A psalm of thanksgiving is a journey from good times through bad and then back to good. They often call upon God’s goodness in the past in the hope that God will continue to be good to his people in the future. This is a psalm I wrote to illustrate the book of Esther from the perspective of Mordecai.  Read it as you would a sermon or devotional.  May the imagined voice of the Mordecai help you find your voice in this season of Thanksgiving as you reflect upon the journey God has brought you through.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
Of Mordecai.[1]

I will praise You, O LORD,
For You have turned my sorrow into gladness
To You, O LORD, belong all honor, glory, and thanks,
For You have turned my mourning into a holiday.[2]

For You heard the cries of Jacob[3] in Egypt,
You did not turn your ear from the outcry of your chosen ones
But You rescued them from the hands of Pharaoh,
Through Your servant Moses You delivered them.
You brought them safely across the Red Sea,
Crushing the bones of Pharaoh’s army
You did not relent upon Pharaoh’s punishment,
His horses and riders drank deep of the sea.

You provided manna in the wilderness,
And quail in the dry desert heat.
You led Your children with a pillar of cloud by day,
And Your people with a pillar of fire by night.
You provided rain and refreshment for Your people,
Your law gives life to Your people whom You brought out of Egypt.

But Your people disobeyed Your Law,
And we were left alone, to be taken to a foreign land.

Haman the Agagite, enemy of the Jews,[4]
Lifted his hand against Your people;
But You lifted up Esther as a mediator for Your children,
Surely she is Your anointed.
For You heard our cries and responded to our fast,[5]
Even from a foreign land.

We give You praise for remembering Your people,
For hearing us from a land far away.
For you replaced our sackcloth and ashes[6] with festal garments.[7]


 

[1] He appears in the book of Esther and is the title character’s cousin.

[2] This is borrowed language from Esther 9:22.

[3] Another name for Israel, the People of God.

[4] Esther 9:24.   Reading 1 Samuel 15, it’s no wonder that Haman, an Agagite, is the enemy of the Jews.

[5] Esther 4:16.

[6] In Esther 4:1 Mordecai dons sackcloth and ashes and goes wailing through the city.

[7] Referring to the institution of the feast of Purim.  Esther 9:24-28.

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