GRATITUDE FOR GOD’S BLESSINGS

May God be gracious to us and bless us,

and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah,

that Your ways may be known on earth,

Your salvation among all nations.

Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for You judge the peoples justly and lead the nations of the earth.

Psalm 67:1-4

The NIV Study Bible Notes, Fully Revised Edition explains the context of this Psalm:

Ps 67 Communal thanksgiving for God’s blessing. Its content, form and brevity suggest that it served as a liturgical prayer of the people at the conclusion of worship, perhaps just prior to (or immediately after) the priestly benediction (see note on v. 1). God’s blessing of his people (as well as his saving acts in their behalf) will catch the attention of the nations and move them to praise him.

NIV Study Bible Notes, Fully Revised Edition

We looked closely at the Aaronic blessing found in Numbers 6:24-26 in the last devotional; but if you look it up now, you will understand what the people were responding to. They were expressing their gratitude for God’s many blessings and how He beamed down on His people with love and compassion. The Psalm also points out that when God blessed Israel it was to be a witness to other people groups about the one true God. When we as Christians are blessed, it is a testimony to those around us who do not yet know our Lord. When we express our gratitude to the Lord publicly, we are bearing witness to His grace for His glory. We need to be sure to give credit where credit is due, and our heavenly Father is due ever ounce of praise we lift up to Him.

Father, we want to be faithful to count our blessings and express our gratitude to You for them! We know that “every good and perfect gift” comes from You. (James 1:17)

Worship with Guy Penrod as he sings “Count Your Blessings”:

If you know us at all, you know we love Christmas movies. Listen to this song about counting your blessings from the movie “White Christmas” sung by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney: