March 5, 2021
Sharing from the congregation – Sue Biggerstaff
Give thanks to the Lord - Psalm 136:1
In the book Soul Keeper by Joel Ortberg, he writes about gratitude being linked to the words benefit, benefactor, and beneficiary. Each word begins with bene which means good in Latin.
A benefit is something you receive that you recognize as being good.
Bless the Lord who daily loads us with benefits. (Psalm 68:19)
A benefactor is the one who bestows good gifts.
Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father. (James 1:16)
A beneficiary is the receiver if the good gifts.
Consider the great things God has done for you. (1 Samuel 22:24)
Gratitude comes when we consider the gifts we have received and the one who gave them. The devout Jew in Jesus' time would pray "The Thirteen Benedictions." We think of a benediction (good words) coming at the end of a sermon, but the ancient Jews would pray these in the morning, at noon, and at night. Each benediction began with "Blessed are you Lord." It would then continue with something for which they were thankful.
The writer of psalm 136 gives us a specific list of things for which he is thankful, and he reminds us that God's love endures forever. Our list would be very different since we live in a different time period. Think of the blessings we have today that past generations would never have dreamed about. It should be very easy for us to pray thirteen benedictions since we are the beneficiaries of so many benefits from The Great Benefactor.
Gracefully Submitted,
Sue Biggerstaff