Give God Thanks With All Of Your Heart

What reason do we have to give God our thanks? In Psalm 138, David said the Lord will work out his plans for my life.

Thanksgiving might be on our calendar one day a year. But when it comes to giving God thanks, it must happen every day of the year.

I give you thanks, O LORD, with all my heart; I will sing your praises before the gods. Psalm 138:1

This is a Psalm of thankfulness and praise to God. David begins by indicating that he isn’t ashamed of his God.

He will thank Him and sing His praises before foreign gods. Those idols that other people hold up as Deity.

David was a great example to us and might have been an inspiration for what Paul wrote.  

It was Paul who told us, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God.

This is something we have can a hard time with. We are often situational Christians.

If the situation is right we are willing to give thanks. If what we are doing makes us feel good, we have no problem giving thanks.

There is an attitude among some Christian that asks, “why on earth should I give thanks if I am not thankful for my present circumstance?”

Should You Give God Thanks With All Of Your Heart?

He said that he gave thanks to God with all of his heart. Can we give God thanks with all of our heart only half of the time?

It would seem to me that when God has all of your heart, you will be able to give Him thanks for everything. Verse 4 says;

Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord. Psalm 138:4

Can you imagine the rulers of every nation on the earth humbly offering thanks to God? These are people who expected their subjects to bow down to them.

Paul in the book of Romans quoted God as it was recorded from the prophet Isaiah.

“As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.”

The Lord is serious about us giving Him praise and thanks. It would certainly be best if we bowed our knee to Him now while living on this earth.

The only other alternative is to bow before Him at the White Throne Judgment. That is just before you are sent to eternal damnation.

A couple of verses later David talked about the humble compared to the proud.

Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud.

His Right-hand

Verse 7 continues with, Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will protect me from the anger of my enemies. You reach out your hand, and the power of your right-hand saves me.

Picture this with me. You and your small child are out walking and an aggressive dog comes charging towards you. You immediately pick up the child with your left hand and use your right hand for protection.

That was what David was saying in this verse. The Lord reaches out for us with His (left) hand and protects us with His right one. In the Bible, the term right hand is a symbol of power.

Humble yourself today before the Lord with praise. Allow Him to protect you from your enemies. So in everything, you will have no problem giving Him thanks.

Lord, help us to keep our lives focused on you. We don’t want our praise and thankfulness to you to be distracted by our circumstances.

Check out this related post, Why Is The Healing Of A Samaritan Important To Us?

Also read an excellent post on Worship called, How To Worship God With All Of Your Life.

You can read this short 8 verse Psalm by clicking here.

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