We are already on day 6 of our Advent series on “Thanking Jesus.” If you have missed any of the earlier devotionals in this series, they are all available here if you scroll down. Today, in contrast to the previous devotionals, we are going to look at a group of people who forgot to give thanks.
Like Moses, the people of Israel saw all the miracles God performed in Egypt. They saw the plagues of frogs, lice, and flies. They walked through the Red Sea on dry land. But unlike Moses, they quickly forgot all God had done for them.
Psalm 106 reviews the history and starts out positively: “Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise Him enough?” But quickly, the mood changes. The psalmist describes how the Israelites were not impressed by those miracles; they forgot God’s many acts of kindness. Again and again God rescued them, but again and again they complained and rebelled.
There are consequences for not giving thanks. The Israelites tested God’s patience and He sent a plague. They worshiped idols, and God planned to destroy the entire nation. When they rebelled again, God allowed other nations to capture Isreal. The psalmist ends by crying out to God, “O Lord, save us! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank Your holy name and rejoice and praise You.”
How is your memory today? What have you forgotten to thank God for?
