Thanksgivng in Tough Times #25

Many of the Psalms of David are filled with thanksgiving, even when he does not use the word. Like Psalm 27:

 4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will lift me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

You can hear the sound of joy and thanksgiving in David's words. What he wanted most was the presence of the Lord, and the Lord said "yes." All those years that David was on the run from the Philistines and King Saul, the thing he missed the most was being able to worship God at the Tabernacle. In a sense, that kept him going, knowing that someday he could and would. God kept giving him that assurance he would, and at the same time the assurance that He was with David even when David was not at the tabernacle. It is the same thing we see in Psalm 23 - the Lord is with me here and now, watching over me, and someday I will be in His house, in His presence, forever protected and provided for. These are things we can give thanks for today.  Happy Thanksgiving.