“Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” (Psalm 50:14-15 KJV)
From a Southern cultural perspective, we would expect everyone to say “thank you” for any courtesy extended. It is simply good manners and courteous. We are culturally conditioned to be genteel, polite, and appreciative. It is our heritage, even if not perfected.
Prophet Jeremiah expresses God’s instructions from a perspective of thanksgiving as a sacrifice. The point being: giving thanks to God . . . expressing our appreciation to God is an act of worship. Paying homage to him as we have promised (i.e., our vows) is a sacrificial act of worship. We sacrifice our pride and arrogance by humbling ourselves to worship and give thanks to the Eternal God.
In performing this worshipful thanksgiving, we usually make our requests known to God. In fact, “in the day of trouble” that comes to us from time to time, we “call upon” him. The songwriter expressed it well: “where could I go but to the Lord?” When our trouble comes, as it inevitably does, who can deliver us except God?
The fact is there are any number of choices for people to call for help. Yet, there is only One who has promised deliverance. Think about that. God has promised, “call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee.” Others may promise and not be there when you call or be unable to deliver you. But, God does not make promises He cannot keep or perform. If you call, He will deliver you!
And the result of his deliverance is that we glorify him with more thanks and worship.
Dear Father, thank you for your promise of deliverance. Grant that when trouble comes we will call upon you. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be encouraged today in God’s deliverance,