Thanks Giving

We need not think that Thanksgiving is limited to the fourth Thursday of November. Thanks—giving for the child of God is to be a normal part of everyday life. We take for granted that thanks should be given to God. God, however, is not in all the thoughts of the wicked. Consequently, for some people Thanksgiving is only a holiday. It’s a vague concept. They know in their heart of hearts that thanks belongs to Someone, but they cannot be honest with themselves.

The redeemed of the Lord are not so. We are not like the Samaritans of Jesus’ day who knew not the Subject of their worship. We give thanks to the LORD. Psalm 136 begins thus, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good….” If this is not sufficient reason to thank the LORD, the psalmist adds another reason, “for His mercy endureth forever.” The next verse reads, “O give thanks unto the God of gods….” The same reference to the everlasting mercy of God is given as the reason. Yet again the psalmist implores us to “give thanks to the Lord of lords.” The sole reason is that “His mercy endureth forever.” Finally, in the last verse we are exhorted to “give thanks unto the God of heaven….” No other psalm employs the word “thanks” as Psalm 136. Not that long ago I must confess that reading this psalm did not engender thoughts of gratitude. All I could see was the relentless repetition of a particular phrase. Yes, I knew that His mercy or lovingkindness was important. But to my uninstructed mind the psalmist could have stated one time or maybe two the reason to give thanks. For him, however, every act of God was worthy of its own special mention of the enduring character of God’s mercy. Read the psalm again and see for yourself how enduring is God’s mercy. Contemplate the fame of the Amorite kings and realize that a “no nation” with no special carnal weapons defeated them. Only the enduring mercy of God could enable a stiff-necked people to gain the victory.

Giving thanks is of utmost importance in the matter of worship. The apostle Paul displays before us that the lack of giving thanks is reason for God to unleash His wrath from heaven (Romans 1:21). When men knew God, they held this truth in unrighteousness and glorified Him not as God. Paul continues by saying that they forsook being thankful. I believe this to be more than just a general lack of manners. Being thankful is at the heart of God’s worship. The chronicler says, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise” (1 Chronicles 16:34, 35). See also, 1 Chr. 23:3; 2 Chr. 31:2; Ezra 3:11; and Neh 12:24, 31, 38.

Observe the difference between covenantal and non-covenantal worship. In the former God has particularized in history His salvation. See for example, the deliverance of a specific people out of the bondage of Egypt through the Red Sea (Exodus 15). There was no doubt as to the identity of those saved. The latter is characterized by a general sense of salvation. One must continuously seek a sense of assurance, “Did I really believe?” or “Did I really mean it when I gave my heart to Jesus?” The identity of those saved is vague and based upon the subjective judgment of man. One should think that if God were his God, salvation would be largely a non-issue. If God be for us, who can be against us? See Romans 8:31. That would be the reason to thank God. The Eucharist captures this focus of worship. Indeed, the meaning of the word Eucharist is from the Greek eukharistia “giving of thanks” from eukharistos “grateful.” We see then that in the Church the celebration of the Lord’s Table gives occasion for us to offer to God our thanks for His gift of life in His Son.

Common courtesy should be the general demeanor of our lives. If someone does something for you, your automatic response should be to say, “Thank-you.” One teaching mechanism may be employed at mealtime. Let the father say, “Give thanks to God,” and let everyone else respond by saying, “We give thanks to the Lord.” The intention is to cultivate an attitude of gratitude to God for His blessings. We need the constant reminder that God is worthy of our thanks—giving.