Thanks and Praise

"I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king's demand."

Daniel 2:23

Daniel and his fellow wise men were in dire need of divine revelation concerning king Nebuchadnezzar's dream, for their lives were on the line.  He and his Hebrew brethren sought God on the matter, and the LORD was merciful to reveal Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the interpretation to Daniel in a vision.  It is no wonder Daniel thanked and praised God for giving Him wisdom about the king's secret and thus spared his life and others who served king Nebuchadnezzar.  God's people ought always to thank and praise Him for answered prayer, yet genuine faith shines brighter when we experience pain, suffering, loss and still praise and bless our good God.

When the children of Israel languished in a time of war and trouble, Jeremiah recognised it was only by the mercy of the good God of Israel He preserved them at all.  God had caused grief and loss, yet God had compassion on them according to the riches of His mercy.  We see this same God fearing outlook in Job after he suffered the loss of his wealth and the death of his 10 children in a day.  Job 1:21-22 tells us,  "And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." ²² In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong."  Faith in God does not mean we avoid trials and troubles in this world:  it is the means God has provided for us to endure and experience joy, peace and rest in Him.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah as a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.  From the moment sin entered the world, humankind has experienced grief and sorrow beyond human comprehension:  people God created in His own image were cut off from God and drowned in grief without knowledge of Him, the remedy for their ills, forgiveness of sin, or the sure hope of heaven in His presence.  We cannot fathom such grief and pain that the all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving God should see His creation struggle and die whilst rejecting Him.  The death of a loved one deeply impacts a relatively small circle of family and friends who heard of a tragic passing, yet God knows intimately the full depth of everyone's suffering like He personally experienced Himself.

God is so awesome and good His suffering Servant Jesus offers fullness of peace and joy, for while He is a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief He has not been overcome by them:  Jesus accomplished the ultimate victory over sin, death and sorrow by His death and resurrection He freely gives to all who trust in Him.  Born-again believers in the midst of pain can praise God from the heart, and this praise that springs from faith in Him is precious in His sight.  It is one thing to praise God when He has answered your prayer in the way you wanted, but genuine faith delights to praise our good God when He has remained silent or said "No."  In our troubles may we never charge God with wrong, for He remains good and glorious regardless how we feel.  In Him we have a living hope, and our future is bright with joy and peace.  With Daniel we can thank and praise God for giving us Jesus (Who is wisdom for us) and might made perfect in our weakness.