An Act of Gratitude

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. (Psalm 105:1)

IN WORD  We know both by way of Scripture and by the impulses of our hearts that God is to be thanked. There’s no way to understand the profound implications of His grace and still to remain thankless in our attitude. In fact, Paul links gratitude with a true knowledge of God and the desire to glorify Him (Romans 1:21). It’s an inviolable scriptural principle: To know what God has done is to be thankful.

What does that mean for us? Is it simply an attitude of the heart? Though it begins there, we know there should be more. When we’re truly grateful for another person, we want to do things for him or her.

Do we have the same impulse with God? Does our gratitude result in an intense desire to offer some gift to Him as an act of devotion? If so, Psalm 105 gives us at least one natural response to His grace: We can make Him known.

God’s grace is deeply personal, but it isn’t private. Scripture tells us repeatedly that God desires a reputation among our families and among the nations. From the hordes passing through the Red Sea to the recipients of Jesus’ miracles, the natural response to God’s mercy has always been a deep desire to tell about it.

The glimpse that the Bible gives us of gratitude is a spontaneous proclamation of His goodness. If we have no urge to tell, perhaps we have no deep awareness of His works. His goodness is too good to keep to ourselves.

IN DEED  Do you have that urge for others to know how good your God is? Then you understand: You’ve recognized His work within you and you’re grateful for it. In all of the overflow that begins this psalm, there’s a direct, vertical worship of God, and there’s also a horizontal relationship with others that gives us ample opportunity to declare what we know of Him.

We are to “tell of all his wonderful acts” (v. 2). The gifts of God are public domain. He is worthy of the highest reputation we can proclaim.

“Thanksgiving is good, but thanksgiving is better.”— Matthew Henry

Additional Reading: Psalm 105:1-7; Romans 1:21