The God-Gratitude Project
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[0 Comment]Last July I read Psalm 92:1-2 in my morning quiet time: "It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night" (NASB). I have read these verses many times before and always thought, What a perfect thing to do; give thanks to God every morning for his lovingkindness and every night for his faithfulness. That morning I decided to take the next four weeks to study these two words "faithfulness" and "lovingkindness" and to ask my Father to teach me how to thank him. I wanted to be caught up in his lovingkindness before I leave my bed each morning and to delight in his faithfulness as I go to sleep each night. I knew that both things would make me a kinder, more loving wife.
For 28 days I used Psalm 92:1-2 as my pattern of morning and evening worship to give thanks to God, and I recorded all I was learning in my journal. As I studied, I prayed, "My Lord, reveal, teach, and take me deeper in all you are as a God who loves me with lovingkindness. Take me deeper in all you are as a faithful God to me." What follows are my journal entries.
July 21
I learned today that the word "lovingkindness" is translated from the Hebrew word "hesed," which is used often in the Old Testament to signify God's covenant, steadfast love for me. In the Psalms (and this is true in Psalm 92) hesed is associated with the call to worship. I see that my morning and evening times of reflective thankfulness are all about worshiping the One who loves me, not just with a love like I love, but with a deep unfailing love.
Hesed is the unmerited and generous favor of God. Hesed love is gentle and always reaches out to the object of that love—which means me. Old Testament scholar Daniel Block describes hesed as "that quality that moves a person to act for the benefit of another without respect to the advantage that it might bring to the one who expresses it …. [T]his quality is expressed fundamentally in action rather than word or emotion."
Father, thank you for leading me to learn about thanking you and your precious lovingkindness to me. I see clearly that what I'm learning isn't just to encourage me; it's also meant to teach me how to love my husband. I'm to do things that are best for him—not for me. To love him with my actions, not just my words.
July 30
I love it, my Father, that not one English word can hold all the meaning of hesed, so we string words together. It is never just love but "steadfast, covenant-love," "unfailing love," and "lovingkindness." It is like when I talk to one of our grandchildren. Just saying "I love you" isn't enough, so it is, "I love you more than all the ice cream in the whole world!" Thank you that you needed more than one word to express your everlasting love for me … that touches me in a deep place.
Related Topics:
Gratitude, journaling, Prayer, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving
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