Psalm 92:1-8
Patience and Thanksgiving

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
      to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
To declare your steadfast love in the morning,
      and your faithfulness by night,
To the music of the lute and the harp,
      to the melody of the lyre.

For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
      at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
How great are your works, O LORD!
      Your thoughts are very deep!
The dullard cannot know,
      the stupid cannot understand this:

Though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers ßourish,
      they are doomed to destruction forever,
But you, O LORD, are on high forever.

New Revised Standard Version

One of my favorite lyrics to Christmas carols is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", especially the third and fourth verses:

And in despair, I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We have no greater reason to give thanks than for the goodness of God! The psalmist encouraged us to praise God with enthusiasm, because God is good and everlasting. All our troubles will fade away, all those that seek to do us harm will be quelled, and all the evil inside ourselves will ultimately be defeated, because God is at work around us and in us.

Still, there is an unexpected prerequisite to thanksgiving found between the lines of this psalm and of Longfellow's poem: patience. We see the despair in Longfellow's protagonist because the reign of hate had not yet been overcome with peace. We see the foolish confidence of evil-doers in the psalm, unaware that they would ultimately be destroyed by and for their wickedness. We also see the confidence in the psalmist, born of a patience that God's work of perfection will be finished, but in God's time, not ours.

The liturgical church calendar celebrates a month of Advent in advance of the joy of Christmas; a month of waiting for what God would do. Oftentimes, we rush past Advent to get to the celebration of Christmas, but there is great strength of faith to be gained in the practice of waiting and the discipline of patience. Hear the prophets' voices in this ancient carol's text:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Thank you, God, for what will be in Your divine power and time! Thank you that the "Peace on Earth" that You envisioned at the creation of the universe will ultimately come to pass. Thank you, God, that You are bringing about peace and wholeness in us, ridding us of our addictions to sin and transforming us into what You want us to be. Give us patience, dear Savior, to let Your work continue in us in the ways You know are best, and enable us to praise You with all our being for what You have done, for who You are, and for what You yet will do in our lives and in this world. Amen.