Thanks to God! Psalm 94

I recently read this Psalm and have come back to it as it is Thanksgiving Day 2017 in the USA.  I would like to make what I hope is a helpful comment after a quick journey through the Psalm.

·        94:1-3: How long will the wicked triumph?  This is the constant cry of the righteous, and it is a cry made to the LORD whom we are told twice is a God of vengeance.

·        94:4-7: Here we see the things the wicked say and do.  They boast in themselves, they stand against God’s people, and they claim God doesn’t see what they do or that there is no God to whom they must give account.

·        94:8-11: The Psalmist knows this is foolishness.  Of course there is a God, the Creator.  And He knows, not only what is visible to all but He knows the secret thoughts of everyone.

·        94:12-15: Furthermore, God takes up the cause of the righteous, of those who fear Him.  He will help them to be patient.  As He often said to Israel, He will not utterly forsake His people (inheritance) or allow them to be cast off.

·        94:16-19: Also, God will help His people to stand up to the wicked.  What comforting words we read here.  He has called us to live in and witness to an abusive world.  He is our help; and today we understand that He is our Help that lives within us through the Holy Spirit.  In our anxieties His comforts delight our souls. Amen!

·        94:20-23: We can be assured that however long it may be, the throne of iniquity will not triumph.  The LORD our God shall cut them off.

On this Thanksgiving Day we need to give God thanks.  It’s not really a day to give thanks to our friends and neighbors and family.  It is not really a day to simply be thankful for our country.  IT IS A DAY TO THANK GOD FOR EVERY BLESSING, including friends and family and free nation.

You are aware (we are not allowed to live in ignorance) that we in the USA are in a tumultuous time.  This first year of the Trump presidency has been a real ride.  Its the center of life and conversations it seems.  But let me mention to you: it has been this way for a long, long time.  This is how we Americans are.  We get to select our leaders and so they are the focus of our lives.

So lest we misunderstand, the throne of iniquity is not a reference to the King of Israel or the President of the United States.  The throne of iniquity is Satan’s throne, a throne that exists solely to deny glory to God the Creator.  He, Satan, would actually want us to think that our blessings are dependent on the government, that our protection is guaranteed by the greatest military in the world, and that our lives consist of the things we possess.  Lies!  Lies!  Lies!

I am with those who decide NOT to talk politics today.  Let us instead delight this day in the LORD, His help, His mercy, His comforts!