Giving Thanks for the Past, Future, and Present
November 21, 2021 Preacher: Ace Davis
Topic: Thanksgiving Scripture: Psalm 138
48:09
Click here for an easy-to-read .pdf transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
God, David, kings, praise, sing, thanksgiving, verse, life, Psalm, Lord, gospel, humble, lived, heart, people, thankful, sovereignty, give, answered
Table of Contents
Introduction
The title of this sermon here this morning is Giving Thanks for the Past, Future and the Present. We have a lot to be thankful for. The Oxford Dictionary defines Thanksgiving Day as this, a public holiday in the US on the fourth Thursday of November, and in Canada on the second Monday in October, originally to give thanks to God for the harvest and for health. Then it gives a second definition. It says this, the expression of thanks to God. It actually says that in the Oxford Dictionary, it's interesting that the dictionary would specifically acknowledge God in Thanksgiving, but we must ask, who is this God? Who is this God?
We know that there is only one God, Yahweh, the God of the Bible, who eternally exists, as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He's the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. This God is the only God and therefore the only God who is worthy and deserving of our Thanksgiving. The only way that a person will give thanks to the true God is because they know Him. The only way that you and I can give thanks to the one true God is by knowing Him. Think about this, an atheist doesn't know Him and so they don't give Him thanks. A Buddhist doesn't know Him, so they don't give Him thanks. A Muslim doesn't know Him, and so they don't give the one true God thanks. The only ones who give Him thanks are the ones who actually know this one true God.
And David was a man who knew the one true God. In fact, although David was not perfect, David was a man after God's own heart. Listen to what Paul told the Jews in Antioch when he stood up to preach in their synagogue in Acts 13:22. He said, “After He” (God) “had removed him,” (That is Saul) “He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.’ (Acts 13:22) David was a man after God's heart. And because he loves God, he feared God. Because he feared God, he worshipped God. And the way that he worshipped God was by giving Him thanks.
Although we have a single day of the year as Thor had mentioned earlier, where we celebrate Thanksgiving, every day was Thanksgiving in David's life. He was a thankful man. And it should be that way in our lives as well. Every day should be Thanksgiving for us. And as we live a thankful life, that will lead us to give praise to God in every area of our lives, we’ll give God praise for what He has done in our past, as we remember the things that God has done for us in our past, we’ll give thanks to God for the future, and all the things that God is going to do for us in the future. And we also live a thankful life for what He is presently doing in our lives. That is what a thankful life looks like.
And that's exactly what David does in our Psalm here this morning. So let me read Psalm 138. And follow along as I read this Psalm for us, Psalm 138. A Psalm of David.
"I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods. 2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name. 3 On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul. 4 All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD, When they have heard the words of Your mouth. 5 And they will sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD. 6 For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. 8 The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands. (Psalm 138)
Now you'll notice in your in your Bible that this Psalm here is broken up into three sections. There are three sections.
- First, we see David giving personal thanks and praise for what God has already done in his life in verses 1-3.
- Then second, we see David praise God for the thanksgiving that kings will bring God in the future, found in verses 4-6.
- And then third, we see David's confident praise to God amidst his present trials, in verses 7-8.
And so that's how we will break down our passage here this morning, we'll break it down into three parts. With a heart of thanksgiving, David will first of all praise God for the past. Second, he will praise God for the future. And then third, he will praise God for the present.
1. Praise God for the Past
So, let's look at our first point here, Praise God for the Past. Praise God for the Past. Now notice it says up before where it even says verse 1, in your Bible, it says, A Psalm of David. That is, this is a Psalm of David, those words there are found in the Hebrew. That bold title, if you have a bold title, mine says "Thanksgiving for the Lord's favor" -- that's not found in the Hebrew. But the words a Psalm of David is found there. Those are not added there by the translators. But David wrote those there -- that's in the Hebrew. And so, this tells us that David is the author of this Psalm. And so, as he sat down to write this, there's a flow of thought that is going through his mind as he writes Psalm 138.
And notice, as he as he puts the pen to the paper, he begins by bursting forth with thanksgiving and praise. He starts off by saying, "I will give You thanks with all of my heart", there's a bursting of thanksgiving to God. Notice David says there, "I will give You thanks," not I should give You thanks, or I'll think about giving You thanks maybe at a later time, but he says, I will give You thanks. It's an action that he is doing. It's a done deal in his life. He's living out a heart of thanksgiving. It's what he does. It's what David does in his life. Because that's how David lived his life.
He lived his life as a man who was thankful. He was a man who lived with thankfulness to God for who God is and for all the things that God had done. And think about all that David had to be thankful for. David had a lot of things in his life to be thankful for. David was the youngest of Jesse's eight sons. He was a shepherd boy, out in the fields, and being the youngest, he was the one who was left to take care of the family sheep. Being a shepherd was not a job that people wanted to do. They didn't look up to shepherds. So, it was left for the youngest son, and David being the youngest son of Jesse was left. Finally, all the seven brothers said, All right David, you're responsible for the sheep. We're moving on. We're going to go do our thing. But David, you take care of the family sheep.
This was a lowly job that no one wanted to do. But David did it as the youngest son. But God chose David and David went from a lowly shepherd boy to becoming a king. Why was David a king? Was it because David was some special guy? No. It wasn't. It was because God chose him to be king. David was where he was in his life, not because of David, but because of God, who called him and chose him for His task at hand. And so, David had much to praise God for and much to be thankful for -- seeing all of the things that God had done in his life. Notice also there in verse 1, where this thanksgiving came from. It comes from David's -- notice this -- it comes from his heart. It comes from his heart. That is it was continually always inside of him. Wherever he went, and whatever he went through, he was a man who was thankful because that Thanksgiving was in his heart.
Do you have a heart of thanksgiving? Are you always continually giving thanks to God for all things in your life? Are you living the way that David lived? As a man who gave thanks to God from His heart? Always? That was David. David was a man who had a heart that was full of thanks to God.
But David's thanksgiving didn't stay in his heart. Notice the second part of verse 1, he says, "I will sing praises to You before the gods." David couldn't hold it in. He couldn't hold it in his heart, his heart of thanksgiving had to be expressed in his life. And he did it through song. Through singing to God, he sang praises as he lifted up his voice to the Lord. That is why he says, "I will sing praises to You", to You God, to You alone, God, I will sing praises.
Do you realize how amazing music is? Music is an amazing, tool, amazing instrument that God has given to us and amazing activity that every one of us can participate in. You may not be able to play an instrument, but you can sing. God has given you a voice to sing praises to Him with a heart that's full of thanksgiving. We just sang two amazing songs here this morning. Let me ask you, how did you sing those songs? Did you just casually sing along because it's a familiar tune? Or did it burst forth from your heart. That's how we are to sing as God's children... to sing with praise that bursts forth from our heart. That's why we put the words in the bulletin there and sing lyrically-rich songs. Because we want you to dwell on these songs, and think about the words that you are singing as they come from your heart.
That's why we don't have a rock concert here on Sunday mornings. Church is not a show. It's not a show. It's a congregation of all of us singing together and we sing in unison with one another, these great truths about our God and to our God. That's how God wants us to be in our lives. Singing people. That's why when the state comes in and says 'you cannot sing' we say 'we must obey God rather than man, and we will sing because God commands us to sing to Him. Because our hearts are full of praise and thanksgiving for our God, and we can do nothing else but burst forth in praise and thanksgiving to our God.'
David was a singer. He loved to sing. And notice he sang to God "before the gods." What does that mean? Well, there's different takes on this but I believe that he's talking here about pagan deities that were all around him. David lived amongst pagan nations. But David was one who served the one true God. And he, as he praised God alone, those who worshipped the pagan deities would see how God was with David. And they would then give praise to the one true God.
Think about King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar. It was King Nebuchadnezzar with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego -- as they worshipped the one true God and were thrown into the furnace, and then were saved by God. And as King Nebuchadnezzar witnessed this happen, as he saw this happen, what was King Nebuchadnezzar's conclusion? Listen to Daniel 3:28, it says, Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him,” (Notice this) “violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God." (Dan 3:28) No one was able then to speak against God, or there would be consequences to pay. King Nebuchadnezzar then made a decree, no one speaks against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. (Daniel 3:29) God was honored amongst the gods. And David sings his praise before the gods so that the one true God would receive glory among all of the other false gods. Are you living in such a way that God gets the glory as you live amongst unbelievers? That's how Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego lived. And amongst all of these pagan deities, they were witness of the one true God, and the power of the one true God. We must live our lives so that God would get the glory amongst this world.
In verse 2, David says, "I will bow down toward Your holy temple." Notice the posture of David. He bowed down. This man is a king. He's a king who has been chosen specifically by God. He's the youngest of eight boys. He gets chosen by God to be the king over Israel, and yet he comes and he bows down before God. This is a posture of humility. It shows David's heart as he gives thanks and praise to God. That he came with a low and a humble heart before God, to sing praises to Him and to give God thanks.
Listen, do you realize that God owes you nothing. God owes you nothing. He owes us absolutely nothing. All of us are deserving of hell. That's all we deserve. But He has chosen to set His love upon us. He has called us, He has saved us, He has redeemed us. And so, we must approach Him with an attitude of humility as we come and give Him thanks and praise.
Well, David's got to burst forth in praise again. This time in verse two he tells us what it is for. He gives us two reasons why he is thankful. First, in the middle of verse 2 there, he says, "For Your lovingkindness and Your truth." Why are you thankful David? He says, "For Your lovingkindness and Your truth." (Psalm 138:2) This word lovingkindness is the Hebrew word Chesed. And it speaks of God's loyal covenant love toward us as believers. It's God's loyal love for us. It's His covenant love for His people. That when He makes a covenant with His people, He never breaks His covenant. He never breaks His promise. That word truth there in the NASB could be better translated as "faithfulness." And these two words lovingkindness and faithfulness often go together as they speak of God's faithful covenant love, God's faithful covenant love for His people. God is faithful to His covenant promises, because of His steadfast love that He has.
Do you realize that this is the kind of love that God has for us as believers? God has this kind of love for us. God's love for us is a covenant love. Which means that God will never turn His love away from you, if you are His child. He'll never turn it away. He loves you, and will always love you. He will never take that love away from you. It's unconditional love. And David is thankful for that love that God has toward him.
Listen, when was the last time that you thanked God for loving you? Do you thank Him for the love that He has set upon you that you don't deserve? David is thankful for God's love, and God's faithfulness.
But there's a second reason why he's thankful. Look at the end of verse 2. He says, "For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name." (Psalm 138:2) David is also thankful for God's Word and the promises that God keeps by His Word. Think about all of the promises that God has given in His Word. Promise after promise after promise. And does God always keep His promises? Of course, He does. He is a promise-keeping God. And David has experienced that in his life. And he says that just as Your name is magnified, so is Your word -- so are your promises God.
Now, what does he mean by God's "name" here? What does God's name signify? God's name is the essence of His holy character and His sovereignty over the entire world. It is who He is. His name encompasses all that He is -- every one of His perfect attributes are all encompassed there in His name. Think about when someone tells you a person's name. Someone says a name, and what comes to your mind? Thoughts about them, who they are, what kind of person this is, what kind of character do they have, what do they look like. Who they are is encompassed in their name.
God's name is who He is, all of His holy attributes. And when we think of God's name, we magnify Him, we praise Him. And David says Your Word and Your promises are to be magnified, just as Your name is magnified.
One commentator says, "It's as if David is saying here, God, You really outdid yourself this time. What You've done in fulfilling Your promise by Your Word is far beyond what I had come to know about Your loyal love and faithfulness." David is thanking God for how magnificent His Word is. When was the last time you thanked God for His Word, and for His promises?
But there was something that happened in David's past where David had to call out to God. Look at what he says in verse 3, "On that day I called You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul." (Psalm 138:3) And he's continuing on this heart of giving thanks as he remembers then what God has done for him. We don't know what it was. We don't know the setting of this Psalm and all the things that David was going through, but he was at a point in his life where he had to call out to God. And what did God do? God answered. He answered David.
Did you know that God always answers your prayers when you call out to Him? Always. He always does. Sometimes it's a no. Sometimes it's a yes. And sometimes He tells us wait...just wait. God always answers our prayers. Always.
David experienced that in his life. Whatever it was that God answered in David's life, it gave him boldness and strength, so that he could continue on, as a man who was called by God, to live for Him. He needed boldness and strength in his life, and so he calls out to God and God answered him. Doesn't that happen when God answers your prayers? It does with mine -- it gives me boldness and strength to continue on trusting in Him knowing that He is a faithful God who answers our prayers. David needed that. God gave it to him.
When you see God answer, you know that He hears you, and is with you. And then it gives you boldness and strength to continue on -- to keep going in life. Sadly, many people don't have boldness and strength because they don't go to God in prayer. They don't go to God in prayer. And therefore, they don't see God answer prayer. When they continue to live --weak, and unsanctified -- God says, No, come to Me and watch, I will answer every single one of your prayers. And as you see Me answer, oh, you will be boldened and strengthened by it. We should learn from David to pray. And then when we see God answer that prayer, we are to respond with praise and thanksgiving, just as David did. That's why he had a heart of thanksgiving. Because he saw how mighty and powerful God was, and that God was with him. Even answering his prayers.
Think about what God has done in your past. Think about all of the things that God has done in your past. Think about when God saved you and called you to be His -- called you out of this world to be His child. When's the last time you've thanked Him for that? God has done a lot in our past, may we be people who give Him thanks for all that he has done.
2. Praise God for the Future
And David doesn't just think about the past. But David also thinks about the future, which leads to our second point that we're to Praise God for the Future. We're to Praise God for the Future. Now, as we've been going through Mark 13 here the last couple of weeks, we've been studying the future and what's going to happen, right? God's revealed it to us through His Word. David knows what's going to happen too -- look what he says in verse 4. “All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth. And they will sing of the ways of the LORD,
For great is the glory of the LORD.” (Psalm 138:4-5)
Now, what does David mean by this? Well, David is looking forward to a future prophecy here, when the kings of the earth will come to know Christ as their Messiah, and they will sing and give thanks to God. And now think about David at this time. There weren't a whole lot of other kings who were bowing down in worship to God. He lived amongst a bunch of pagan kings. But David knows that the gospel is going to go forth in the world and that kings from all over the world will be there in the kingdom of God, to give thanks to Him. How will they get in? How are these kings going to get into the kingdom? Notice what David says there he says, "when they have heard the words of Your mouth." That is when they have heard the gospel proclaimed, they will repent of their sin and put their faith in Christ, even kings will. Faith comes from what? Hearing. And hearing the words of Christ, Romans 10:17 tells us. And David is praising God that there will be other kings who will be with him praising God in the future kingdom. David was a king with a heart for other kings. Don't kings need the gospel to? They do, right? Isn't that what Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:2 -- to pray for kings and all those who are in authority over you. (1 Tim 2:2) Pray for them, that they would come to know Christ. They need the gospel too.
Listen to Revelation 19:16. "And on His robe" (that is Christ's robe) "and on His thigh He has a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Rev 19:16) Now, oftentimes, we like to think about this name King of Kings as just meaning that Jesus is the King of all of the bad kings in the world. Jesus is the King of all of the wicked kings of the world. But that's not what it says there. Jesus isn't just the King of all the wicked kings. Yes, He is the King of all the wicked kings, but He's also the King of all the righteous kings. Of all the kings who fear Him, and who love Him and worship Him. He is their king as well.
Spurgeon, commenting on this Psalm about David and his care for other kings, he said this, "David, the king cared for king's souls, and it will be wise for each man to look first after those who are of his own order. Kings need to give kings the gospel. CEOs need to give other CEOs the gospel. The servants need to give other servants the gospel. Mothers need to give other mothers the gospel. Fathers need to give other fathers the gospel." Where has God placed you? Who has God put in your life around you to give the gospel to? Because they need it...they need it. Are you desiring for those around you to join in with you one day singing praises to our God? Do you desire that for other people who are in your life?
One commentator says, "What a great day that will be when the kings of the earth join together with God's people and praising the Lord." That will be a great day when we see the kings of the world singing praises to our God with us! (Psalm 138:5) And they will... they will be there because they will have heard the gospel. And our job is to reach those around us with the gospel to reach others with this good news so that they will join with us as well in singing praise and giving thanks to our God.
David goes on in verse 6. And he says "for though the LORD is exalted, yet He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar." (Psalm 138:6) In order for those kings to get into the kingdom, what will they have to do? They'll have to humble themselves. They will have to become humble men. Yes, God is exalted above all else...that's what David says there. "For though the LORD is exalted." He is the exalted One. And so, many would think that He wouldn't have time for anyone else. He is so far above us He doesn't have time for us low people. Or maybe He only cares for those that are up there with Him on that level. But notice, who does He have regard for? The lowly. He has regard for the lowly. Or another way to say this, is the humble. God has regard for the humble.
Was David a humble King? Listen to what David says right after God makes a covenant with David. And then also tells him that he is not the one who's going to build the temple in 1 Chronicles 17:23 He says, "now oh Lord, let the words that you have spoken concerning your servant." That's how he identifies himself. He doesn't say "Your king" or "Your one that's enthroned, Your leader who's leading Your people God". No, he says Your servant. He identifies himself as a servant of God, "and concerning his house be established forever and do as You have spoken." (1 Chron 17:23) Oh God. David was a humble man who humbled himself before the Lord. And he only desired to bring honor and praise and thanksgiving to God's name.
Listen, the lower that you get, the higher God gets. The lower that you get, the higher God gets. The more you humble yourself, the greater your praise and thanksgiving will be. And God knows those who are humble. God knows those who humble themselves before Him. Look at what he says there in verse 6, he says, "but the haughty" (or the prideful) "He knows from afar." (Psalm 138:6) What does that mean? God knows all people, right? He knows both the proud and the ... He knows everybody. He knows everyone's heart. He knows all things. But the prideful people don't have a relationship with Him. He knows them from afar. Because there's no relationship with Him -- because of their pride.
Why is there no relationship? Because they don't think they need Him. They're good on their own. They think they can do it all on their own. They don't need God. They want the throne instead of humbling themselves and recognizing that God is the one who is on the throne.
James 4:6 says, "God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble." You want to know what God thinks about the proud? Proverbs 16:5 says, "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished."
God does not like pride. God hates pride. We must be humble people, just as David was a humble man who received God's grace and praised God and thanked Him for it. We must learn from David and be humble as well, so that we will then be able to give thanks and praise to our magnificent God.
3. Praise God for the Present
And so not only did David give praise and thanksgiving for what God did in the past, and what he will do in the future, but he also praised and thanked God for what God was doing presently in his life. Which leads to our third point, point number three, Praise God for the Present. Praise God for the Present.
Although David was a king, and was chosen by God as a man after God's own heart, David did not have an easy life. David had a lot of trials and trouble in his life. Look at what he says in verse 7, "though I walk in the midst of trouble." (Psalm 138:7) As David is writing the Psalm, there is trouble that is going on in his life. David dealt with a lot of trouble. In fact, even as God chose him to be the king, who wanted to take him out? Saul. Saul wanted to kill him. He was on the run. He did deal with a lot of trouble in his life. What kind of trouble was he in here in our passage? Well, we don't really know. But we do know that he has an enemy that is after him.
Look at what it says in verse 7, "You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies." (Psalm 138:7) His enemies were after him. But look at the confidence that David has in the midst of the attacks of his enemies. That's why he's able to give thanks and praise to God, even in the present circumstances in which he was in. He says in verse 7, "You will revive me, You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me."
Look at the confidence that he has in God here. He begins his Psalm in verses 1 and 2 where he says, "I will I will. I will." But look as he comes to the end here, what does he say? "You will, You will, You will." Why does he say that? Because he knows that God is on his side. God will see him through all of his trials and tribulations. And he will see God's power on display as God protects him.
Does David believe in the sovereignty of God? Oh you bet he does! In fact, he shows his belief of God's sovereignty over his life in verse 8, look at what he says there, "the Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your loving kindness O LORD, is everlasting. Do not forsake the works of Your hands." (Psalm 138:8) David was confident that God was not done with him yet. Listen, believer, do you realize that God is not done with you yet? He is still working in your life. And as we studied this last week, he is working all things together for what? For good... to all who love Him. God is still working in your life. And David was confident that God was still working in his life, that God wasn't done with him. And he knew that God would accomplish whatever it was that God wanted to do in David's life. Notice what he says there, "the Lord will accomplish what concerns me."
Did you know that if you are a child of God, God is concerned with you. He's concerned with your life, each and every moment of your life. You might think, well, I don't know. Does he really know what I'm going through? Yes, He does. He knows everything that you're going through. And He's concerned for you. Because He has concern for His own children. He knows your troubles. He knows your trials. He knows your hardships. And He's concerned for you. The King of the universe is concerned for you. He hasn't left you. He hasn't abandoned you. He hasn't deserted you. But He cares for you. And He's still working in your life. And He cares about every aspect of your life.
And David knows this. He knows that God loves him and cares for him, which is why he comes back to God's covenant love. And he says, "Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting." The moment that God saved you, He made a covenant with you, do you realize that? It's the new covenant that we have, He made a covenant with you, which means that He will make sure that you will be saved from all evil. He will make sure that your salvation is complete and eternal. God will make sure that that happens in your life. Why? Because He's concerned for you. Because He cares for you. And He will never let you go.
David knows this. Which is why he then confidently prays at the end of verse 8, "Do not forsake the works of Your hands." (Psalm 138:8) David knew that there was still more work to be done in his life. Think about David, a man after God's own heart, he knew that God was not done with him that there was still more work to be done in his life. If David knew that, how much more do we need to know that? God's not done.
David wanted what God's will was to be done in his life. And he knew that God's will would continue to be done because he started off by thanking and praising God for what God had already done in his past, right? And he says, Thank You, Lord, for all the things that You've done in the past, in my past in my life, and that's why he has confidence to say and even what You are presently doing, You are continually working Your purposes in my life, Your will is being done in my life. He's confident that God is working in his life presently, and will finally complete in the future what all of us have been waiting for...which is praise and glory and honor with Him in His kingdom.
That's what we're all waiting for. Right? That's our future. David knew that. Therefore, he's able to praise God for his past and his present, and what God will do in his future.
Listen this week, think about what God has done in your past. And thank Him for it. Think about what God will do in your future, as He's revealed it to us in His Word. Give Him thanks. Have you given Him thanks and praise for the millennial kingdom that is to come? We should. That's our glorious future. Give Him thanks. And even now, although things may be troublesome, as David's life was, God is working in your life, right now.
Listen, believer, are you giving Him thanks?
Father, we thank You for the example of David...a man who lived with a thankful heart because he knew of Your sovereignty in his life, and all the things that you had done in his past, all the things that You were doing in his present life, and everything that You would accomplish in the future. I pray that we would be filled with thanksgiving to You. And that we would sing praises for Your love and Your faithfulness. Thank You for the strength that You've given us when we ask from You. Thank You for hearing our prayers and always answering them according to Your will. Father, we pray for kings and all of those who are in authority. We pray that they would hear the gospel truth and be saved and sing praises to Your name. Thank You, that You hear the cry of the lowly and that You care for those who are humble in heart. Father, forgive us for our pride and help us to walk humbly before you. Father, we thank You that You are accomplishing in our lives what is best for us. Thank You that You have concern for us and care for each one who are Yours. May we live with hearts of thanksgiving and praise for who You are. For all that You have done, and for all that You will do in our lives we pray in Christ's name. Amen.