Returning to Give Thanks

Songs of Thanks in Israel

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One healed man “returned, and with a loud voice glorified God” (Luke 17:15). Long before that day, God's people had learned to stop and give thanks out loud.

When the ark came to Jerusalem. King David brought the ark of God, the holy chest that stood for God's presence with His people, to Jerusalem. He chose men from the tribe of Levi to thank and praise the Lord, and he gave them a song of thanks to sing (1 Chronicles 16:4, 7).

Tell what He has done. The song began by telling the people to give thanks to the Lord, to call on His name and to make His deeds known among the nations (1 Chronicles 16:8). Thanks was not kept secret. It was meant to be heard.

A line they sang again and again. One line shows up all through Israel's songs: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:1). Near the end of David's song comes that same call to give thanks (1 Chronicles 16:34).

Singers in front of the army. Years later, a huge army came against King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. Jehoshaphat sent singers out ahead of his soldiers. They praised the Lord and sang that His mercy lasts forever (2 Chronicles 20:21).

Thanks before the answer. They sang before the battle, not after it. When they began to sing and praise, the Lord set traps against their enemies (2 Chronicles 20:22). They thanked God because they trusted Him.

A man God healed. In Psalm 30, David wrote that he cried out to the Lord and the Lord healed him (Psalm 30:2). He said God had turned his crying into dancing, so he would give thanks to God forever (Psalm 30:11-12).

Thanks from inside a fish. Jonah prayed from inside the great fish. He promised to worship God with the voice of thanksgiving, and he said that salvation comes from the Lord (Jonah 2:9). He gave thanks while he was still inside the fish.

Saved by the Lord. Jonah was right. Salvation comes from the Lord. We cannot save ourselves from sin any more than Jonah could swim out of that fish. God sent Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Everyone who trusts Him is forgiven.

What this means for you. Like David, tell others what God has done. Like Jehoshaphat's singers, thank Him even before you see the answer. And like the Samaritan, come back to Jesus and say thank you out loud.

The Samaritan “returned to give glory to God” (Luke 17:18). In the Old Testament, thanksgiving was not only a private feeling. It was a public act of worship, often sung and sometimes offered at God's altar.

Todah. The Hebrew word todah (say: toh-DAH) means thanksgiving. It can name a song of thanks, and it can also name a sacrifice. The law of Moses included a peace offering brought for thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:12). A person God had helped came to His house and thanked Him in front of others.

Thanks given a job (1 Chronicles 16:4-8). When the ark came to Jerusalem, David appointed Levites whose work was to thank and praise the Lord. Thanks became a regular part of Israel's worship, not something left to chance. The psalm David gave them opens with a call to give thanks, to call on His name and to make His deeds known among the peoples.

Mercy that lasts. Israel sang one call to thanks for generations: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:1). Near its end, David's psalm sounds the same call (1 Chronicles 16:34). The reason for thanks is God's faithful love, which never runs out.

Praise at the front (2 Chronicles 20:21-22). Facing armies from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, Jehoshaphat placed singers ahead of the soldiers to praise the Lord for His mercy that lasts forever. When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the invaders. Their thanks spoke faith before the victory arrived.

Healed and thankful (Psalm 30). David wrote that he cried to the Lord and was healed, that God turned his mourning into dancing, and that he would give thanks to God forever (Psalm 30:2, 11-12). Healing led to thanks, and the thanks was meant to last a lifetime.

Thanks in the deep (Jonah 2:9). From inside the fish, Jonah vowed to sacrifice to God with the voice of thanksgiving, and he ended with the confession that salvation is of the Lord. His thanks came while he was still inside the fish, before God brought him to dry land.

The gospel in Jonah's line. Salvation is of the Lord. No one rescues himself from sin. God sent His Son, who “died for our sins according to the Scriptures” and “rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). God's saving grace comes first. Thanksgiving is the answer of a rescued heart.

Application. Build thanks into your week the way Israel built it into worship. Thank God out loud, thank Him in front of others, and thank Him before the answer comes. Each time, you are doing what the Samaritan did when he came back.

Thanks in Every Place

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The Samaritan gave thanks right there on the road, face down at Jesus' feet (Luke 17:16). In the New Testament, God's people learned to give thanks in every kind of place.

Thanks on the hardest night. On the night before He died, Jesus “took bread, gave thanks and broke it” (Luke 22:19). He knew the cross was coming, and He still thanked His Father.

Thanks in a storm. Paul was a prisoner on a ship caught in a terrible storm. For many days no one had eaten. Paul took bread and gave thanks to God in front of everyone. He began to eat, and the others felt encouraged and ate too (Acts 27:33-36).

Thanks that helps others. Paul's words and his thanks gave the frightened sailors and soldiers courage. When you thank God out loud, the people around you are reminded that God is near.

Thanks always. Paul wrote that believers should always give thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of Jesus (Ephesians 5:20). Thanks is for every day, not only for good days.

Growing in thanks. Paul also told the Colossians that people who have received Jesus should keep walking with Him. He said they should be rooted in Him, like a tree, and overflowing with thanks (Colossians 2:6-7).

God is kind first. Jesus said that God “is kind to the unthankful” (Luke 6:35). God was kind to the nine men who did not come back, too. His kindness does not wait for our thanks. He gives first, and thanks is how we answer.

The best gift. The Bible says, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We have all sinned, and we could never make ourselves clean. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again, so that everyone who trusts Him can be forgiven.

Thanks for people. Paul often thanked God for other believers. He wrote, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:4). You can thank God for the people He has put in your life.

What this means for you. Thank God at meals, at bedtime, in hard times and in happy ones. When something good happens, stop the way the Samaritan did and say thank You to Jesus.

The Samaritan gave thanks on the road, face down at Jesus' feet (Luke 17:16). The New Testament shows thanks rising from every kind of place, including the hardest ones.

The night before the cross (Luke 22:19). Jesus “took bread, gave thanks and broke it.” He gave thanks knowing what the next day held. His thanks rested on His Father's goodness, not on an easy road ahead.

On a battered ship (Acts 27:33-36). After about two weeks of storm with no food, Paul urged everyone to eat. He took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and the whole company was encouraged and ate. Thanks spoken in a crisis became a witness to sailors, soldiers and prisoners.

Always, for all things (Ephesians 5:20). Paul describes Spirit-filled believers as giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks for all things does not mean calling evil good. It means trusting that the Father is good and at work, and thanking Him through Jesus.

Rooted and overflowing (Colossians 2:6-7). Paul pictures believers who have received Christ Jesus as rooted, built up and established in Him, abounding with thanksgiving. Thanks is the overflow of a life that is growing in Jesus.

The other road (Romans 1:21). Paul also describes how people turn away from God: “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful.” Thanklessness is not a small thing. Giving thanks keeps a heart turned toward God.

Kind to the unthankful (Luke 6:35). Jesus said the Most High “is kind to the unthankful” (Luke 6:35). God healed nine men who did not come back. His kindness is never earned by our gratitude, and that is the very reason it calls for gratitude.

The gift of God (Romans 6:23). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We were sinners who could not cleanse ourselves. Jesus died for our sins and rose again. All of salvation is gift, so all of the Christian life can be thanks.

Application. Practice thanks in three places this week: at a meal, in front of a friend and in one hard moment. Each time, you are returning, like the Samaritan, to give glory to God.

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