Being thankful implies someone to whom one gives thanks. If I find a twenty-dollar bill on the street, I have a sense of good fortune--what we often call "lucky," but to whom on earth do I say "Thank You"? If I knew, I would return the money to its owner and would have no $20 for which to give thanks. That vague, unspecified feeling of gratitude is coming to pervade our celebration of Thanksgiving. We have no one to whom to give thanks, and often we fail to really identify reasons for thanksgiving, so we try to muster up warm feelings by looking at pictures of turkeys and Pilgrims.
How different is the Thanksgiving we find in Scripture.
Psalm 136 is an example of this robust Thanksgiving. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the heavens with skill . . .
To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn . . .
divided the Red Sea asunder . . . And made Israel pass through the midst of it. . .
For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And has rescued us from our adversaries. . .
Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
(Psalm 136, NASB95) Click here for an unedited copy of Psalm 136.
Let's let this Psalm be a guide for our gratitude. The recurring line about God's everlasting lovingkindness reminds us that the basis of our gratitude is not chance, but the very character of God. The Psalmist leads the people of Israel through the history of God's acts of power and goodness to the people of Israel. Each of us could make our own list of God's acts on our behalf.
Two questions to ask about thanksgiving, as we prepare for Thanksgiving:
- To whom am I thankful?
- For what am I thankful?
Write your own Psalm of Thanksgiving.
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