Having A Thankful Heart..Insight From Psalm 33

Psalm 33 is about praise and thanksgiving to the Creator God! Genuine praise and thankfulness is inextricably bound up with trust! In other words, we will not develop a thankful heart until we first truly trust God. We will not be grateful to God for all that we have until we first know that we're totally dependent on Him for all that we have. It's only when we come to the end of ourselves and cast ourselves in total dependence on God that we begin to experience genuine thanksgiving and praise. This psalm was written to those called "righteous ones" and "the upright" (v. 1). In other words, it's written to those who know the Lord personally and who are seeking to please Him by living obedient lives. But even these people are being exhorted to "sing for joy in the Lord" (v. 1), to "give thanks to the Lord" and "sing praises to Him" (v. 2). Let's consider this wonderful psalm in light of our salvation. When we consider the splendor of the heavens and of the oceans, the conclusion is (vv. 8-9). There's no way to reconcile or harmonize this passage with the view that the universe as well as life on earth, came about through random chance over many billions of years! The obvious application is that we should fall down and worship before a powerful Creator! The apostle Paul uses the doctrine of creation when explaining our salvation! After saying (2 Cor. 4:4) that Satan "has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" he continues (2 Cor. 4:6), "For God, who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." In other words, if you are a Christ follower, it was not your doing! You were in utter darkness; and on top of that, you loved it (John 3:19)! Just as the Creator spoke the sun into existence, even so God spoke light into your dark heart! The Bible is very clear, if you are a Christ follower, it's because the Creator God first opened your blind eyes to see! And, that's reason enough to praise and thank God! You might be thinking, "But didn't I choose to believe in Jesus Christ?" Yes, of course you did. But the question is, "How were you able to choose to believe in Jesus Christ?" That question already has been answered! Knowing and embracing this truth about your salvation is reason enough to praise and thank the Creator God! Your move. Be encouraged!