A few weeks ago on Face book, I watched a video clip on how several of the Detroit Public Schools had poor environmental issues that teachers and students had to learn in during school hours. In one Detroit Public School, the condition of the school had water leakage from its ceiling, an unsafe playground and damaged walls, doors and railing. As a result of these poor conditions in these schools the students and the teacher’s health were being affected by these hazard conditions.
Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee (Psalms 143:8).
In our American society and culture we as people function through four different time periods daily. These four different time periods provide us with order and that order organizes purpose for our lives. The day begins with “morning”, the midday is known as afternoon follow by evening and the day ends with night which is a period of rest. Although different parts of the world are on their different time schedules, a day in Australia, New Zealand, or Japan are divided into the same four periods as a day in America. When you first wake up in the morning how do you start your day? Do you begin your day by jumping out of the bed right away or do you lie in your bed for a period of time? Are you a person that is motivated by the first sounds of the morning or are you a person who needs things to be still and quiet around you?
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy (Psalms 107:1-2);
In verse one of Psalm 107, there are two important reasons that the Psalmist explains why we are to give thanks to the Lord. The first is to give thanks to the Lord because His word tells us that the Lord is good. A second reason why we give thanks to the Lord is that His mercy is not just for a moment but that it endures forever. It is because of these two reasons that the Psalmist goes into great detail on how the Lord not only extended His mercy to the Children of Israel, but He has extended His mercy to us as well. There are times in our lives when we allow sin to become blind spots in our relationship with the Lord. These blind spots can cause us to fall into disobedience to the will of God. These blind spots also cause us to forget about how good the Lord has been to us, especially in the midst of a dire situation. However, after suffering in our mess for a period of time and feeling like God is silent, we realize that we are wrong and we have to confess the error of our ways to Him. So we return giving thanks to the Lord for His goodness and mercy. We are thanking Him because He is our Redeemer, who has paid the price of our redemption. The price which the Lord has paid for has benefits that we must come to know and to learn to apply in our lives.
Walter Strong III 