1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
5 I called to the Lord in distress;
the Lord answered me
and put me in a spacious place.
6 The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?
7 The Lord is my helper;
therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humanity.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in nobles.
10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I destroyed them.
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I destroyed them.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they were extinguished like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I destroyed them.
13 They[b] pushed me hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!
16 The Lord’s right hand is raised.
The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!”
17 I will not die, but I will live
and proclaim what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord disciplined me severely
but did not give me over to death.
19 Open the gates of righteousness for me;
I will enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate;
the righteous will enter through it.
21 I will give thanks to you
because you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
Psalm 118:1-21
We’re laughing like loons out in the middle of a field of corn. The Farmer’s got hold of the seat of his combine like he’s being shot to the moon. It’s harvest time, and a time of thanksgiving, and the corn keeps on coming.
“How in the world?” I can’t take my eyes off the combine’s yield monitor. Stunned wonder isn’t an understatement. We had a drought this year. The sky had locked up hard about the middle of June.
The Farmer had said, “I’ve never seen any crop look so desperate on this farm. If God doesn’t give rain by the weekend, there’s not going to be any corn this year.”
Come November, the digital screen of the combine monitor calculating the number of bushels per acre this field of corn yields, flashes out these little black numbers that are huge, making no sense. The numbers are a bit stratospheric. Grace is most amazing of all, defying what makes sense.
“Get out of here!” I’m slack-jawed over the high monitor spikes and the Farmer looks like he is right out of here and straight over the moon. I slap at his chest like the flapping loon that I am and he grins giddily.
“I know, I know!” And all over again, he’s that laughing teenage boy that made me blush silly.
“Who would ever have thought?” I can’t stop shaking my head.
“You know . . .” He leans over the combine steering wheel, glances past me, past me to the wagon filling with corn. “I don’t know what to think — so maybe I just thank?”
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever” (Psalm 118:1).
The corn’s running like flashes of glory into the wagon, streaming in and I can still see the lightning that came right after Sunday preaching way back in July. I remember the gusts of wind and the thickening black to the west. I remember the thunder that rumbled hope and how we stood on the front lawn and begged that rain to come.
And I remember how it went north. Twice. And how the Farmer had stood there, watching the rain come down only two miles away, and I’d whispered wild to him, “What if we get nothing? What if we lose the harvest?”
And he’d said it steady and certain, with the rain coming down right there, two fields over and so far away, “When you know your Father’s loving — what can you fear losing?”
“Let those who fear the Lord say, ‘His faithful love endures forever.’ I called to the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and put me in a spacious place. The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid” (Psalm 118:4-6).
The rain kept falling to the north and he’d stood in this startling surrender. And then, just before supper, the sky had darkened with hope and opened up to give us our prayers. We all danced on the lawn in that rain.
I turn to him now in the combine, “It was that storm.” Gratitude follows grace as thunder follows lightning. “The storm gave us this yield. The storm was grace.”
There’s no harvest without a storm.
Gratitude follows grace — as thunder follows lightning. And the storm is grace because whatever drives us to God, is a grace from God. It’s all grace.
God gives grace, and ours is to give thanks. This is God’s unconditional demand: That we live thankful.
“This came from the Lord; it is wondrous in our sight. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:23-24).
And I can feel it — there’s corn. And there’s sky and food and family and a God in heaven and a love we don’t deserve, and there’s grace that comes as storms, and the only answer to God’s unending grace is unending gratitude. When you live in a covenant of grace, you can’t help but live out a covenant of gratitude. The Farmer whispers, “Thank you, Lord,” and I murmur it too.
The way grace and gratitude echo to each other through everything . . .
“You are my God, and I will give you thanks. You are my God; I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever” (Psalm 118:28-29).
This devotion is by Ann Voskamp, as published in the (in)courage Devotional Bible. It has been edited from its original form.
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We have LOVED our summer Saturdays with you, sharing our favorite Psalms + select devotions from the (in)courage Devotional Bible. Thanks for joining us!
Leave a Comment
Dawn Ferguson-Little says
I am thankful I am alive and able to give God thanks every day. As the song says “Give thinks with a great full heart give thanks to the Holy only give thanks because He given Jesus Christ His Son. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ His Son And now let the weak say I am strong Let the poor say I am rich Because of what the Lord has done for us” how true that is even in the Storms we go through at times no matter what we go through. We can be thankful God is there for us no matter what. In those times we are give God thanks no matter what. It in those times it proves how strong our faith in God is and how much we trust him and stand on his is word and say it over our situation. Love today’s reading. Love Dawn Ferguson-Little xx keeping you all incourage in prayer.
Wendy Messer says
Reading these words of encouragement, brought something up inside me that is the opposite. Discouragement. I question my life, b/c I don’t have these storms in my life, does that mean that I’m not in God’s grace? I’m the upbeat positive woman that strives daily to keep everyone else seeing God’s beauty in everything, that I haven’t even noticed that the few storms I have had in the past couple of years since my momma passed, have been very short-lived and trust me I’m extremely thankful and I praise God for clearing up especially the little bumps in my day to day, but now a little voice inside me is questioning am I just luke warm and that is why there are no major catastrophic catastrophes in my life? I sit beside others and hear their stories their lives are going thru, and I encourage them and I pray over them, and then I thank God my wonderful healer and father that HE gives me the strength to be there and I pray that I’m helping in some small way and they see God’s hand even in the worst of it. I had quite a few years w/my parents aging and trying to separate selfishness of my life and giving them all they needed and deserved. My sister and I had our hands full taking care of both of them at the same time plus we were trying to keep our own lives afloat. God put people in our lives during this time that made a huge difference and I’m praying that is my time now, that God has me helping others during storms right now that I can someway help them see those storms as a blessing from God.
Debbie says
Thank you for these words that are so true. It is reassuring that we are/our needs are in God’s hands.
Maura says
It’s a good reminder that our God is always gracious.
Becky L says
I enjoyed reading this article about corn and when the rain is going to arrive. I’ve been praying for rain as we’ve not had any rain lately and its going to be low 100 degrees temperatures next few days. I’m thankful for air conditioning and ability to water to water our plants. I like reading Ann Voskamp’s posts. I realized that was her writing ❤️. (in)courage stories are good to read.
Tanya Villani says
“There’s no harvest without a storm.”
“Gratitude follows grace — as thunder follows lightning. And the storm is grace because whatever drives us to God, is a grace from God. It’s all grace.”
Amen & amen! Thank you for sharing such valuable insight. I am thankful for electricity & air conditioning. I remember a time when we had none. This reminded me to never take anything for granted.
Beth Williams says
In Courage,
Just look around you. See ALL the many blessings God has given you. Don’t forget salvation & Home in Heaven. God’s grace & love is beyond measure. That’s why I’m loving Chris Tomlin’s new song “Thank you Lord”
Thank You Lord for the small things Like me and her on the porch swing For summer nights and fireflies
And the sound of my old six string Blessings, on blessings, on blessings, on blessings If I still got breath in these lungs
And that’s all I need to get down on my knees And be thankful for all that He’s done
For my mama, for my friends For Your love that never ends For the songs that make us dance On this ol’ dirt floor
For my babies, for my girl For the way they changed my world Waking up today Yeah, I just gotta say Thank You Lord
Yeah, I just wanna say T
hank You Lord (oh, now)
Thank You Lord for the hard times For lighting the way in the dark times For pulling me in, forgiving again
The times that I took it too far, I Gotta thank You for keeping me humble For picking me up when I stumble
And although I change, You stay the same And I don’t say thank You enough
Chorus
Praise up Eyes closed One thing I know I just wanna thank You Lord, thank You Lord (thank You Lord)
Praise up Eyes closed One thing I know I just wanna thank You Lord, thank You Lord
Chorus
Praise Up
Blessings 🙂