Giving Thanks for God

Giving Thanks to God
Read Psa 21
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord.”

When it comes to expressing our thanksgiving to God, our first thought is to focus on the good things that have happened to us. We express our gratitude for our health, our promotion in our job, and our success in some venture. As the hymnist challenged us, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Indeed, we should express our gratitude for these blessings. But how do we give thanks when life is not going well, when we try to name the blessings but come up blank?

In this Psalm, which was written to be sung on the day of worship, the psalmist seeks to point us in a different direction. Instead of focusing on the blessings we receive, the psalmist desire for us to focus on God himself. In verse 1, he calls us to give thanks. It is good; it is the suitable and right thing to do. The word “give thanks”  is translated throughout the bible by the words: praise, confess, give thanks. We often distinguish between giving thanks and praise. Praise is expressing our admiration for who God is, and thanksgiving is being grateful for what God gives us. But for the psalmist, there is no such distinction.   The object of focus of giving thanks encompasses both the attributes of God and the works of God, for they are inseparable. All of God’s works are governed by his attributes, and all his attributes find expression in everything he does. We are not to just thank God for what he has done; we are to give thanks for who he is.

The psalmist then focuses on the nature of God. From morning until evening, his lovingkindness and faithfulness govern our life. His love is unfailing. God does not grow in love for us because he already loves us infinitely and perfectly. Conversely, His love will never diminish. He does not love us less tomorrow. He does not “fall out of love.”  We struggle to realize his love because, in our fallen humanity, our love is fickle. It ebbs and flows. It increases and decreases. It is affirming one day but rejecting the next. This is not true of God. His love is constant day after day.
So he is faithful as well. This speaks of the dependability of God. The basic concept of the word is one of support, and it is used in the sense of the strong arms of a parent who supports and holds a helpless infant. To speak of God’s faithfulness is to affirm that he is always present, always responsive, and always trustworthy. He never abandons us or forsakes us, but is entirely dependable to fulfill his promises to us.  

This becomes the reason why we can be thankful in all circumstances, not because the circumstances are good, but because God does not abandon or forsake us no matter how difficult life becomes. On the contrary, he will continue to love and support us. He is the unseen hand that sustains and protects us no matter our circumstances. This is why the psalmist is unconcerned about the enemies who rise against him (vs. 11). The psalmist acknowledges that adversity will arise. God does not promise to insulate us from hardship. But he does promise to uphold us amid the struggles. Consequently, in the end, we will “flourish like a palm tree and yield fruit in old age (vs. 12-14).   We can give thanks in every circumstance because “He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (vs. 15).  

This Thanksgiving, instead of focusing on the blessings we have (or don’t have), focus on the one who stands beside us. Give thanks for the greatest blessing of all: God himself.