O God Beyond All Praising

 “Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”
Psalm 103:2 (KJV) 

Reading through the Psalms in preparation for Thanksgiving, I’ve been struck by how intentional the psalmists are with their gratitude. There is no generic one-size-fits-all, “Thank you” found there. In Psalm 103 David records no less than 21 blessings that include God’s:

• Forgiveness

• Healing

• Redemption

• Love

• Compassion

• Righteousness and

• Justice

I’ve also been listening to my favorite Thanksgiving hymn O God Beyond All Praising, a relatively new hymn written by Michael A. Perry in 1982. Like King David, Perry’s lyrics soar in grateful worship as he remembers God’s abundant blessings. Perry writes:

For we can only wonder
At every gift you send,
At blessings without number
And mercies without end

Following King David and Michael Perry’s example, I am sharing a few very specific “Thank you for” Thanksgiving blessings today:

Nurse Wanda, James Bruce’s nurse at Rainbow Omega, accompanied James Bruce to a doctor’s appointment last week. Prior to his doctor visit, James Bruce wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything. After his visit, he asked for a Chick-fil-A biscuit. Nurse Wanda demonstrated an extraordinary kindness to James Bruce (and us!) by accommodating his wishes and getting him a  biscuit on the way back to Rainbow Omega. Her compassion and care reminded me of Jesus’ words, “What you’ve done for them; you did for me.”
(Matthew 25:40)

Caroline, our seven-year old granddaughter, is a 2nd grade student at a local public school. Her class was studying prefixes and suffixes and how those additions change the meanings of root words. Caroline’s teacher asked if her students could think of words that began with the prefix “in.”
When it was her turn, Caroline’s word was “incomprehensible.”
Surprised, Caroline’s teacher asked, “Caroline, where did you hear that word?”
Caroline replied, “Oh we learned it at Connect on Wednesday nights at church. God is incomprehensible!”

I am grateful for a Children’s Ministry staff who faithfully teaches God’s Word to the next generation and a granddaughter who listened and learned well!

None of my Thanksgiving blessings would be complete without remembering and celebrating the gift of family. God designed holidays to be annual “holy-days” so that we would routinely remember Who He is and what He has done. Last Sunday as my family gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving, we formed a family circle in my kitchen and each person from the oldest to the youngest shared one blessing on our individual 2021 Thanksgiving lists. Those blessings included our daughter’s 12th wedding anniversary; Rainbow Omega and the gift of place for James Bruce; making the 6A football semi-final playoffs; and “Mimi punch,” an Evans family tradition handed down through five generations.

Read the Psalms, especially Psalm 100-118, and you will find that God invites us to name his goodness in countless ways.

“The resounding theme of Thanksgiving is that of abundance. We rehearse these truths to our hearts as a bold creed when scarcity is writ large across our lives. In want and plenty, God is good. In sorrow and joy, he is present. In all things he offers us the abundance of his power and lavishes us with provision.” (Clarissa Moll)

He is indeed the God beyond all praising!
Happy Thanksgiving!