The giving of thanks to God for his goodness and blessing should be a normal part of the life

of every child of God. As a matter of fact, Thanksgiving is not simply an event, a day on the

calendar, but should be a way of living and thinking.

In this series entitled, Thank the Lord, Scott Pauley will teach us through First Chronicle

16 on the importance of giving thanks on purpose. Our prayer is that your heart will be filled

with gratitude to the Lord for all he has done.

And now, here's Scott Pauli.

Many people use a prayer list, but I wonder, do you have a praise list?

Do you have a list of very definite answers to prayer

and blessings and good things God has done in your life that you reflect on? This is a good time for all

of us just to stop and make such a list. And I want to give you a list today, and it's not my list.

In fact, it is David's list, and in so many ways, I believe it's given in Scripture so that it could even be our

list. In First Chronicles chapter number 16, we are studying David's praise and David's

Thanksgiving. Now, the context is very important. The context of this Day of Thanks, the context of this Psalm of praise, was that the

Ark of God had returned. Do you remember, the Ark of God had been carried away, had been

away from the people for some time, the Philistines had had it, and then it was delayed even

in its return, and finally it is brought

back to Jerusalem to its rightful place it's a picture of the presence of God in our lives it's a

picture of the Lord among his people do you understand that our praise should be centered not on us

but in him not in things but in his, not in things, but in his presence.

You see, you may lose everything.

You may lose everyone, but you don't lose the Lord, and thank God he doesn't lose you.

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