Thankfulness
Psalm 100:1-5
1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! 2Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3Know 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. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
1. Thankfulness guards us from becoming faithless and negative.
Deuteronomy 1:27a
27And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt...
2. Thankfulness takes your eyes off yourself and puts them on God.
Psalm 69:30
30I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
3. Thankfulness reminds us of the character of God.
Psalm 145:17
17The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.
Psalm 119:68a
68You are good and do only good...
Psalm 34:8
8Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
4. Thankfulness causes us to remember the benefits of knowing God.
Psalm 103:2-5
2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
5. Thankfulness gives us courage for the future.
1 Samuel 30:6
6And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
Psalm 69:1-3
1Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. 3I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
Psalm 69:29b-32
29O God, set me on high! 30I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. 32When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
