Day 174, or June 23. God supplies all we need. Our thoughts today are rooted in Psalm 118,
verse 1. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.
First the big picture surrounding this verse. Each of these six Psalms is directly connected
to the Passover feast. The first two were sung before Passover, and the remaining four
were sung during the meal and afterwards. Bearing this in mind, we can be quite sure
that all these Psalms would have been sung by Jesus himself, many times, as well as by
his disciples. Passover was the key celebration of the Jews
in the days of Jesus, and still is today. They remembered when their ancestors were
given the following information in Exodus chapter 12, verse 13. The blood on the doorposts
will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you were staying. When I see the blood, I
will pass over you. Their trust in the blood of the Lamb resulted in their deliverance
from death. The same is true today for everyone who trusts in Jesus and his blood sacrifice.
That's why many believers still use the phrase, covered by the blood, which refers to Jesus,
but also looks back to Passover. Our thoughts today are centered on Psalm 118, which was
Martin Luther's favorite. And now our action step for today.
This verse is the first and last one in Psalm 118. At the beginning and the end we are reminded
that our God is good, and his love endures forever. So we are to give him thanks. In
his goodness we have everything we need to live life to the full. When someone is so
good to you, it isn't hard to be thankful. In fact, it's perfectly natural. In these
days when manners and common courtesy seem to have disappeared, maybe we do need a reminder
to give thanks to God for all he has done for us. Throughout today, whenever you say
or hear the word, thanks, why not look up and say a silent thanks to God, too, for all
he has done. You may find it helpful to listen to January 21 as well.