Thanksgiving to God

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness,

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.”

      Psalm 100

Yesterday, we observed a national day of Thanksgiving in the U.S.  This day was set aside by our country’s forefathers to acknowledge the providential hand of almighty God and His many blessings.  Unfortunately, at least where I was yesterday, there was not much talk of God.  Yes, people gave thanks to others for preparing such a good meal and they rejoiced at having a long weekend, but it could not be said to be a day of thanksgiving to God.  And I’m ashamed that I didn’t speak up more boldly to thank God and to express my gratitude for all He has done in my life.

Un-thankfulness is a mark of the ungodly. The apostle Paul says that although such men “know God, they did not glorify Him as god, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).  By contrast, as new creations in Christ, we have hearts that are made for giving thanks to our gracious Savior and Lord for who He is and all He has done for us.

So to praise Him today, I’ve chosen Psalm 100.  I wish we could sing it together, making a joyful shout to our great God, who created us and made us His children!  Let us enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise!