A devotional thought from Psalm 116
Psalm 116:12–19 12What shall I render unto the Lord For all his benefits toward me? 13I will take the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord. 14I will pay my vows unto the Lord Now in the presence of all his people. 15Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of his saints. 16O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: Thou hast loosed my bonds. 17I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the Lord. 18I will pay my vows unto the Lord Now in the presence of all his people, 19In the courts of the Lord’s house, In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.
What can I give God?
Have you had to ask the spouse of a hard to buy for fella for gift ideas at Christmas? What do you give the guy who seems to have it all? Do you just buy him socks? Get the soap on a rope and move on with the rest of your buying list?
It is not uncommon to reach out to someone close to the recipient and ask for suggestions, I do it quite often.
This morning let’s pretend that we are reaching out to the psalmist concerning the Lord and ask this question?
What Can I give God?
God has been so good to me, what can I give him to show my gratitude?
What do I give God?
Think about it, God has no needs. You can’t buy him a gift card. If he wanted a new tie, then he could speak a better one into existence than you could buy at the mall. Surprise presents are out. Upon first consideration one might say that it is really hard to give a gift to God.
That is the question of the inspired author of Psalm 116
Psalm 116:12 What shall I render unto the Lord For all his benefits toward me?
My dog Spurgeon is dying to be taken out and fed so I only have time to talk about the first answer the psalmist gave in response to his question and wow, it is very unexpected.
Psalm 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.
The first and best thing I can give God is not to give but take more?
Here is what my pug dog’s namesake Charles Haddon Spurgeon said about this passage.
“I will take” is a strange answer to the question, “What shall I render?” and yet it is the wisest reply that could possibly be given.
“The best return for one like me,
So wretched and so poor,
Is from his gifts to draw a plea
And ask him still for more.”[1]
You see dear reader, the one thing that your Lord desires most is for you to take up the cup of salvation and call upon his name. He doesn’t need anything, but he loves you and desires your fellowship, love, and praise.
I could say more but the Spurge wants to go purge.
God bless ya’ll
BB
10/14/20
[1] Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 111-119 (Vol. 5, p. 70). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.