JUNE 2023.
In Psalm 9:1, the Psalmist overflows with gratitude to the Lord. He says, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”
2023 has been a good year for some of us, and June promises to be another fabulous month filled with sunshine and happiness. If this is your lot, will you simply pat ourselves on the back and take it for granted like the Israelites did at the time of Amos, or will you recognise all that the Lord has done and give thanks with your whole hearts? On the other hand, some of us have had a more difficult year so far. June might present us with fresh hardships, or it might be another month of pressing on through existing difficulties. If this is your lot, will you simply lose heart, or will you find comfort in remembering who God is? In times of struggle, we do well to intentionally recount the wonderful deeds of the Lord. He has done so much for us. Yet we can be a forgetful people, like the Israelites in the wilderness who quickly forgot the goodness of the God who had rescued them from slavery. Besides anything else, let’s not forget that we have been saved from the clutches of darkness through the finished work of the cross. There is no greater gift.
Many passages of Scripture call us to remember the goodness of God, giving thanks to Him in every season and in every circumstance. Psalm 77 is a celebration of God’s goodness in the midst of trouble, and verse 11 is a key element thereof. It says this: “I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” Do we remember all that the Lord has done in us and for us? Hopefully we do. So, what are you grateful for this June? If nothing comes to mind straight away, put some thought into it and recount the wonderful deeds of the Lord. Even in the difficult seasons of our lives, I pray that we would be a people who remember the goodness of God, and whose hearts overflow with thankfulness.
