April 18, 2024

Thank You, Lord

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I come before You today
And there’s just one thing that I want to say
Thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord

For all You’ve given to me
For all the blessings I cannot see
Thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord

With a grateful heart
With a song of praise
With an outstretched arm
I will bless Your name
Thank You, Lord
I just wanna thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord
I just wanna thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord

For all You’ve done in my life
You took my darkness and gave me Your light
Thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord

You took my sin and my shame
You took my sickness and healed all my pain
Thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord

Yes we thank You, Lord; thank You, Lord; thank You, Lord
Yes we thank You, oh we thank You

Don Moen
Songwriters Patrick Henderson and Louis E Brown III

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The Bible tells us to “give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.” In the Kings James Version, this specific command is given at least six times: 1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 106:1, Psalm 107:1, Psalm 118:1 and 29, and Psalm 136:1.  Of course, there are many other references to giving thanks to the Lord throughout His Word.  Many of them give thanks to Him for something or someone.  I like the focus of this verse because it is all about our Lord.  In fact, these six verses speak solely of His goodness and His mercy.

As this song mentions, we have so much to thank God for:

  • blessings we can’t see
  • taking us out of darkness and giving us His light
  • taking our sin, shame, sickness, and pain
  • for all He’s done in our lives

And for all those things we give God our thanksgiving. But today, mostly I just want to come to Him and give Him thanks and praise. He is worthy. He is our God, who is good and full of mercy and grace. Over and over, “I just wanna thank You, Lord.”

Thus will I bless Thee while I live:
I will lift up my hands in Thy name.
Psalm 63:4

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.
Psalm 134:2

Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense;
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Psalm 141:2

In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy. 1 Timothy 2:8 NLT

During this season of Thanksgiving, when we are reminded to take time to be thankful for all that God has blessed us with, I don’t want to forget to simply be thankful for God, Himself.  (What about you?)  With a grateful heart, with a song of praise, I want to “Bless the Lord, O, my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalm 103:1).  Please join me with outstretched arms, with hands and hearts lifted to our Lord, and give Him thanks. He is worthy.

All glory to Him who alone is God,
our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time,
and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.
Jude 1:25

And then I heard every creature in heaven
and on earth and under the earth and in the sea.
They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the One sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
Revelation 5:13

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Dear Lord, we can easily come to You with a long list of things and people that we are thankful for; You have blessed us with so much.  But first and foremost, Lord, we come to give You thanks for being You.  You are God above all gods, Lord above all lords.  You deserve all praise and worship. There is no one like You.  You are love, You are mercy, You are grace, and so much more.  Thank You, Lord!  In Jesus’ Precious and Holy Name we give our praise and thanksgiving.  Amen, It Is So!

Thank You (for the things I have never thanked You for)

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Thank You for the things
That I never thanked You for

You’ve given everything I need
And still I asked for more

It’s not that I’m ungrateful
I’m just forgetful, Lord

So I thank You for the things
That I’ve never thanked You for

There are so many blessings that You have given me
Things I take for granted everyday
The beauty of creation and the promise of my salvation
Lord, help me to remember when I pray

Now when my way grows weary
And rest is hard to find

And sometimes I can’t see
My way through

And when it seems that I am blinded
That’s when I need to be reminded

That the strength I thought was mine
…It came from You

~  The Isaacs  ~

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

The simple words of this bluegrass ballad are, sadly, so true: we do forget to give God thanks and we do take for granted oh-so-very-many things that God has done for us.  I am ashamed that I can sing the line ‘You’ve given everything I need…and still I asked for more’ right along with the Isaacs Family.  Oh, it’s not that I am not thankful—I am SO thankful!  Or that I don’t voice my thanks and praise to my heavenly Father.  And I am SURE you do, too!  But truly our mouths should be filled with thanks and not petitions.

Here is just one short passage full of incredible blessings (I’ve counted more than ten things to praise and thank Him for):

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

1 Peter 1: 3-7

And another:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:3-12

Thank You for the things that I’ve never thanked You for!”  Have we intentionally thanked God for being ‘blessed…with every spiritual blessing…in Christ’? Or purposefully thanked Him for being ‘predestined according to His purpose…to the end that we…would be to the praise of His glory’?  Or thanked Him from the depth of our hearts for the truth that ‘He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him’?

Our giving of thanks to God should fill our days!  When we get up, we have much to be thankful for (breath, life, new day, new mercies…).  As we go throughout the day, we have much to be thankful for (protection, guidance, forgiveness, peace, comfort…).  As we lay our heads down at night, we have much to be thankful for (provision, joy, trials gotten through, loved ones…).  And even as the Psalmist wrote,

At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You because of Your righteous ordinances.
Psalm 119:62

So let’s not be forgetful but thankful.  Truly, we should

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Every day, throughout each day, speak and sing out your thankfulness to your heavenly Father!

To the end that my tongue and my heart
and everything glorious within me
may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Psalm 30:12

Thank You (for the things that I’ve never thanked You for)

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

~  Listen while you read, please!  ~

Thank you for the things that I never thanked You for
You’ve given everything I need and still I asked for more
It’s not that I’m ungrateful, I’m just forgetful, Lord
So I thank You for the things that I’ve never thanked You for

There are so many blessings that You have given me
Things I take for granted everyday
The beauty of creation and the promise of my salvation
Lord, help me to remember when I pray

Now when my way grows weary and rest is hard to find
And sometimes I can’t see my way through
And when it seems that I am blinded that’s when I need to be reminded
That the strength I thought was mine…it came from You

~  Sung by The Isaacs   (songwriter unknown)  ~

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The simple words of this bluegrass ballad speak the truth: we do forget to give God thanks and we do take for granted oh-so-very-many things that God has done for us.  I am ashamed that I can sing the line ‘You’ve given everything I need…and still I asked for more’ right along with the Isaacs Family.  Oh, it’s not that I am not thankful—I am SO thankful!  Or that I don’t voice my thanks and praise to my heavenly Father.  And I am SURE you do, too!  But truly our mouths should be full of thanks and not petitions.

Here is just one short passage FILLED with incredible blessings (I’ve counted more than ten things to praise and thank Him for):

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

1 Peter 1: 3-7

And another:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:3-12

“Thank You for the things that I’ve never thanked You for!”  Have we intentionally thanked God for being ‘blessed…with every spiritual blessing…in Christ’? Or purposefully thanked Him for being ‘predestined according to His purpose…to the end that we…would be to the praise of His glory’?  Or thanked Him from the depth of our hearts for the truth that ‘He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him’?

Our giving of thanks to God should fill our days!  When we get up, we have much to be thankful for (breath, life, new day, new mercies…).  As we go throughout the day, we have much to be thankful for (protection, guidance, forgiveness, peace, comfort…).  As we lay our heads down at night, we have much to be thankful for (provision, joy, trials gotten through, loved ones…).  And even as the Psalmist wrote,

At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You because of Your righteous ordinances.
Psalm 119:62

Truly, we should “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  So let’s not be forgetful but thankful.  Every day, throughout each day, speak and sing out your thankfulness to your heavenly Father!

To the end that my tongue and my heart
and everything glorious within me
may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Psalm 30:12