Thanksgiving

It was the Psalmist who declared, “What shall I render unto Jehovah for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of Jehovah…I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of Jehovah” (Psalm 116:12, 13, 17). It was said that the Lord sent two angels to earth to gather the petitions and thanksgivings made by his followers. Both angels returned to heaven in distress. The angel bearing the petitions was truly weighted down with his burden. The other angel bringing the prayers of thanksgivings was nearly empty handed. The lesson is obvious and clear. Most of God’s children are more apt to make requests, petitions and supplications rather than the giving of thanks. This is often the case in private and public prayers. We need to listen to our prayers and note that this is true. Our brothers who lead the public prayers during our assemblies should express gratitude to God for all the blessings we have in Jesus (Ephesians 1:3) on behalf of the congregation. It is sad to observe that this is not done very much. I remember hearing a fellow preacher lead prayers in two different assemblies during gospel meetings wherein he never gave thanks for the grace and love of God. It is so needful that we all express our gratitude to our gracious heavenly Father for all of life’s blessings that flow so freely from His bountiful hand of grace (James 1:17).

Here are some ways by which we all can be more positive in rendering thanksgiving unto God. We need to enumerate daily our blessings of life rather than dwell on the injuries, disappointments, trials and sorrows that we have experienced. When we think in this manner we chase away the negative thoughts from our minds. Express in your private prayers the gratitude in your heart for your family, friends, food, shelter, raiment, opportunities, freedom and a thousand other things that God has given you. Your daily life should be in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Such will indicate your thankfulness for His death for you. Your countenance of happiness and your trusting manner of life will show others that you are thankful to God for His unmerited favor. Our songs in worship should be filled with praise and adoration to God and the Lamb. Sadly to say, most of our songs are focused on heaven and of exhorting one another. This is not to say that such should not be done but to leave songs of praise to God out of our singing is not right. It would be good if our song leaders began our worship assemblies with songs of praise to God. Our public prayers should burst forth with such expressions as we assemble to render our homage and devotion to God with awe and godly fear. We should carefully read the book of Psalms and notice how much space is devoted to the praise of the Lord God even when the writer was experiencing trials and tribulations in his life. His life was filled with thanksgiving and so should ours. David wrote in Psalm 95:2, “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving…: Again he stated in Psalm 100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving…” and in Psalm 69:30, “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”

THANKFUL HEART

I lift my heart to Thee, O God,
In gratitude and praise
For all Thy blessings of the past,
And those of future days –
For well I know if I shall live,
Thy blessings still shall flow
Across my soul in greater joy
Than I could ever know.
I thank Thee for my faithful friends,
For sunshine and the rain,
And every blessing hid or seen,
Though some may come through pain.
O God, accept my thanks to Thee
Each time I come to pray,
And grant each day that I shall live
Will be Thanksgiving Day.
~ F. W. Davis

In Everything, Give Thanks

In I Thessalonians 5:18 the apostle Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” A preacher by the name of Martin Rinkhard wrote the lyrics of the song, “Now Thank We All Our God” to be used as an expression of gratitude by his family at meal time. The unusual background of this song of praise was that it was written during the “Thirty Year’s War” when the preacher was conducting as many as forty funerals a day, including that of his own wife. Yet in spite of war and plagues, he was able to give thanks to God for his blessings. This true story amazes me but it does not surprise me. It seems that in times of extreme and difficult circumstances, people who believe in God can find in their heart expressions of gratitude. In contrast when a nation is greatly blessed with a bounty of material and physical substances there is a tendency of man to forget the source of such blessings.

It was said that the Lord sent two angels to earth to gather the petitions and thanksgivings made by His followers. Both angels returned to heaven in distress. The angel bearing the petitions was truly weighed down with his burden. The other angel bringing the prayers of thanksgivings was nearly empty handed. The lesson is obvious and clear. Most of God’s children are more apt to make requests, petitions and supplications rather than the giving of thanks. The nation that is greatly blessed with a bounty of material and physical substance is most likely to forget the source of such blessings. The writer James declared that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). The psalmist encourages us by his response from being a recipient of God’s blessings in this manner, “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people.” “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And I will call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:12, 13, 14, 17).

The children of the Heavenly Father should remember daily the blessings that flow from His bountiful hand of grace. Especially there should be an awareness of “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Everyday is Thanksgiving for the redeemed. However it is good that families and friends can be together on the national day of Thanksgiving. Let us never forget the sacrifices made by our forefathers and loved ones to ensure us of the liberties and freedoms we now enjoy and experience. “O, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:8). “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms” (Psalm 95:2).

“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!”

The Giving of Thanks

Our blessed Lord taught, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7, 8). The apostle wrote in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made to God…”

As children of God we have the words of Jesus and the Holy Spirit (through Paul) informing us that we have the wonderful privilege of asking, making supplications and requests and our God will hear us. The fact is we probably ask more in our prayers than we do in the giving of thanks for His infinite grace through which He bestows an abundance of blessings upon us. For example, brethren often fail to give thanks for the food that is about to be eaten. A brother is usually requested to “ask the blessing” or to “bless the food”. And so many times the brother will ask the lord to “bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies and our bodies in your service” and there is nothing wrong in that request. But what we fail to do is to express our gratitude for the food that we have received as a blessing from God. It is on this point that I would like to emphasize in this article so that we all might be mindful of our need to give thanks, not only for our food but for all the blessings of life that God has given us. The writer James states that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

Concerning the giving of thanks specifically for our food, consider the example of Jesus Christ. In the feeding of the four thousand men plus women and children Matthew wrote, “And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude” (Matthew 15:36). On another occasion when He fed the five thousands John wrote, “And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted” (John 6:11, 23).

Then there is the example of the apostle Paul giving thanks before he ate food that had been given as a blessing from God. He was on his way to Rome as a prisoner and the boat in which he was traveling was in serious trouble and was about to sink. The people on board had not eaten in fourteen days and Paul encouraged them to take nourishment. In Acts 27:35 we read, “And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat.” In matters of judgment Paul wrote the following in Romans 14:6, “…He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.” The apostle later wrote in I Timothy 4:4, 5, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” (Emphasis is mine in the above verses, RE). In our prayer before our meals let it be one of thanksgiving for the food that we are about to receive along with other expressions of praise and requests.