Let us glorify our God .
How shall render to the Lord all his benefits to me? Psalm 116:12.
The author of Psalm 116, wanting to show his gratitude to God for what the Lord has done for him, asked this question: How will I return to the Lord all his benefitsto me? For God had delivered him from the death that threatened him. As he so well mentioned in verse (3). The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of the Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.Here's his answer:
· I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.
· I will pay my vows to the Lord, now in the presence of all his people.
· I will offer him the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
We too must ask ourselves this question: How will we render to the Lord all its blessings to us?
God delivered the psalmist from death. God has also done extraordinary things for each of us. Very often, we focus on our problems, and our relationships with God are usually limited to requests. Our praises to God are sometimes our gateways to our many requests. There is nothing wrong with seeking God's favor face of our problems. But, it is our duty to thank God for what He has done that we know and what we do not know either, by expressing our gratitude to Him.
How will we render to the Lord all its benefits to us?
The answer is: Let us glorify our God or Thanksgiving to the Lord.
To glorify our God or Thanksgiving to the Lord is to express our thanks, our gratitude to the Lord. This will be done by:
a) Praise to the Lord with our lips.
Let us praise our God with our lips through songs and psalms of praise and all by what comes out from our mouths. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. Matthew 12:36.
Let us praise the Lord with our lips, must come out from our hearts, so not to be reproached by God, as Jesus had reproached Pharisees and scribes. This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Said Jesus. Matthew 15:8
b) Praise to the Lord with our whole being.
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.Psalm 103:1,2.
You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. I Corinthians 6:20
We must remember our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8.
c) Praise to the Lord by loving our fellow men.
If we praise the Lord, if we thank him it is because we love him. To the doctor of the law who had asked Jesus this question: Master, what is the greatest commandment of the law? Jesus answered him, "You will love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your thought. It is the first and greatest commandment. And here is the second, which is similar to him: You will love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:36.39
If we praise God because we love him and we hate our fellow human beings, we are liars. I John 4:20 If someone says, "I love God, and he hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he loves God whom he does not see?"
d) Praise to the Lord in helping those in need.
Jesus in his parable of the judgment of individuals who are members of nations, he said: When the Son of man comes in his glory, with all the angels, all nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate one from the other, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 And he will put the sheep to his right, and the goats to his left.
34 Then the King will say to those who will be to his right: Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you since the foundation of the world;
35 For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;
36 I was naked, and you dressed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to see me.
37 Then the righteous will answer him: Lord, when did we see you hungry, and we gave you food; or thirsty, and we gave you a drink?
38 And when did we see you as a stranger, and we took you in; or naked, and we clothed you?
39 Or when did we see you sick or in prison, and we came to see you?
40 And the King, answering, will say to them: I tell you in truth, whenever you have done these things to one of these smallest of my brethren, it is to me you have done them.
41 Then he will say to those on his left: "Get out of me, cursed, and go to the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; for they had done the opposite. Matthew 25:32.41.
Every time we help one of our brothers or sisters we do it to Jesus, so we praise him.
e) Praise to the Lord by living by faith.
If we manifest our gratitude to God, we must do so with faith. That is, we place our trust in him. Our faith in God makes us pleasant in his eyes. Without faith, it is impossible to be pleasing to God. Hebrews 11:6
Let us walk by faith and not by sight so that we may glorify the name of God in whatever the situation we face. And we can sing, until the end I want to follow Jesus in the good, as in the bad days.
f) Praise to the Lord by living according to the word of God.
In conclusion. Let us glorify our God or Thanksgiving to the Lord is to live according to the word of God. It is to reach to a spiritual level and declare as apostle Paul: I have been crucified with Christ; and if I live, it is no longer me who lives, it is Christ who lives in me; if I now live in the flesh, I live in faith in the Son of God, who loved me and who gave himself up for me. Galatians 2:20
Christ in us is the hope of glory.
Let's glorify our God! Thanksgiving to the Lord! Constantly! I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
Source Divine Ministries
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