Give Thanks to God!

Today the message is entitled “Give Thanks to God!”

Reasons to Be Thankful—Psalm 136: 1-9

Give Thanks to God for His Person (v. 1-3)

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

Give Thanks to God for His Power (v. 4-9)

4 to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

Charles H. Spurgeon states: “Most hymns with a solid, simple chorus become favorites with congregations, and this is sure to have been one of the best beloved. It contains nothing but praise. It is tuned to rapture, and can only be fully enjoyed by a devoutly grateful heart.”

The devotional book “Springs in the Valley,” Mrs. Charles E. Cowman tells of a man who found a barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. He found that the seeds of discouragement were more numerous than the others and he learned that those seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere. But when Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one place in which he could never get them to thrive. “And where is that?” asked the man. Satan replied sadly, “In the heart of a grateful person.”

Hebrews 12: 28, 29 NIV
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,
29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Matthew Henry exhorts: “The duty we are here again and again called to is to give thanks, to offer the sacrifice of praise continually, not the fruits of our ground or cattle, but the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

Hebrews 13:15 NIV
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name.

John Calvin writes: “The Psalmist reminds the Lord’s people, that unless they were assiduous in His praises, they were chargeable with defrauding God of what was justly due to Him for His benefits.”

In Alan Loy McGinnis’s book, “The Power of Optimism,” Robert Louis Stevenson is quoted, “The person who has stopped being thankful has fallen asleep in life.”

So why and how do we give thanks to God? We just looked at other’s thoughts, now we will look at some New Testament verses.

1 Corinthians 15: 55-57 NIV
55 “Where O death, is your victory? Where O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 2: 14-15 NIV
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.
15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

Philippians 4: 6-7 NIV
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Revelations 7: 11-12 NIV
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God,
12 saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Give thanks to God is the title of todays message. Hopefully we have a better understanding of the why and how we are to do that. God is an awesome God whom we need to thank for our lives and all the blessings we have received.

Walk out this door praising our Savior and telling others what you are thankful for!