“I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.” (Psalm 35:18)

This is a psalm of need. David spent a lot of time on the defense side of things during his life. So many of the psalms reflect his cry for God to help Him. Sometimes, it was a case of needing rescue from himself. For a man who had a God-like heart, David spent a lot of time repenting and running.

In the middle of such a psalm of need, he pauses to give God credit for His many deliverances. David does not make his thanksgiving in the privacy of his closet or the confines of his house. This outpouring of thanksgiving and praise is too great and too important to be kept private. David has in mind one of the great assembly days when throngs of people come to Jerusalem to worship God.

When one looks at their life and sees the hand of God in their history how can they be silent. God must be praised. If we don’t do it, then our partners in creation will do it. We are nothing and have nothing without the gifts of God. He blesses the transgressors as well as the redeemed. Life itself is a gift of God, and He should be thanked for it.

All around us are the blessings of God. We might try, but we cannot really take credit for anything that is good in our lives. The very breath we breathe is by the grace of God. In the middle of it all, shouldn’t we stop and thank God and give Him praise?

Task for Today: Thank God. Thank God wherever you are but don’t forget to do it before the great assembly of God’s people. Go to church on Sunday and praise God from whom all blessing flow.