An Altar of Gratitude

“And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.” (Ge 26:25 AV)

“I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.” (Ps 9:1-2 AV)

It is amazing how the LORD can give a cohesive thought across seemingly related passages of scripture.  The first passage refers to Isaac who is rescued from his own poor judgment.  He was among Abimelech, king of the Philistines.  Isaac, like his father, passed off his wife as his sister lest he be killed for her sake.  Abimelech, when seeing Isaac sport with his wife, understood the true nature of their relationship and rebuked him for the deception.  What resulted is Abimelech opening his land to Isaac for his family to farm and raise animals.  Over time, much strife occurred between the herdsmen of Isaac and the herdsmen of Abimelech.  When they finally agreed to a well for Isaac and his family, Isaac praised the LORD for what He had done by building an altar and calling upon His name.  No doubt, through it all, Isaac was calling upon the name of the LORD.  What makes this worth mentioning above the other times he sought God was his motive.  This altar was an altar of thanksgiving and praise, just as the vow of Psalm 9.  David promises to praise the LORD for all He has done even though life had its share of problems.  In both passages, the LORD is showing us we need to have special places and times of praise for His goodness to us.

We go to the LORD for all sorts of things.  Most of the time, it is for something we need.  We need forgiveness of sin, most of all.  We need daily sustenance.  We need power and strength for which we serve the LORD.  We need an understanding of the word of God.  We need healed relationships.  Health concerns are almost always front and center.  We need deliverance from enemies.  We need blessings for the enjoyment of life.  We need a lot of things.  Some things are for Self.  Other times, we intercede for the needs of others.  We seek God’s hand upon a deathly ill loved one or co-worker.  We seek the salvation of those whom we know who don’t know the LORD.  We ask the LORD to protect and use our missionaries.  We petition the LORD for ministries that would be a great blessing to those in deeper need than ourselves.  We go to the LORD for all sorts of things.  These things are genuine needs and almost always, not selfish requests upon which we may consume them.  These things we petition the LORD for are realistic and fair.  We do not presume upon the grace of God, but rather, go to Him because we perceive these needs can only be met by our almighty God.

But, how many times do we go to the LORD and ask for nothing?  How many times do we approach the throne of grace for nothing more than to thank God for what He has already done?  How many altars have we erected to the works of God done in the past rather than an altar of need for something in the future?  This is what Isaac did.  This is what David promised to do.  Thankfulness is so very important.  The less thankful we are, the harder life will be.  The less we are grateful for the grace and mercy of God, the more we will think we are entitled to more than we have.  Isaac was a very thankful man.  So, too, was David.  The only time David complained was when he needed God to intercede that the will of God might be furthered in his life.  Isaac was another very grateful man.  You never find him complaining about the situations of life.  Isaac may not have been a perfect man.  He may have misjudged between Jacob and Esau.  But Isaac was a thankful man.  We need more altar praise and thanksgiving.  We need to have special places and times when we thank God for all that He has done rather than be so concerned about what He must do.  Praise the LORD for His goodness!  God is always good and should be recognized as such.