Thanksgiving is a holiday that, like most, is faithfully observed but often underappreciated. For Christians, giving thanks is both a privilege and a discipline. It is a privilege because God, in His grace through Jesus, has forgiven us and made a way for us to know Him and fellowship with Him again. God has given us everything from our very existence to our daily bread. And thankfulness is the only proper response.

Thanksgiving is a discipline because the persistent choice to be thankful restores our souls and changes our focus and outlook. Thankfulness restores our strength, our health, and our minds. Thankfulness brings us peace, no matter the circumstance. Thankfulness reorients our thinking and helps us understand our proper place in creation.

As I was thinking about being thankful this year, I started to read the Psalms because so many of them directly or indirectly focus on giving God thanks. I finally settled on the 23rd psalm because it is very familiar, and yet, I have not heard anyone teach on it for years. So, let’s read this beautiful song again.

The LORD is my shepherd;

He cares for us body and soul

Shepherds lead and care for sheep. This is so basic that I usually read over the opening line without giving it a thought. However, the opening line is not just a statement of fact. It’s David’s personal declaration that he has made the Lord his shepherd. David has chosen to put his life into the hands of the Lord. As I read this psalm, I realized that all the blessings that follow this opening line depend on the fact that we have placed our lives and futures into the hands of the good shepherd — Jesus.

We must all place our lives in His hands to know His care and provision. We are sheep; we follow the shepherd, and He cares for us as we do. Every bite of food and every sip of drink is a gift from Him as he leads us on. Our strength, our work, and our rest are all blessings, the blessings of following our shepherd.

He cares for our physical needs, but more than that, He cares for our souls. Our shepherd restores us to wholeness, body and soul. The road we walk wears on us, drains our souls, and steals our joy. When our strength is gone, we can’t restore ourselves. But we have a shepherd who has walked this road before us. He will lead us and restore us again.

But this song is not a lullaby of pleasant thoughts.

The next line tells us that he leads us and protects us even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. No place is so dark that our shepherd can not lead us through it, so we need not fear. It’s the comfort of knowing that He is with us that gives us courage in dark times. When we have made the Lord our shepherd, we always know exactly where we are going. We are following Him. We know that nothing can touch us when we are next to Him. His rod and staff are all the protection we need.

He not only protects us from our enemies, He prepares a feast for us in front of them. Our shepherd, Jesus, has conquered all our enemies — even death. There is a day coming when we will celebrate this victory with Jesus at the great marriage supper. A day when all of our enemies are subdued, and we are vindicated and comforted in the presence of God. Life may get very hard, but it is not hopeless. We follow the good shepherd, who will bring us home again, and that homecoming will be glorious.

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” In a sense, we are already home when we are with our shepherd. Goodness and mercy will follow us all of our days because we are with Him. And we will live in His house forever. We are not simply waiting for a better future. We know His goodness and mercy now, and His blessings stretch into eternity. We have a lot for which to be thankful.

As we give thanks this week

This week, as we consider again all the blessings of God and our unworthiness to receive even one of them. Let’s say it out loud. Let’s not only be thankful but share thankfulness with everyone we meet. Let’s spread thankfulness through our families, communities, and businesses, and in so doing, let’s help to reorient everyone’s thinking to our shepherd and toward the eternal blessing he leads us to.

Have a great week!