My Psalm of Thanksgiving

As I thought about Thanksgiving and worked on my post with a list of things I'm thankful for, I reflected on this past year.  The last 12 months have included a journey through one of the most trying seasons of my life.  The darkness and grief that enveloped me during the first part of this year was exceedingly troublesome, but the way that the Lord met me there and carried me from that place continues to be one of my greatest reasons for rejoicing and the thing I am most thankful for as I make my list this week.  Then, this morning, I read Psalm 116, and the psalmist so thoroughly captured it, I decided I'd just piggy back on his thankfulness.

Psalm 116

 ¹ I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
       he heard my cry for mercy.
I love the LORD because when I lay on the floor, spent from all my tears, begging Him to deliver me, He answered and showed me a way out, saying "walk with Me."
 ² Because he turned his ear to me,
       I will call on him as long as I live.
Because I know he hears me, I will call on him for as long as I live.
 ³ The cords of death entangled me,
       the anguish of the grave came upon me;
       I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.
I thought I wanted to die, felt like I like it might actually be better;
I couldn't think straight because my heart was so full of sadness and disappointment.
 ⁴ Then I called on the name of the LORD :
       "O LORD, save me!"
Then I called on the name of the LORD, desperately begging Him to save me from myself and the darkness that filled my thoughts!
 ⁵ The LORD is gracious and righteous;
       our God is full of compassion.
The LORD gives what I do not deserve and yet He is right in all He does;
our God is full of tenderness toward those who hurt.
 ⁶ The LORD protects the simplehearted;
       when I was in great need, he saved me.
The LORD protects the sincere;
when the pit I'd crawled into was deeper than anyone else could reach, he saved me.
 ⁷ Be at rest once more, O my soul,
       for the LORD has been good to you.
My soul knows peace because the Lord is good all the time, and I can rest in His authority.
 ⁸ For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death,
       my eyes from tears,
       my feet from stumbling,
For you, O LORD, have delivered me from the darkest place, 
dried my tears,
steadied my feet and been "He who is able to keep you from stumbling"
 ⁹ that I may walk before the LORD
       in the land of the living.
so that I might walk before You, taking my place among your people.
 ¹⁰ I believed; therefore I said,
       "I am greatly afflicted."
I believed that You are who you say You are and that You can do what You say You can do; therefore I poured out my sorrows before you, acknowledging my need for you.
 ¹¹ And in my dismay I said,
       "All men are liars."
In that dark place, I told you how loud the liars were and how hard it was to find truth-speakers.
 ¹² How can I repay the LORD
       for all his goodness to me?
How can I show the LORD how grateful I am for His goodness toward me?
 ¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation
       and call on the name of the LORD.
I will acknowledge my salvation and call boldly on my Savior.
 ¹⁴ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
       in the presence of all his people.
I will live out my calling, walking obediently before the Lord, demonstrating His goodness for others to see.
 ¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the LORD
       is the death of his saints.
The Lord values the life of each of His children and none of their deaths goes ungrieved.
 ¹⁶ O LORD, truly I am your servant;
       I am your servant, the son of your maidservant;
       you have freed me from my chains.
O LORD, truly my heart desires to serve you;
I want to live to honor and exalt you, to make you famous;
for you set me free from all that entangled me, and now I can choose joyfully to live for you.
 ¹⁷ I will sacrifice a thank offering to you
       and call on the name of the LORD.
I will thank you by making an offering of the things that I love, because I love you more;
and I will continue to call on your name, trusting you to hear me and to meet all my needs.
 ¹⁸ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
       in the presence of all his people,
I will live obediently before the Lord, keeping all my promises to Him in the covenant community of His people,
 ¹⁹ in the courts of the house of the LORD—
       in your midst, O Jerusalem.
       Praise the LORD.
I will offer public praise to the Lord and encourage others to join with me!  Praise the LORD.