Thanksgiving Psalms: Psalm 30

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 30: Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave Illness

A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.

1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,

    and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,

    and you have healed me.

3 O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you God’s faithful ones,

    and give thanks to God’s holy name.

5 For God’s anger is but for a moment;

    God’s favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may linger for the night,

    but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”

7 By your favor, O Lord,

    you had established me as a strong mountain;

you hid your face; I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I cried,

    and to the Lord I made supplication:

9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit?

Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!

    O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;

    you have taken off my sackcloth

    and clothed me with joy,

12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.

    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.