“Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough?”
Psalms 106:1-2 NLT
David sets the tone and attitude of this Psalm right way. He asks two amazing questions. Who can list? And, who can praise him enough? Bravo 👏🏼 👏🏼👏🏼 and keep it coming. Abundant gratitude for who God is and what He has provided!
However, just a few verses later, David does a history review of his own people and their attitudes while wandering the desert, free from tyranny and slavery. Before, giving a synopsis of their plight, David confesses, “Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!” (vs 6.) Thank you David. Thank you for reminding me that, I too, am a sinner.
He continues by commentating on how some of the Israelites got so off track, “Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.” Wait, does he mean that their soured, embittered, mindset started BEFORE they even crossed? Whoa. That was the beginning?
David builds the case that the people just continued to escalate their griefs and grievances until God ended up giving them everything they wanted and even more than they could handle. God gave them an over-abundance of meat! So much of it, that God said they would gag on it – “You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” (Numbers 11:20).
David gives us an amazing template and reason to be grateful for everything God has given, but he also warns us that God will only put up with our whining and complaining for so long. Then, God seems to not just give us what we want, but lets us have it all. This Psalm captures the results of getting everything we want, “In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland. So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it.” (Vs.14-15). The Apostle Paul echos similar in Romans 1:28, “God gave them over to a depraved mind.”
It becomes a challenge to choose either gratefulness or get pulled into the vortex of gluttony. One leaves us asking “who can praise him enough?,” the other “why can’t I have more?”
Prayer
Dad,
More. Just the idea of having or needing it, seems innocent enough. Especially when I compare to others! They have, why can’t I have? Whether it’s money, stature, standing or just stuff, it seems I have a bigger appetite for more rather than a desire to be grateful for what I have. I am humbled by Your Word. I want to be in the mindset of asking myself, how could I ever praise you enough? Thank you for everything you have done for me and given to me. You are enough!