutely encourage you to quit saying “I want” and “I don’t have,” and start saying, “Thank you for all I do have.”

Think of it this way: In your life, have you grown more from the hard times or the easy times? Well … did you give God lavish praise for the trials? After all, they led to greater growth!

The Apostle Paul says, “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thes 5:18). The Psalmist says, “… give thanks to the Lord with [your] whole heart” (Ps 9:1).

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s learning to

spell “happiness”

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