THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING
Oh, that men would give thanks to the
Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Psalm 107:8
In
the Old Testament, we find an interesting story of how King Jehoshaphat took
an uncommon approach when his enemies waged war against him. Instead of sending
in his army first, he sent in the choir and musicians. Imagine the scene: “All
right, soldiers, tomorrow at dawn we will mount an offensive attack against the
Assyrian army and the strategy is that the choir and the musicians will lead
the attack". Most of his soldiers might have thought he was out of his
mind.
But
God had directed Jehoshaphat in this unusual battle tactic. We read that
Jehoshaphat appointed people to sing to the Lord, praise the beauty of His
holiness, and go out in front of the army saying, “Praise the Lord, for His
mercy endures forever". And that is exactly what they did. The Bible tells
us that when they began to sing and praise, God sent an ambush against the
enemy, and they were destroyed. They won a great victory not through
ammunition, but through praise and thanksgiving.
In
approaching God to ask for new blessings, we should never forget to thank Him
for the blessings He has already given. If you would stop and think about how
many of your prayers God have answered and how seldom you have come to Him just
to give thanks, you will be ashamed of yourself. We should be just as deliberate
in giving thanks to God as we are in asking for His help.
Prayer: Give praise and thanks to the
Lord for His goodness and mercy for you and all your loved ones.
Scriptural Reading: Psalm 107:1-16
