Joy and gratitude

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice…Splendor and majesty are before him, strength and joy in his holy place.
1 Chronicles 16:10, 27
 
In this thanksgiving Psalm of David, joy and gratitude feed each other when we come to God. There are few more energizing emotions than thankfulness. Gratitude produces resilience and strength to go on serving God, even when it’s hard. God’s sufficient grace in Christ enables and empowers us. Grace creates gratitude and so thankfulness turns to joy. Our glad obedience to God is the outcome of that cycle of seeking and asking and knocking and finding the “grace to help us in time of need.” 
 
Let the sea resound and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
1 Chronicles 16:32
 
Use your imagination! Look at the world and hear and see a symphony performed in color, motion and sound. The background beat is the sea, the music and movement are fields ripe for harvest waving and dancing in sun and wind. This choral symphony is accompanied by forests of trees, all keeping time with the music of Creation, conducted by the Creator, their song a hymn of grateful praise. Those who sing and play in this orchestra believe God’s justice is coming. Wrong will be made right, God will bring shalom in God’s good time. This is not wishful thinking. This Psalm is music composed in the heart of God, performed in movements, from Creation to Calvary, to the Empty Tomb, and to the Ascension of Christ seated as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This is the music of redemption, orchestrated by the Triune God of holy love and grace, its finale the coming of Christ “to judge the earth.
 
Grace and peace, 

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation