Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 2Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. 3Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. 4He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful. (Psalm 111:1-4)

When we gather at church and give thanks to God, what are we to give thanks for? The psalmist in today's psalm suggests that we give thanks for "the works of the Lord." In this case, the word Lord is "Yahweh," the God of the Covenant we mentioned when we looked at "Love" during Advent. In this case, the love of God is the steadfast love, Chesed (heh-sed).

Chesed is "boundless love of God for his creation and humanity's reciprocal love and mercy for on another."

This boundless love gave us a Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth we just celebrated. This boundless love redeems us through faith in Christ, given to us in our baptism. Jesus said it this way in John 6:28-29, "Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

When we praise God at church with other believers, we lift up a hallelujah (praise God!), as the psalmist notes, for the works of God. These works are faith, the foundational work of belief in Christ. Paul writes in Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

Praise God for his good work, begun in us through faith in Christ, and may we share this love of God with others, as we lift praises up to God today in the fellowship of all believers. Amen.