Later this month, we celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. It’s a time to gather with family and friends and enjoy a feast. It’s a time to give thanks for all our blessings, to express our gratitude for all that we have. When the holiday was first announced by President Lincoln in 1863, it was assumed that such thanks would be offered to God. In our post-Christian culture, people still express gratitude for the good things in their life, but not to the One who gives them all that they have, including their very breath.
For those who profess faith in Christ, what does our offer of thanksgiving look like?
In Psalm 9, the psalmist wrote, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” (vv.1-2). In Hebrew poetry, when two lines are joined together, they are considered a couplet where the second line repeats what is stated in the first line. It echoes the thought in the previous line, providing further information on what the first statement means. In the case of verse one, recounting all of God’s wondrous deeds is what it means to give thanks to the Lord with one’s whole heart. So rather than just verbalizing a general statement of thanksgiving to God, we look back at our life and list or recount all that God has done.
And that’s what the author does in Psalm 9. Some scholars think David wrote this psalm after his win against Goliath; others see it as a psalm recounting God’s deliverance over David’s enemies in general, those enemies who stood against him as he took over the land God promised to his people. In this psalm, David reveals the reasons why he is giving thanks. He recounts the Lord’s faithfulness in delivering him from his enemies (vv.3-6). He describes the Lord’s character and how he relates to his people. (vv.7-10) The Lord is just, righteous, and a stronghold. He does not forsake those who place their trust in him. David then exhorts, “Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!” (v. 11).
To give thanks with our whole heart is to do more than just say, “Thank you”; it is gratitude that bubbles up from deep inside our heart. It’s the response of those who know that all good things come from the Father in heaven. It’s the response of the humble—those who acknowledge that God alone is the source of all that we have. Further, when we give thanks, it’s not so much about the gift itself, but about the Giver, for as the psalmist wrote, “I will be glad and exult in you” (v.2). This is what makes the gratitude of a Christian different from other expressions of thanksgiving. We give thanks and rejoice in God; the non-believer rejoices in the gift.
When we give thanks during this season of Thanksgiving, let us recount the things that God has done, not just the things done for us today, but even the things God has done for us in the past. The Puritan preacher, Matthew Henry, wrote in his commentary, “When we give thanks for some one particular mercy we should take occasion thence to remember former mercies and so to show forth all his marvellous works.”
This Thanksgiving, let us ask: How has God been faithful to me in my life? How has he provided? How has he comforted? How has he sheltered? How has he delivered? “The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you” (vv. 9-10).
As we recount his wondrous deeds, let us give thanks with our whole heart.
Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash
