Psalm 92 verse 1 says, 'It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High'. Scripture is full of exhortations and encouragements to thank God, prayers and songs of thanksgiving, and cautionary tales about the danger of ungratefulness. Most of us know thanksgiving is something we should do, yet many of us struggle to practice it intentionally. We must ask, Why is it ‘good to give thanks to the Lord’?
Thanksgiving blesses God
Scripture tells us to enter God’s presence with thanksgiving (Psalm 100.4), to make our requests known to him with thanksgiving (Philippians 4.6), and to give thanks to him in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5.18). It is possible to see texts like this and wrongly perceive thanksgiving as another duty to perform or a ritual we do to appease God, but scripture is emphatic that while God delights in our thanksgiving, he does not need it. He doesn't call for it from a place of insecurity or a desire to be encouraged. Rather, thanking God is the natural response when we see God for who he is.
We are not called to baseless thanksgiving but are repeatedly told why to thank God. We thank him because he deserves it. ‘Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’ is a repeated refrain in scripture (e.g. Psalms 107, 118, 136, 1 Chronicles 16). We thank God because ‘every good and perfect gift’ comes from him, every breath we take, every ray of sunshine, everything comes to us from his merciful hand. When we truly grasp this, thanking God should be our instinctive response. When we give thanks, we are saying true things about God. We are treating God as God.
Thanksgiving blesses us
But when Psalm 92 says it is good to thank God, it is not just saying ‘It’s the right thing to do’ or ‘It’s good for God’, but also that it is good for us. How so? There are many ways, but I’ll touch on three briefly – faith, hope and love.
There is much in life to distract and disappoint us, to provoke us to ignore or doubt God. Without intentional effort to fix our minds on God, we drift towards unbelief. But giving thanks reminds us of who God is, what he’s done and what he’s doing, and it builds faith in us. Thanksgiving also gives us hope. Difficult situations can drive us to despair, but recalling the good things God has done gives us perspective. Our challenges are big but our God is bigger, so we can have hope.
Finally, thanksgiving blesses us as it stirs our hearts to love God. Left to their own devices, our hearts focus on what we don’t have, growing cold and bitter to God. But when we ‘bless the Lord and remember his benefits’ (Psalm 103), we are reminded that God loves us and means to do us good, and this enables us to love him.
Thanksgiving blesses others
Christian thanksgiving differs from the secular idea of “practising gratitude” in that our thanks are directed to God. But another key distinction is that Christian thanksgiving has a strong communal aspect. Throughout scripture, thanksgiving is something others are invited into. Psalm 34 says, ‘Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!’
Why? Because thanksgiving not only blesses God and the person giving thanks but it blesses others too. It builds faith in those joining in, as they hear how God is still at work, answering prayers, saving and bringing deliverance. It stirs hope and warms their hearts with love for this God who constantly lavishes mercy on undeserving people.
So friend, I encourage you to take time today to write down some things for which you are thankful to God. Make a regular habit of doing this. Don’t stop there, but invite others into your thanksgiving. It’s as simple as asking, 'What are you thankful for?' or 'How have you seen God at work lately?' Let us thank the Lord, for he is good and giving thanks is good.
Pausing to say thank you
It is a little difficult to imagine now how uncertain things felt when our church first began.
I had to settle my heart that the church plant might fail, whilst at the same time trusting God for his favour. I don’t know what the others felt, but they certainly took a risk in becoming founding members.
Those early Sundays were interesting. A bunch of supportive people showed up for our first-ever meeting in late September, but in the following weeks, it was a little more shaky. We were essentially no bigger than a home group.
Eugene had found the venue and negotiated its use for a mere £10 p/h. Joshua set up the tech (about three cables and a couple of mics). Jenny and Sie made cakes and tried to keep the two kids quiet at the back. Irina printed some bulletins with song lyrics. Dan Tan or Jocelyn led worship (except that one Sunday when they were both away and it fell to me). Danny offered lots of much-needed encouragement whilst getting us registered as a charity. I preached my heart out, making sure my voice reached the second row (there wasn't a third). And we all prayed. That was pretty much it.
But then Annabelle showed up and said she wanted to join. She brought Hannah and Estera and Jamie. Shanice found us too. And so did Chloe, and then James and Tim. We were absolutely flying… as long as everyone showed up at the same time.
I reflect back now and I’m sort of surprised anyone stayed. I’m not sure I would have joined a thing like this.
But then I’m less surprised when I remember how much fun we had, and how incredibly passionate and enthused everyone was. And most of all, we were really quite certain that God was with us.
And so, early on, we settled it that it was important to mark certain moments to give thanks to God. Nothing is certain except his faithfulness and his goodness. So, we wanted to take our opportunities to pause and say thank you, especially with each year the church grew older.
Now we’re approaching 10 years. A decade. And God has been so faithful and so, so good. I would love for every one of you to join us to celebrate on 4th October as we mark this moment in the life of our church.
(Photo from Grace London’s first birthday)