Psalm 135
For years a friend of mine faithfully visited his mother in a nursing home. On each visit, en route to her room he passed a thin Alzheimer’s-ridden woman in the hallway. Red-faced and wheelchair-bound, she repeated, “I want a good deal. I want a good deal.” Sometimes soft, sometimes loud, she never said anything else. My friend found the repetitious demand annoying. But leaving the facility one day, he asked himself, “If I move into such dementia, what phrase do I want to repeat?” He settled on “Thank you, Jesus.” He decided to etch that prayer on his heart and his healthy brain. With clear intention he begins each day with “Thank you, Jesus.” And through the simple warp and woof of his routine, he looks for small moments for gratitude: a warm cup of coffee, other people’s children on the school playground, a flower beside the road, the weather (rain or shine), a smile. “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.”
The psalmist leads us in song and calls upon us to praise God. As we read these verses we join with clouds of witnesses—living and long dead—singing God’s glories. Verse 14 speaks the great hope of people living in community under God: The LORD gives justice to his people, and has compassion on those who serve him.
For the greatness of God, and for the simple, ordinary expressions of God’s goodness, “Thank you, Jesus.”
What simple things might I thank God for today?
This post originally appeared in Volume 25.3 of Reflections.
