Psalm Meditation 1100 Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time July 18, 2021 Psalm 145 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; his 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 his compassion is over all that he has made. 10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you. 11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power, 12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds. 14 The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. 18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. 20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever. (NRSV) Giving thanks to God is an interesting consideration. We would think that it is easiest to give thanks when things are going well for us. However, in many cases when things are going very well for us we have a tendency to believe that it is because we have done something to deserve this good fortune. Either God has decided to reward us for our faithfulness, or we forget about God and believe that we have done this with our own hard work and good looks. When things turn sour, we ask God what we have done to deserve such bad treatment. As people in God’s favor, we deserve all the good stuff and we question and complain when things turn bad. The folks who seem to have little for which to be thankful, are the ones who will give God thanks most readily. There is gratitude for the smallest consideration all the way up to the greatest gift they might receive. It is not about earning or deserving so much as receiving all that comes their way. As a part of thankfulness they will bless God for all that comes their way. Both paragraphs above are painted with a broad brush since there are always exceptions: well to do folks who know it is all from God, and those without who blame everyone for everything that goes wrong with them, including God. The psalmist still tells us, “The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you.” July 12, 2021 LCM