It’s More Than “Thanks”

 

August 8, 2025

Psalm 107:1 

"Give thanks to the Lord,

for he is good;

his love endures forever."

We tend to think of gratitude as just good manners, like saying “thanks” when someone passes the bowl of popcorn on family movie night, or the mashed potatoes at a family dinner. But in the Bible, gratitude is more than polite words. Gratitude is actually a form of worship.

When the psalmist says, “Give thanks to the Lord”, it’s not a suggestion, it’s a call to action. In Hebrew, that phrase “give thanks” is yadah, which means more than just verbal thanks. It’s also used for lifting your hands in praise. In other words, gratitude is physical, active, and directed toward God.

When we give thanks, we’re not just making a list of blessings. We’re acknowledging the Giver, and declaring, “I see what You’ve done, and I trust who You are.”

There is a reason Scripture is packed with commands to give thanks: gratitude pulls us out of self-focus and re-centers us on God.

When Israel grumbled in the wilderness (Numbers 11), they lost sight of God’s past faithfulness. But when they remembered what He had done, delivering them from Egypt, parting the Red Sea, providing manna, it fueled fresh trust for the future.

The same is true for us. Gratitude isn’t just “counting blessings” so we feel better. It’s a spiritual discipline that shapes our hearts to trust God more deeply.

We need to be clear, biblical gratitude doesn’t mean denial. It’s not about pretending everything is fine when it’s not. The Psalms are filled with both lament and thanksgiving

Psalm 13, for example, starts with, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?” and ends with, “I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” That’s faith! It’s the decision to anchor our soul in God’s goodness, even when "the waves are rough."

In the New Testament, Paul pushes it even further. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 he says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Notice, he doesn’t say to be thankful for all circumstances. God isn’t asking us to be grateful for evil or suffering. But He does call us to be thankful in the midst of them, because no matter what’s happening, His love remains constant, His kingdom is unshaken, and His promises endure.

Gratitude is rooted in God’s unchanging nature, not in our changing situations. It’s a response to His covenant faithfulness, the kind of steady love Psalm 107 celebrates: “His love endures forever.”


Practicing gratitude is a way of acknowledging a profound truth: that God is the source of all good things (James 1:17) and His goodness remains constant, even when life gets tough. It helps you avoid feeling spiritually abandoned and reminds you that you belong to a loving and faithful Father.

Let's Pray

God, thank You that Your love never runs out. Teach me to see Your fingerprints in my everyday life. Even in hard seasons, let my thanks be a way of saying, “I trust You.” May my gratitude become my worship. Amen.