Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 150

Happy Thanksgiving to you! Perhaps our final Thanksgiving Psalm for this season of gratitude (also the final prayer in the book of Psalms--this is the book's exuberant closing word!) would make a good prayer of praise and thanksgiving at your family's table today.

Psalm 150: Praise for God’s Surpassing Greatness

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise God in God’s sanctuary;

    praise God in God’s mighty firmament!

2 Praise God for God’s mighty deeds;

    praise God according to God’s surpassing greatness!

3 Praise God with trumpet sound;

    praise God with lute and harp!

4 Praise God with tambourine and dance;

    praise God with strings and pipe!

5 Praise God with clanging cymbals;

    praise God with loud clashing cymbals!

6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 145

Earlier this month, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Throughout this Thanksgiving week, take time after praying each Psalm to name at least three things you are thankful for. Try to name three different things each day!

Psalm 145:The Greatness and the Goodness of God

Praise. Of David.

1 I will extol you, my God and King,

    and bless your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you,

    and praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

    God’s greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall laud your works to another,

    and shall declare your mighty acts.

5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

6 The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,

    and I will declare your greatness.

7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,

    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,

    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 The Lord is good to all,

    and God’s compassion is over all that God has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

    and all your faithful shall bless you.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 138

Earlier this month, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Throughout this Thanksgiving week, take time after praying each Psalm to name at least three things you are thankful for. Try to name three different things each day!

Psalm 138: Thanksgiving and Praise

Of David.

1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

    before the gods I sing your praise;

2 I bow down toward your holy temple

    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;

    for you have exalted your name and your word

    above everything.

3 On the day I called, you answered me,

    you increased my strength of soul.

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,

    for they have heard the words of your mouth.

5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

    for great is the glory of the Lord.

6 For though the Lord is high, God regards the lowly;

    but the haughty God perceives from far away.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

    you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;

you stretch out your hand,

    and your right hand delivers me.

8 The Lord will fulfill God’s purpose for me;

    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 111

Earlier this month, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Throughout this Thanksgiving week, take time after praying each Psalm to name at least three things you are thankful for. Try to name three different things each day!

Psalm 111: Praise for God’s Wonderful Works

1 Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

    in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

2 Great are the works of the Lord,

    studied by all who delight in them.

3 Full of honor and majesty is God’s work,

    and God’s righteousness endures forever.

4 God has gained renown by God’s wonderful deeds;

    the Lord is gracious and merciful.

5 God provides food for those who fear God;

    God is ever mindful of God’s covenant.

6 God has shown God’s people the power of God’s works,  in giving them the heritage of the nations.

7 The works of God’s hands are faithful and just;

    all God’s precepts are trustworthy.

8 They are established forever and ever,

    to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

9 God sent redemption to God’s people;

    God has commanded God’s covenant forever.

    Holy and awesome is God’s name.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

    all those who practice it have a good understanding.

    God’s praise endures forever.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 107 (cont. again)

Last Sunday, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Today is our third and final day focusing on Psalm 107, which is an unfolding story of thankfulness told in several acts. Go back and read the Psalm's first 22 verses if you missed them!

Psalm 107: Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Many Troubles

23 Some went down to the sea in ships,

    doing business on the mighty waters;

24 they saw the deeds of the Lord, God’s wondrous works in the deep.

25 For God commanded and raised the stormy wind,

    which lifted up the waves of the sea.

26 They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity;

27 they reeled and staggered like drunkards,

    and were at their wits’ end.

28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and God brought them out from their distress;

29 God made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

30 Then they were glad because they had quiet,

    and God brought them to their desired haven.

31 Let them thank the Lord for God’s steadfast love,

    for God’s wonderful works to humankind.

32 Let them extol God in the congregation of the people,

    and praise God in the assembly of the elders.

33 God turns rivers into a desert,

    springs of water into thirsty ground,

34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,

    because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.

35 God turns a desert into pools of water,

    a parched land into springs of water.

36 And there God lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in; 37 they sow fields, and plant vineyards,

    and get a fruitful yield.

Thanksgiving Prayers: Psalm 107 (cont.)

Last Sunday, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow all focus on Psalm 107, which is an unfolding story of thankfulness told in several acts. Here's the second part of the story-prayer; go back and read the first part if you missed it:

10 Some sat in darkness and in gloom,

    prisoners in misery and in irons,

11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,

    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

12 Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor;

    they fell down, with no one to help.

13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and God saved them from their distress;

14 God brought them out of darkness and gloom,

    and broke their bonds asunder.

15 Let them thank the Lord for God’s steadfast love,

    for God’s wonderful works to humankind.

16 For God shatters the doors of bronze,

    and cuts in two the bars of iron.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 107

Last Sunday, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. The next three days will all focus on Psalm 107, which is an unfolding story of thankfulness told in several acts.

Psalm 107: Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Many Troubles

1 O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;

    for God’s steadfast love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

    those God redeemed from trouble

3 and gathered in from the lands,

    from the east and from the west,

    from the north and from the south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastes,

    finding no way to an inhabited town;

5 hungry and thirsty,

    their soul fainted within them.

6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and God delivered them from their distress;

7 God led them by a straight way,

    until they reached an inhabited town.

8 Let them thank the Lord for God’s steadfast love,

    for God’s wonderful works to humankind.

9 For God satisfies the thirsty,

    and the hungry God fills with good things.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 103

Last Sunday, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Today, as you pray this, consider: how has God been good to you?

Psalm 103: Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness

Of David.

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and do not forget all God’s benefits—

3 who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the Pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works vindication

    and justice for all who are oppressed.

7 God made known God’s ways to Moses,

    God’s acts to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,

    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 God will not always accuse,

    nor will God keep God’s anger forever.

10 God does not deal with us according to our sins,

    nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is God’s steadfast love toward those who fear God;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

    so far God removes our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion for God’s children,

    so the Lord has compassion for those who fear God.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 100

Last Sunday, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Today, as you pray this, imagine all the earth pausing and joining together in one voice to praise and thank God.

Psalm 100: All Lands Summoned to Praise God

A Psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.

2     Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come into God’s presence with singing.

3 Know that the Lord is God.

    It is God that made us, and we are God’s;

    we are God’s people, and the sheep of God’s pasture.

4 Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving,

    and God’s courts with praise.

    Give thanks to God, bless God’s name.

5 For the Lord is good;

    God’s steadfast love endures forever,

    and God’s faithfulness to all generations.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 97

Last Sunday, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Now that we're a week into these prayers, what are you noticing about them? What thoughts or prayers are they bringing up in you?

Psalm 97: The Glory of God’s Reign

1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;

    let the many coastlands be glad!

2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around God;

    righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne.

3 Fire goes before God,

    and consumes God’s adversaries on every side.

4 God’s lightnings light up the world;

    the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

    before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim God’s righteousness;

    and all the peoples behold God’s glory.

7 All worshipers of images are put to shame,

    those who make their boast in worthless idols;

    all gods bow down before God.

8 Zion hears and is glad,

    and the towns of Judah rejoice,

    because of your judgments, O God.

9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;

    you are exalted far above all gods.

10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;

    God guards the lives of God’s faithful;

    God rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light dawns for the righteous,

    and joy for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

    and give thanks to God’s holy name!

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 95

Last Sunday, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Now that we're a week into these prayers, what are you noticing about them? What thoughts or prayers are they bringing up in you?

Psalm 95: A Call to Worship and Obedience

1 O come, let us sing to the Lord;

    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving;

    let us make a joyful noise to God with songs of praise!

3 For the Lord is a great God,

    and a great King above all gods.

4 In God’s hand are the depths of the earth;

    the heights of the mountains are God’s also.

5 The sea is God’s, for God made it,

    and the dry land, which God’s hands have formed.

6 O come, let us worship and bow down,

    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

7 For God is our God,

    and we are the people of God’s pasture,

    and the sheep of God’s hand.

O that today you would listen to God’s voice!

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 86

Last Sunday, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. Now that we're a week into these prayers, what are you noticing about them? What thoughts or prayers are they bringing up in you?

Psalm 86: Supplication for Help against Enemies

A Prayer of David.

1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,

    for I am poor and needy.

2 Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;

    save your servant who trusts in you.

You are my God; 3 be gracious to me, O Lord,

    for to you do I cry all day long.

4 Gladden the soul of your servant,

    for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

    abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.

6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;

    listen to my cry of supplication.

7 In the day of my trouble I call on you,

    for you will answer me.

8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,

    nor are there any works like yours.

9 All the nations you have made shall come

    and bow down before you, O Lord,

    and shall glorify your name.

10 For you are great and do wondrous things;

    you alone are God.

11 Teach me your way, O Lord,

    that I may walk in your truth;

    give me an undivided heart to revere your name.

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 68

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 68: Praise and Thanksgiving

Of David. A Psalm. A Song.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to God’s name;

    lift up a song to God who rides upon the clouds—

God’s name is the Lord—

    be exultant before God.

5 Father of orphans and protector of widows

    is God in God’s holy habitation.

6 God gives the desolate a home to live in;

    God leads out the prisoners to prosperity,

    but the rebellious live in a parched land.

7 O God, when you went out before your people,

    when you marched through the wilderness,Selah

8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain

    at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,

    at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;

    you restored your heritage when it languished;

10 your flock found a dwelling in it;

    in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 65

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 65: Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty

A Psalm of David. A Song.

1 Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion;

and to you shall vows be performed,

2  O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come.

3 When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,

    you forgive our transgressions.

4 Happy are those whom you choose and bring near

    to live in your courts.

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

    your holy temple.

5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,

    O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.

6 By your strength you established the mountains;

    you are girded with might.

7 You silence the roaring of the seas,

    the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.

8 Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;  you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

9 You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it.

10 You water its furrows abundantly,

    settling its ridges, softening it with showers,

    and blessing its growth.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 57

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 57: Praise and Assurance under Persecution

Of David, when David fled from Saul, in the cave.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

    for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

    until the destroying storms pass by.

2 I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills God’s purpose for me.

3 God will send from heaven and save me,

    God will put to shame those who trample on me.

God will send forth God’s steadfast love and God’s faithfulness.

4 I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey;

their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.

    Let your glory be over all the earth.

6 They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down.

They dug a pit in my path,

    but they have fallen into it themselves.Selah

7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.

I will sing and make melody.

8     Awake, my soul!  Awake, O harp and lyre!

    I will awake the dawn.

9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

    I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10 For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;

    your faithfulness extends to the clouds.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.

    Let your glory be over all the earth.

Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 40

Sunday night, at our Intergenerational Faith Formation Meal, we talked together about thankfulness, and each household received a sort of Thanksgiving devotional book to take home, with a different Psalm of Thanksgiving to read each day from now til Thanksgiving. For those of you who were unable to attend (or who just do better receiving things digitally!) those Psalms will also be sent out via the blog daily until Thanksgiving. Just a chance for you to stop and offer a prayer of thanks from the scriptures each day, developing deeper gratitude in your own lives. How do these ancient prayers of Thanksgiving compare to your own prayers? Which parts of these Thanksgiving prayers connect with your life?

Psalm 40: Thanksgiving for Deliverance 

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;

    God inclined to me and heard my cry.

2 God drew me up from the desolate pit,

    out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

    making my steps secure.

3 God put a new song in my mouth,

    a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

    and put their trust in the Lord.

4 Happy are those who make

    the Lord their trust,

who do not turn to the proud,

    to those who go astray after false gods.

5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

    none can compare with you.

Were I to proclaim and tell of them,

    they would be more than can be counted.

6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,

    but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

    you have not required.

7 Then I said, “Here I am;

    in the scroll of the book it is written of me.

8 I delight to do your will, O my God;

    your law is within my heart.”