A Psalm for Giving Thanks

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
    Serve the Lord with gladness!
    Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

I fell asleep last night thinking upon the pastoral prayer at the beginning of the sermon yesterday. Part of what Kyle prayed was, “Lord, forgive us for our lack of gratitude. We look at all the things that ‘are not’ and ‘the things we can’t’ rather than looking at all You have given us and taking joy in the smallest of things and the smallest of blessings and the largest of blessings." Lord, your word is clear that the first step toward idolatry and worship of other gods is simply a lack of gratitude.

I was asking the Lord to work in my heart to continually be overflowing with gratitude and thankfulness as I was convicted that ‘lack of gratitude’ might describe me more than I would like to admit.

We are so prone to be forgetful people, and prone to not give thanks. This was true of Israel in the wilderness though God demonstrated His faithfulness and goodness in countless ways and it is so often true of my heart.

What is a remedy toward this forgetfulness and neglect?

The answer is looking to the Lord and praising Him and giving thanks. Psalm 100 is a short but power-packed Psalm with a call to corporate and global (verse 1) praise of God. Our posture toward God must be filled with thanksgiving and praise.

We can make a joyful noise and praise Him with thanksgiving because He is the Creator and is our Creator. The Psalmist declares, “It is He who made us, and we are his” (verse 3).