The Ten Commandments of Thanksgiving #5 & 6 Psalm 105

Psalm 105:2–3 (ESV)

²Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

³Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

This passage which is reiterated from I Chronicles 16:7-14 contains what I have been referring to as the “Ten Commandments of Thanksgiving”.  In today’s segment we will consider commands five and six.

The psalmist continues, “Talk of all his wondrous works” in verse 2. 

He is saying speak, tell, make an utterance of any kind, or use your words to bring focus upon what you have been thinking about.^[1]  We are not to keep God’s works to ourselves we are to help others to see them.  He goes on saying, “of His wondrous deeds”  The Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:6–7 were told, (ESV) ⁶And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”  The discussion of God’s wondrous deeds was to be a continual process.   God expected the Israelites conversation to be filled with the things of God.  Psalm 111:2 says, “The Works of God are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them.”

Finally for today we see that we are to, “Glory in His name.” vs. 3  To “Glory in” is to boast in, praise, to express words of excellence, with a focus on the confidence in God.^[2]  We can boast in our finances, our cardinals, our work, But God wants us to boast in Him and His attributes.

Jeremiah 9:23–24 (ESV) ^23”Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, ²⁴but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.””

As we grow in the knowledge of the LORD and what the LORD does in and for us we should be boasting in those things.

So in the days approaching thanksgiving and for the days following may we talk of all that God is doing and may we boast in who He is…

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton .  FW #23

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^[1] Ibid

^[2] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).