“I will praise thee with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praise unto thee” (Psalm 138: 1 KJV). Everyone of us has probably appreciated what others have done for us, we thank them for their kind gesture towards us. We also keep memories of the good deeds others have done to us.
The Psalmist knew the essence of praising God. He had the boldness to sing unto God even if he was among the heathen. He knew the wondrous works of God. Even Jesus Christ thanked God because He had a firm assurance that God has answered Him even before He asks anything. His faith did not waver because He knew that when He thanks God, His requests will be granted Him.
Philippians 4: 6 teaches that thanksgiving constitutes the lifeblood of Christian’s prayer. Giving of thanks to God opens up the channel in which we can communicate our needs to Him. When Jesus was to feed a multitude of hungry and weary people, He gave thanks before He have them bread. (Matthew 15: 36).
Our task is to glorify God no matter the circumstances. Thanksgiving stirs up the hand of God to work mightily in one’s life. The fulness of His Majesty would be revealed in every area of our lives- only if we praise Him. His presence and glory will be made manifest.
The most important reason to thank God is because of the fact that He sent Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins. We have direct fellowship with God through honest confession and repentance of our sins. Even if we don’t have any other thing to thank Him for, we should thank Him because we have hope of eternal life, which is of exceedingly greater importance in comparison to secular achievements.
It is worthwhile to note that thanksgiving does not only incur God’s blessings, it is also an important weapon to fight against our enemies. When Jehoshaphat was confronted by enemies, he set up singers to sing unto the Lord. In the end, total victory was theirs (2 Chronicles 20: 19).
If we can lift up our hearts to praise the name of the Lord exclusively, we would continue to enjoy God’s divine providence and our lives would be modified for the better.
The Beginning of the End 