1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, Most High;
2 to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
your faithfulness at nighttime
3 with the ten-stringed harp,
with the melody of the lyre
4 because you’ve made me happy, Lord,
by your acts.
I sing with joy because of your handiwork.
5 How awesome are your works, Lord!
Your thoughts are so deep!
6 Ignorant people don’t know—
fools don’t understand this:
7 though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers seem to blossom,
they do so only to be destroyed forever.
8 But you, Lord, are exalted forever!
Reflection
Comparison is a dangerous thing. We know already that it steals joy. But it does something even more corrosive: it steals gratitude. The moment we fix our eyes on what someone else has, we stop seeing the gifts that are already in our hands. Gratitude cannot grow in a heart preoccupied with someone else’s harvest.
That’s what strikes me in this psalm. The writer doesn’t just offer a generic call to gratitude. They tell us how good it is to give thanks – to sing of God’s love in the morning, to lift a song of praise in the evening…”because you’ve made me happy, Lord, by your acts. I sing with joy because of your handiwork.” The psalmist is giving thanks from a place that’s personal to them – for their own life, their own story, the blessings God has uniquely bestowed upon them.
It’s foolishness, the writer says, to compare with others: “though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers seem to blossom, they do so only to be destroyed forever.” When you’re looking around at others’ blessings, don’t confuse sparkle with substance, or underestimate the importance of deep roots over quick growth. The psalmist warns us against wasting time with comparison, because who knows whether those who appear successful are actually enjoying that success on borrowed time?
So this week, let’s resist the urge to measure our lives against someone else’s momentary bloom. Let’s pay attention to the particular gifts God has entrusted to us: our relationships, our callings, our joys, even our hard-won wisdom. Out of all the lives in all of history—over 110 billion people, by one estimate—God has never repeated a single combination of gifts and experiences. Your blessings are unrepeatable. That means your gratitude is, too.
by Joe Monahan
For Pondering and Prayer
We can ponder our blessings from the general to the specific. For example, we can give thanks for “family,” and others will nod along. But what if instead, we began to give thanks for OUR FAMILY – the blessings of these particular individuals we get to share our lives with? Would it lead us to a deeper appreciation?
Prayer: God, this week, help us to be grateful. Not only for the general blessings of home and health, friends, family, and food – but for the very specific ways that you are at work in our lives. Help us to rejoice in a particular dish we make well. Help us to give thanks for the laugh of a cherished loved one. Let us raise our unique and unrepeatable praises to you. Amen.
