"The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me…"
2. GRATITUDE IS GOD'S WILL "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me…" (Psalms 50:23 ESV). Beyond – and, of course, above – all the many physical reasons gratitude is good for us, the word of God makes it clear that gratitude is God's will for our lives. Many scriptures show that thankfulness is not only encouraged in the Bible, but also commanded.
We will look at some of the reasons for this truth later in this chapter. But first we can briefly look at the clear evidence that an attitude of thankfulness is a spiritual necessity. Gratitude is something the biblical writers continually encourage, directly or indirectly, and we see this in the Old and New Testaments alike. Gratitude in the Old Testament Looking first at the Old Testament, we have only to read the book of Psalms to see many instances of instruction to express gratitude. Psalm 136, for example, begins with the exclamation "Give thanks to the Lord" and the command is repeated numerous times throughout the psalm which also ends with thanksgiving.
But long before the time of David and the psalms, ancient Israel was guided and encouraged to be thankful. We are told that Moses "… appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel" (1 Chronicles 16:4), and certain individuals were given the full-time task of expressing the nation's gratitude: " … Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord ..." (1 Chronicles 16:41). We see the same situation later in Israel's history: "The Levites were … in charge of the songs of thanksgiving" (Nehemiah 12:8).
This "official" giving of thanks was enhanced by the fact that individual Israelites were also encouraged to express gratitude by making an offering to God called a "thank offering" (Leviticus 7:1215, etc.). Although the people were given flexibility in making their thank offerings, it is clear that such offerings were to be made, and made properly, as the following command shows: "When you sacrifice a thank offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf" (Leviticus 22:29).
Unfortunately, despite their acts of ritual reminding them to express gratitude, the people of ancient Israel were not always – or even often – truly thankful to God, and we read many examples of the people falling short in this regard (Exodus 16:3, etc.). God repeatedly chastised Israel for this failing through his prophets and reminded the people of what he had done for them that so often went unacknowledged and unappreciated (Isaiah 1:2, etc.). Gratitude in the New Testament When we turn to the New Testament, we find that it was certainly the custom of Jesus to give thanks. We see examples of this not only in his giving thanks for food (Matthew 14:19, 15:36, 26:26-27, etc.), but also in the thanks often included in his other prayers. In the Gospel of Luke, for example, we find one such prayer consisting almost entirely of expressed thankfulness:
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will' (Luke 10:21 ESV). Another clear example of Jesus making a prayer of thanks is found in the Gospel of John which records his words after the raising of Lazarus:
… Then Jesus looked up and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me' (John 11:41-42). It is true that the so-called "Lord's Prayer" – the model prayer outline given by Jesus to his disciples (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4) – does not contain specific words of thanks; but the context in which this guide to prayer was given doubtless explains any apparent lack of giving thanks.
When we look closely, we see that in Matthew's narrative the prayer is introduced with the words "… your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:8). In Luke's narrative the context is also specifically one of things for which we should ask. In that Gospel, Jesus is said to have followed his prayer outline with the words: "…Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread…'" (Luke 11:5-8), and he summarizes his point by saying that we should "… Ask and it will be given to you …For everyone who asks receives …" (Luke 11:9-10).
Given this context we can see that the stress of the Lord's Prayer is not to cover every aspect of prayer, but simply to enumerate the important things for which we need to ask. So we can presume that knowing Jesus' own example, the disciples would have understood that every request in the outline their Master gave them would be made with thanks – both for help already given in that area and in faithful expectation of God's continued help.
This attitude is especially clear in the writings of the apostle Paul who tells us that we should: "… not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6 ESV, emphasis added). Paul clearly saw the need to offer thanksgiving along with our requests – a principle he reinforced in saying that our attitude of prayer should be one of: "giving thanks always and for everything
to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20 ESV). Deeply felt gratitude was something Jesus and his apostles frequently expressed – leaving us an example that we should follow also. The Spirit of Gratitude But why is it so important, spiritually, that we give thanks? First and foremost, when we express gratitude to God, we humbly acknowledge him as the maker and giver of every good thing. As the apostle James wrote: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights …" (James 1:17). When we feel and express thanksgiving with that understanding, our focus moves away from ourselves and our own circumstances toward God. In this sense, giving thanks is a central part of prayer itself in that it reorients us, humbles us, and helps us to see God in proper perspective as the Maker and Giver of everything we have. For all these reasons, our giving thanks honors God as he should be honored (Psalm 50:23).
And although we may not always think of it this way, thanksgiving is truly a part of praise: when we thank God, we praise him as we should. We can find dozens of scriptures throughout the Bible showing this connection between gratitude and praise. Notice these few examples from different books of the Old Testament:
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name (Psalm 100:4). Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name (1 Chronicles 29:13). The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord (2 Chronicles 5:13).
With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord (Ezra 3:11). For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the musicians and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God (Nehemiah 12:46). This direct connection between gratitude and praise is not surprising because the Hebrew word todah "thanksgiving" is actually derived from the word yadah "to praise." Why God Encourages Gratitude So, a true attitude of gratitude helps us to see God as he is, to acknowledge our need for him, to accept his will in our lives, and even to worship him properly. In fact, the writer of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews says, "… let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe" (Hebrews 12:28, emphasis added). Perhaps no other verse in the Bible better summarizes the truth that gratitude helps us worship God as we should. As the book of Psalms tells us in the verse with which this chapter begins: "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me …" (Psalms 50:23 ESV).
Ultimately, however, the greatest reason for thankfulness is that gratitude makes us more like God. If you never thought about God being appreciative, read what the author of the book of Hebrews tells us: "God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them" (Hebrews 6:10). Although it does not use the word "gratitude," this verse clearly shows that our heavenly Father would consider it unjust to not be appreciative of those who serve him, and that he will express gratitude by rewarding them.