Rev. Michael Fintelman

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD. –Psalm 92:1a

John Calvin once rightly noted, “It is the highest worship to God when we acknowledge His goodness by thanksgiving.” Indeed, it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. Psalm 92:6 says that a “brutish man,” that is, a spiritually senseless man, does not understand this. However, a true Christian does. C. H. Spurgeon commented how good it is to express thanksgiving: “It is good ethically, for it is the Lord’s right [to require thanksgiving of us], it is good emotionally, for it is pleasant to the heart, it is good practically, for it leads others to follow the same example,…to give thanks to God is but a small return for the great benefits wherewith He daily loadeth us, and if by His Spirit He calls it a good thing we must never despise or neglect it…. Thanksgiving is never out of season, never superfluous and a day without thanksgiving is a day profaned.”

The Object of Thanksgiving
Proper thanksgiving is to be directed to the LORD. Remember that the non-Christians and even atheists celebrate the holidays, including Thanksgiving. They may have a sense of general thankfulness that is vague and unfocused, but we are called to give thanks unto the LORD if it would please God.

An atheist once said, “Why would I not be thankful? There are so many things to be grateful and thankful for that have nothing to do with religion. I am thankful that my family is healthy and happy. I am thankful that I am able to enjoy doing the things I love to do. I just don’t feel that I owe my happiness or anything that has happened in my life to God.” The Bible calls such a man a fool (Ps. 14:1). Is our thanksgiving expressed to the LORD? Are we wise or foolish in our thanksgiving?

The Content of Thanksgiving
The psalmist says we are to give thanks to God. It is all about giving. So Thanksgiving Day is not to see how much we get. We don’t see if we get a plate full of food or a warm feeling of spending time with family and friends, as wonderful as these things may be. True thanksgiving is something we do—it is an act of worship in the fullest sense of the word. True thanksgiving does not look at self, but away from self and toward the LORD. It not only gives thanks for His benefits, but a true expression of thanksgiving expresses thanks for the Giver—that is, God Himself. Are you thankful to God and are you thankful for God and His Son? Spurgeon said, “It is a pleasant sight to see anybody thanking God; for too often the air is heavy with the hum of murmuring, and the roads are dusty with complaints.” May our hearts be overflowing not with murmuring, but with praise and thanks to God alone.

The Purpose of Thanksgiving
Psalm 92:15 gives three purposes for thanksgiving.

To extol the attributes of God. The psalmist writes that he expressed God-centered thankfulness “to show that the Lord is upright.” Thanksgiving is meant to honor God. The Pharisee in Jesus’ day gave thanks to show that he was upright (Luke 18:11). But a Christian who rightly thanks God expresses that God is upright. True thanksgiving seeks to magnify and extol God in all His Being.

To confess our relationship with Him. The psalmist says, “He is my Rock.” When we unashamedly express Christ-centered thankfulness, we witness that we personally know Him— He who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and has all the silver and gold in His hands. You’ve no doubt heard it said, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” This is very true in a spiritual sense! And in this personal relationship, He will always uphold us. A hymn writer put it this way:

He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessed will;
A wall of fire about me, I’ve nothing now to fear,
With His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.

To magnify His good character. The psalmist concludes that we express thanks to show “there is no unrighteousness in him.” The Lord does everything right and justly. Maybe we secretly think that the Lord is unfair. But true thanksgiving sees that everything the Lord does—the straight as well as the crooked roads in life, the sunny as well as the stormy days—are all fair and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Therefore, let us not grumble when we do not get what we want; let us be thankful that we do not receive what we truly deserve. This is God-centered thankfulness. “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord.”

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Rev. Michael Fintelman is pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Hull, Iowa.

Published with permission by The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth