PSALMS FOR CHRISTMAS: A Grateful Heart Starts Here

Hi, I'm Shelby Abbott and this is Psalms for Christmas time, a podcast miniseries with pastor and author Dean Ortman again is written a book in the Lord.

I take hundred and 50 daily devotion to the Psalms and all this gift of any amount.

Not only will your donation be matched will send you a copy of the dive deeper into the Psalms are your affections for Jesus Christ. To learn more about how to give his family life today.com Psalms 138 I give you thanks the Lord with my whole heart before the God in your praying, I found down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name, your steadfast love and your faithfulness. I am here joined once again by pastor and author Dean or Lynn who is the author of the book in the Lord. I take refuge, 150 daily devotions through the Psalms of this episode were talking about thankfulness from Psalm 138 now thankfulness in this season of Christmas is something that we feel like we should be feeling but often is difficult in light of being caught up in everything that's going on during Christmas. So how can we think through the element of thankfulness in this season that so hurried and busy because of Christmas. So true. What you're saying brother, we, the Christmas season. The TV commercials and the billboards and our churches and our friends are also halos give thanks. A lot of times that's not where were out in our lives, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, relationally, and we might say how in the world am I supposed to be giving thanks to God when I do not feel like I have enough in my life to be thankful for what Psalms are really doing is training us to give thanks because of who God is and what he proved in Christ at Christmas, rather than in my circumstances, we tend to fixate on what is actually happening circumstantially in my life, which makes us very easily tend to focus on the bad things are not working the way that we wish they were and downplay the good songs come along as I hate there is reason for us to think our way through life because of what God has done in Christ and in the gospel which came to fruition. In reality, in a very earthly way Christmas.

The Psalms are training us to invert that tendency to focus on the bad and downplay the good so Psalm 138 as he said Shelby I give thanks to you. The Psalm opens, O Lord, with my whole heart before the gods I sing your praise.

Amazing is as I give thanks with my whole heart. This is not a footnote to what my heart is doing. It's not an*this is the center I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness not I give thanks for how you are causing my life to work out financially or circumstantially, or any other way but for your unfailing love, for you have exalted above all things, the song goes on your name and your word on the day I called, you answered me, and so on, and the song goes on to back time and again to this repeated resounding refrain of thinking God and what were celebrating here today in this holiday season. Of course, is we have the supreme reason to be thankful in God sending his own son to be a baby born in a manger grove live the life we can never live die the death we deserve to die rise triumphantly.

It all began at Christmas and so we can take fresh hope and refuge in Christ and think our way forward in Defiance of what our life circumstantially might be like right now so easy circumstantially to look around and then look at all the areas where things aren't the way that we want them to be and I heard a pastor say when time in the times when you think your life is going. The worst that's when it's time to look around and count your blessings.

Oh I love that that's so true, and I think what we want to say is when life is not working the way that we wish it would when I've just gotten laid off when I've just broken up with a girlfriend. When I got my job application got rejected whatever when the family relationships are really dysfunctional and painful. One of the things that God is inviting us into in that moment is to more deeply than ever. Thank God for what is stable, namely, Psalm 138 says his steadfast love and his faithfulness. We know that God is using every little thing in our lives. Hard or not hard, big or small to walk us into depth with him to become the truly radiant and solid men and women that he is destined us to be. So when life is hard. Let's thank God, all the more. Not for that hard circumstance, but thinking through that hard circumstance for his unfailing love in the heart circumstance is beautifully put in when things I think that is important for us to do is not to remind ourselves of the big things were thankful for the little things as well as the stuff I do with my kids what you think before from this past week the weather swimming in a pool I got to use this crayon instead of this one.

And when you see that in the eyes of a child to your able to go. Oh, there are many things for me to be thankful for is not just the big things all the time. They're looking for these grand things to point to the den, reminding ourselves of the gospel, there's always room to be thankful for the gospel. Thanks for helping us see that pointing us in the right direction today. That was a great conversation with Dan. I really enjoyed that. If you want to go deeper. Dean is written a book called in the Lord. I take refuge in 150 daily devotions through the Psalms.

All this month during the month of December with a donation of any amount you give to family life, we will send you a copy of this book that Dean has written to learn more about how to give visit family life today this podcast is been a production of family life accrue ministry helping you pursue the relationships that matter most