Choose one of the following activities to focus on journaling or writing your thanks and praise through written prayers, liturgies, poems, or song.
God is Mighty to Save
You save your people from trouble
Choose a psalm and take some time to meditate on it. Afterwards, write your own prayer, poem, or song thanking God and praising him for his grace toward and deliverance of his people. What specific aspects of his power to save do you want to highlight and thank God for?
9 – God upholds justice, defends from enemies
You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
28:6-9 – The Lord hears his people in trouble
The Lord is my strength and my shield
34 – God’s rich blessings on those who look to him for help
Taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
40 – A personal testimony of God’s answer and deliverance
You have multiplied, oh Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us.
66 – Praise God who rescues his people
Who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip
76 – God is mighty in battle, establishes justice
God arose to establish judgment,
to save all the humble of the earth.
107 – God’s steadfast love and rescue of those who call upon him
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of men!
124 – The Lord rescues from overwhelming trouble
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side…
The Word of the Lord is Powerful
I stand in awe of your word
Take a few minutes to meditate on Psalm 19, or a portion of Psalm 119. How has God been using his word and your heart, mind, and life recently? Or, how have you seen God use his word powerfully in the lives of others? Write a prayer, poem, or song thanking God for the transforming power of his word and how you have seen it in action.
19 – God’s glory in his creation and his Word
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
119 – Love for God’s matchless Word
Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Singing Praise in the Dark
I am in trouble, but you are my help and my praise
Take a few minutes to meditate on one of the psalms below. What trouble or difficulty are you facing right now? Write a few sentences expressing this to God in prayer. What aspects of who God is, his promises, and what he does give you encouragement, help, or comfort in this difficulty? Writer prayer, poem, or song that expresses the help and refuge that God is to you in your current struggles or troubles
28:6-9 – Strength and refuge in times of trouble
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts.
36:5-12 – The abundant steadfast love of God
The children of mankind to take refuge
in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house.
40 – Personal testimony of God’s deliverance and answer
I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
57 – Praising God in the midst of enemies
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
71:14-24 – Confidence in God’s unfailing help
My tongue will talk of your
righteous help all the day long.
85:6-13 – Looking expectantly to God for salvation
Yes, the Lord will give what is good.
86 – Who is like the Lord who shows grace to his people?
You are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
89:1-18 – The incomparable love and might of God
I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever.
144 – God fights for, blesses his people
Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for war
A List of Praise
You are a good God and you do great things on behalf of your people
Meditate on the character of God and his work on behalf of his people using one of the psalms below. For you personally, what aspects of who God is and what he does makes you want to give thanks and praise?
Make a list of all the things that come to mind. Some items may be big things about God’s character, others might be seemingly insignificant gifts you have experienced from God’s hands today. List them all, for every good gift and every perfect gift comes from God.
Alternatively, David often wrote acrostic psalms – each successive line beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. You could consider writing and acrostic praising God for who he is and what he does.
33 – The Earth is full of the steadfast love of God
The eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love.
36:5-12 – God’s abundant steadfast love
With you is the fountain of life.
50:1-6 – God comes as righteous judge
The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge!
68 – The leading and strong deliverance of God
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation.
72:18-19 – Bless our glorious God!
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
92 – God upholds the righteous, let us rejoice!
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High.
96 – The earth sings aloud to the righteous judge of all
O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
97 – Rejoicing in the reign of the Most High
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
98 – Let all the earth sing joyful songs!
O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
100 – Thanks to our good God
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
103 – Remembering God’s deep compassion
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.
111 – The incomparable works of God
Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
113 – Our glorious God who helps the lowly
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap.
117 – Praising God’s love and faithfulness
The faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
125 – The protection and goodness of God
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people.
138 – A great God who saves the humble
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly.
139 – God’s constant presence and intimate knowledge
Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me!
145 – Recounting God’s abundant goodness
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
146 – Help and trust found in the Lord
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
147 – God cares for his people, his creation
He heals the brokenhearted…
He determines the number of the stars.
Telling the History of His Faithfulness
When I look back, I see all that you have done for us
Choose one of the psalms below and meditate on the past faithfulness of God. Then, reflect the following questions: How have you seen God, his work, and his faithfulness over the years? How have you seen it in your family, your community, or in the world? Do you see his work and faithfulness in the lives of those who have gone before you? Write a prayer, testimony, poem, or song recounting the faithfulness of God, praising him and thanking him at every turn.
81 – God’s care and longing for his people
I relieved your shoulder of the burden…
In distress you called and I delivered you.
105 – God’s faithfulness from Abraham to Moses
He brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
114 – Awe at God’s mighty deliverance
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord.
135 – Israel’s deliverer, he is God alone
Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, oh Lord, throughout all ages.
136 – Recounting God’s enduring, steadfast love
It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever.