I have written this week with the Lord’s help about “Giving Thanks to Our God for His Mercy.” Last week we wrote about giving thanks to our God for His Grace, and this week we want to continue this series of articles which shine the spotlight upon the time to “give God thanks.” Every day of the year is a day of thanksgiving for the saints because our God has done and is doing great things for “us!” We will not be able to have our normal sunrise service at 6:00am on Thanksgiving morning, but we can still give him the praise of thanksgiving from the depths of our heart and soul. Zion Temple First Pentecostal Church and everyone who reads this Wordsmith article, let us make the whole month of November A Month of Thanksgiving. The scripture text for this article comes from the book of Psalms. This book is the second book of the five books of poetry found in the Old Testament. The books of poetry are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. The book of Psalms is a collection of inspired Hebrew poetry and is the inspired prayer and praise book used in temple and synagogue worship of the Jews. This book is divided into five divisions or books from the time of Ezra and is called the book of the congregation to Jehovah. The five books are: Book I (Psalm 1:1) (Psalm 41:13) Book II (Psalm 42:1) (Psalm 72:20) Book III (Psalm 73:1) (Psalm 89:52) Book IV (Psalm 90:1) (Psalm 106:48) Book V (Psalm 107:1) (Psalm 150:6) The book of Psalms is different from the books of history in the Old Testament. These history books show God speaking to man describing men’s successes and failures, but in Psalms we see man speaking to his God in prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and song: for his faithfulness, goodness, and mercy in the past, in the present, and in the future. (Psalm 136:1-3) says = 1O give thanks unto the LORD for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the LORD of Lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. For this Wordsmith article, we want to focus our attention upon our scripture text for this article (Psalm 106:1) which says = Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. In this passage of scripture, the author said three things: praise the Lord give thanks unto the Lord for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. We need to praise the Lord when we consider all the great and mighty works which our God has done for our church collectively and for each of us individually we need to give him praise. (Psalm 107:8, 9) says = 8Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 9For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Then the author said, O give thanks unto the Lord. Let us always keep a grateful heart toward the Lord. Take time out of our busy lives to give him thanks for all that he has done. When God does something good for us, always make sure we tell him thank you! And lastly, the author of (Psalm 106:1) said, …for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Goodness and mercy are two attributes of God’s nature and character. When he introduced himself to Moses at Mt. Sinai in (Exodus 34:6, 7), the Bible said, 6And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. There are some things we should know and remember about God’s mercy: • God has a boundless supply of his mercy for the whole human family. (Psalm 86:5) says = For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. (Psalm 103:8) says = The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. • God’s goodness and mercy will follow the saints of God all the days of their life. (Psalm 23:6) says = Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. • God will not pardon the guilty. (Read: (Numbers 14:15-23). Notice especially (Numbers 14:23) which says = surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. • God’s mercy endureth forever. The word, endureth, means = will last. The word, forever, means = for a limitless time and/or always. Finally, let us “Give Thanks to Our God for His Mercy.” Let us be like Jeremiah in (Lamentations 3:22, 23), which says = 22It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness. God’s mercy cries out with compassion for “us.” Please do not let your judgment destroy them give them another chance to repent so your grace can save them! We give you “thanks” for your mercy and grace toward all of “us!” Ámen. Reprint (November 2025) Suffragan Bishop Charles L. Smith, D.D., Emeritus
