God's resolutions, part 1 

 

“He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.” (Psalm 147:8,9)

We have reached the point in January where the shine has begun to disappear from our new year’s resolutions. The reality of getting up to exercise each day clashes with the wintery weather of the start of the year; our desire to eat healthily is in conflict with the amount of sugary food still left over from Christmas.

If you are still sticking with your resolutions, that’s great. But even better than the things we resolve to do this year are the things that God resolves to do.

Psalm 147 tells us about a number of things that God promises – resolves – to do not just this year but every year. Verses 8 and 9 list quite a few: he covers the sky with clouds, he brings rain to the earth, he makes the grass grow, he provides food for the cattle. It’s a wonderful sequence of God’s actions, all intended for one purpose: to provide for his creation.

Verse 9 tells us that he provides food for the cattle and ravens when they call. Whether God’s creation asks for his provision (like the ravens) or not (like the cattle), God provides for them. And God provides for us too. We may not have everything we would like, and there may be things that we are struggling with. Nevertheless, there is much that God does provide: air to breathe, sunlight, a church family and, for most of us in this country, food, clothing and a place to live.

So if God resolves to provide for us, what should we do in response? We should be thankful. Psalm 147 encourages us to “sing to the LORD with grateful praise” (v7). Even when times are tough and there is much that we need, there is also plenty that we can be grateful for and thank God over.

I don’t know about you, but I find that I say “please” to God a lot more than I say “thank you.” One of the joys of prayer is that we can ask God for the things we need, we can say “please God” and God is delighted when we bring him our requests.

But we do need to say “thank you” to God as well. Too often when I have said “please” I forget to say “thank you” when God answers my prayer. What if we resolved this year to say “thank you” to God at least as much as we say “please” to him? How would that transform our prayer life and our life as a church if we made that a commitment for 2023?

Photo by Mateusz Stepien on Unsplash