Be Thankful. And Sing!

Psalm 108:3 “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.”

Without going into detail right now, let it suffice to say that the past several months have been a sort of “dark valley” for us. A series of difficult things has made us feel, at times, a sense of despair. But God has been so near to us and has provided sure footing, even if we couldn’t entirely see where our foot would land. We have much to be thankful for.

The Holy Spirit has admonished us through His Word and through some friends that we need to never stop praising God, even if times are dark and grim. Always find something to be thankful for. Never stop thanking God…for anything and everything, good and bad, obvious and hidden. He does always have our best interest in His heart and mind.

I am taking a class toward my Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing that has nothing to do with nursing but has everything to do with fulfilling my still-needed prerequisites. (Yay!!!) It is a Jazz History and Appreciation class, and there was a great word on the subject of thankfulness that caught my attention in today’s material.

From an article in Dwight’s Journal of Music, published in 1856:

“But Americans, though surrounded with everything to make a people happy, do not show outward signs of uncommon cheerfulness and content. We are an anxious, careworn race. Our brows are sad and gloomy. Songless and joyless, the laborer goes to his task. This dumb silence is ungrateful in those who have such cause for thankfulness. Americans are the most favored people on one earth, and yet they are the least expressive of their joy. So that we almost deserve the severe comment of a foreigner, who on seeing the great outward prosperity, and yet the anxious look of the people, said that ‘in American there was less misery, and less happiness, than in any other country on earth.'”

Yikes! What a terrible testimony of us Americans!

So, today is Monday. Instead of letting the Monday blues get you down, try with me to set a new tune for this week, beginning today. Be thankful. And sing!