Although it is past Thanksgiving Day, my heart is convicted of the need to meditate more on thankfulness. The blessings of the Lord for all gifts that surround us, our families, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and well-wishers. the air we breathe, our jobs, our homes and the many things that make us happy in this life.  Too often we find ourselves focused on the immediacy of life: the work, the need, the hardship, the disappointments, the busyness…and not focused on the accompanying blessings: the love, the care, the strength, the faithfulness, the comfort, the presence, and the provisions of God (whether from Him directly, through providence, or through the ways He moves the hearts of His people). Today, God brought Psalm 23 to our focus.

Whether or not your thoughts are still on Thanksgiving, may your heart be blessed by the way Sir Issac Watts has poetically expressed the message of this well-loved psalm.  I highly recommend reading it aloud–and then choosing one thought to meditate on with thankfulness!

 My Shepherd will supply my need,

Jehovah is his name;

In pastures fresh he makes me feed,

Beside the living stream.

He brings my wand’ring spirit back

When I forsake his ways;

And leads me, for his mercy’s sake,

In paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death,

Thy presence is my stay;

A word of thy supporting breath,

Drives all my fears away.

Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,

Doth still my table spread;

My cup with blessings overflows,

Thine oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God

Attend me all my days:

O may thy house be mine abode,

And all my work be praise!

There would I find a settled rest,

While others go and come;

No more a stranger or a guest,

But like a child at home.