Giving Thanks

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-3 ESV). When we go to Psalm 136 we find one of the longest sentences in the Bible! The third verse begins a sentence that goes for another nineteen verses. The psalmist gets caught up in “Giving Thanks.” That might sound a bit odd at first read. We thank many people for many things; we thank God for the many provisions he has made for us. However, the concept in this psalm is not about thanking God for something he has given, but acknowledging his character and nature. It is praise for who he is. Twelve times in this psalm we are told to “give thanks” to God. We should note that the original Hebrew, the imperative form of the verb yadah shows up only four times, but it is implied in many other verses. No other psalm uses this imperative as often. It begs the question of its meaning. What does it mean to give thanks to God? Commonly, we do give thanks to someone who has done something for us. Thanksgiving does acknowledge a person for acting in generous manner toward us. Here there is a subtle difference. We see this sense of thanksgiving in Psalm 136. Verse 5, for example, reads, “Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.” Our thanks acknowledges God’s action in creation and gives him appropriate credit. Yet the use of “give thanks” in Psalm 136 goes beyond our ordinary sense of thanksgiving. Consider the first verse, for example: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” Though one might rightly note that God’s goodness and faithful love are communicated through his actions, this verse connects thanksgiving, not specifically to what God has done, but to who God is. We are to give thanks, not just because God has done good things for us, but because God is good. Thus, Psalm 136 takes us beyond thanksgiving to a deeper acknowledgement, not only of God’s actions, but also of God’s nature. The Hebrew verb yadah, translated here as “give thanks,” means more than “acknowledge someone when that person does something good for you.” It has the sense of speaking out what is true. Thus, beyond saying “thank you” to God when God blesses us, we are to confess his goodness, his grace, his beauty, his grandeur. Practically speaking, thanksgiving often leads us to deeper praise. When we think of what God has done for us, we can’t hold back our gratitude. But, even more, our consideration of God’s actions helps us to reflect upon God’s nature. God does good for us because God is good. Thus, thanksgiving opens the door to praise by bringing to mind God’s character.