Thanksgiving in 2020? You’re not the first to wonder about that! I’m right there with you. And without using the year 2020 as the reason, one of the psalmists was, too.
Psalm 89 begins with praise and promise, recalling gladly God’s covenant to keep the seed of David on the throne of Israel. A great opening! But then takes an abrupt turn to, “But You have cast off and abhorred, You have been furious with your anointed. You have renounced the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.” The psalmist is actually charging God with breaking his own promises — and he keeps that charge going all the way to the end of the psalm. No return to praise there. Maybe that was the end of it all?
But no, it wasn’t. The psalmist asked (vs. 46-48), “how long, Lord?” He even reminded God he was running out of time, as if he were saying, “Look God, if you’re going to keep your promise, you’d better start soon!” Sounds familiar, if you ask me. It’s hard to hold on, even to the end of 2020, much less until we see God fulfill all we’re praying for. How long until we can really give him thanks?
The answer, of course, is you can give thanks as soon as you’re convinced he’s still a faithful God. We see how God answered this psalmist’s prayer: Not during the author’s lifetime, but that’s okay: He knew what he was doing, and the answer he gave is truly magnificent.
The Covenant Song snippet in this podcast episode came from a YouTube video by Dale’s Bible Week. The song was written by Karen Barrie.
If you like the podcast, you’ll love A Christian Mind: Thoughts on Life and Truth in Jesus Christ, by Tom Gilson.
