Repay

"What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?” Thus writes the psalmist in Psalm 116:12.  He is basically asking, “How can I repay the Lord for all that He has done for me?”  What a question.

            A few years ago, one of my sons said to me, “Dad, I can never pay you back for all that you have bought for me. I don’t like that. I don’t like feeling like I’m in debt. How can I pay you back?”

            My response was simple. “Son, I can never pay my Dad back either.” And that was before he left me a small inheritance, making my indebtedness even greater.  But then I said to him, “I have paid my Dad back, by taking care of you. And you will pay me back by taking care of the next generation. That’s just how it is done.”

            But that still doesn’t fully answer the question, “How can I repay the Lord?” In fact, the answer is that we never can. God’s care and goodness and graciousness for us have been boundless. Simply the fact that we are living and breathing is a precious gift from the Lord.  He has been so good to us.  His salvation is free, and it can never be bought.

            Still, we want to do something. So, where do we start?

            The psalmist wrote, “I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” 

In other words, He will worship and serve the Lord. When we worship. When we serve. When we act in gratitude and thankfulness. It is in these moments that we “repay” the Lord.  As I’ve already said, we can never actually repay Him for His grace. But He desires worship and gratitude for His goodness to us.

You can do that. So can I. Let us be faithful to give worship and thanks and love and service to the One who gave us His all.