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Lenten devotions 2008

March 19 - A LIST OF THANKS
By Julie Armstrong, assistant professor of American Sign Language

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24 (NRSV)
Scroll down for complete Scripture.

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DEVOTIONAL: We have so many things to be thankful for, don’t we? Have you ever written them down? Looking at your list visually is different than just thinking about it. I’m a visual person and I need to write, touch and then see (many times) to believe.

Some of the best times to do this are when I don’t feel like it. There are days and times in our lives when the last thing we want to do is rejoice or be thankful. Our mood is down, our sorrow is overwhelming. Yet, we can still be thankful; we can still rejoice.

Psalm 118 is a great read for when we’re not feeling so thankful. I like to read the verses and put my name in place of Israel and use I/me in place of the other pronouns. For example, verse two might read: “Let Julie say: ‘His love endures forever’; and verse 24: “this is the day that the Lord has made; I, Julie will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Take a few moments and list what you can rejoice with or be thankful for. Here are a few of mine: hot coffee, consignment stores, laughter, God’s unchanging love and my dog, Scout.

We can have confidence in God’s eternal love and in the midst of changing situations. This gives me security when I need something to draw me out of the depths.

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SCRIPTURE: Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24 (NRSV)
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever!


Let Israel say,
‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’

The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.


There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
‘The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.’
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.


Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.


This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.


I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Posted at 08:51 #