A Grateful Heart

For literally years I have looked for songs or even "a song" that focuses on giving thanks to the Lord and they are so few. I’m not sure why, but I’ve told the Lord (haha what irony…"I told the Lord") I would write one if He would give it to me. In fact, I would LOVE to write one but that just hasn’t happened "yet." I’ve been studying what scripture says about giving thanks. And I’ve found some pretty cool things.

The word thanksgiving is the Hebrew, todah (sounds like what a child says when she wants you to look at what she’s done so she lifts up her arms and proclaims…"todah!"). It means thanks, adoration, praise. It is derived from the verb yadah, "to give thanks, to praise." The root of yadah is yad, "hand." Thus, to thank or praise God is "to lift or extend one’s hands" in thanks to Him. So, if you’ve ever raised your hands in church or even when you’re praising God privately, it’s like you’re saying TODAH to God for Who He is and what He’s done in your life! Back to the little girl, when she says "todah" she’s saying "look at me or what I’ve done!" But, when we lift our hands to the Lord, it’s like we’re saying "look at YOU, Lord!" We extend our hands to the One Who deserves the attention! Whoo hoo! Yes! Did you see those children raising their hands on the video below? Did you think that strange? Do you feel a little strange or "out of character" at the thought of lifting your hands to the Lord? It’s okay, I did too at first. But, we have to understand that it’s really a beautiful expression of thanks to the Lord. It’s not to impress anyone else or to be "showy" or "charismatic"; it is to say, "todah" to Jesus! Thank You, my Lord! Bravo, my King! YOU are amazing in this world and in my life. I love to see those children lifting their little hands to the heavens.

It’s interesting that Psalm 100 says "Enter His gates with thanksgiving" first in verse 4, then it says "and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name." The thanks come before the praise. If you think of the dwelling place of God as a literal place, you would come to the gate before the court. Gates suggests the exterior and courts the interior. In other words, we thank Him and as we begin to thank Him we are drawn closer and closer into His courts of praise.

I love Psalm 26:6b & 7, "I will go about Your altar, O LORD, that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Your wondrous works." (NKJ) Get a picture of that!

Psalm 50:23 says, "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God." Offering thanks to the Lord prepares the way for Him to show us His salvation! I love that!

In I Chronicles 16, when David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant (representing the presence of the LORD) into the tabernacle it says "he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD." "That day David first committed…this psalm of thanks to the LORD: Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name (vs. 8)…give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. Cry out, ‘Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.’ (vs. 34-35) Verse 41 says the chosen and those designated by name were to give thanks to the LORD, "for His love endures forever." The whole chapter is a picture of the importance of having a grateful heart before the Lord.

Father, give me a grateful heart. You are SO good! You have done SO much in my life! I WILL go about Your altar with the voice of thanksgiving and proclaim Your wondrous works! And all the while You will show me Your salvation…Your response to the needs of humanity!

How Great is our God!