Daily Praise

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

Have you ever given thought to thank God for each element of your dinner? Wait, I’m serious. My Jewish friends tell me that they have specific blessings to say over specific foods. There’s one for fruits, wine, things made with flour other than bread, vegetables, et al, and a general blessing, which covers anything missed. If it were me, I’d say the general blessing and get on with it! 

But after thinking about it, I can see the benefit of such blessings. Each item that we eat has something different to be thankful for. Whether biting into a sweet apple, or eating a slice of whole grain bread, or biting into a crisp carrot, or drinking a glass of cold water, each has its own sensory experience, and is a reminder to have an attitude of gratitude for the many ways God blesses us daily.

That’s the idea behind Psalm 68.19: Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. One of my Hebrew translations says, “Blessed is the Lord, day by day. He provides for us, the God who delivers us, always.”

“Day by day.” Each day. Every day. If I get this right, the idea is that each day’s gratitude is to be different. Today’s gratitude should be different than yesterday’s. Today’s gratitude should be different than tomorrow’s. Because each day brings a new experience with the “God who delivers us, always.” Isn’t that the truth behind Lamentations 3.22-23? “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” 

New mercies each new day. Wow! There are so many things to be grateful for. Don’t miss them. Look for them. Find the new mercies of the Lord daily. Once you’ve discovered it — or I should say “them,” rejoice! Praise God for them!

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68.19