Ten Commandments of Thanksgiving #1, #2

Psalm 105:1 (ESV)

¹Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!

In this Psalm we have a quoting of the Psalm that David had given to Asaph at the dedication of the tabernacle.  It is quoted from II Chron. 16:7-14. 

We are now in November and people are often thinking about how they can express their thankfulness.   As we go through these first few verses this week we will see what I have titled “The Ten Commandments of Thanksgiving”. 

Today we will look at the first two which are found in verse one.

“Give Thanks to the LORD”.  The idea conveyed in “give thanks” is to give an expression of praise to a person”.  Thankfulness was not simply to be a feeling.  They were to express that thankfulness.  Do we take the time throughout the year to express our thankfulness to God?  Or are we more like the child at Christmas who opens a present and without any gratitude asks for another?  Our time of prayer and communion with God should include not only our “wish list” but a time of sincere praise for what the LORD, our covenant God, has done and is doing for us on a daily moment by moment basis.

The second command is “Call upon His Name”.  At times in scripture the expression can mean to pray or summons God, but here in context it seems to be more along the lines of “Call out His name.

You see clarity in who we are thanking and giving credit is important. We need to be very clear in who we are thankful for and make sure we exalt and lift up the name of the LORD.  This is Jehovah – the covenant God who has been faithful in the covenants He has made.

It is often easy for us to say, “I am thankful for… my house or my car or my wife.”  But do we give the LORD the credit by saying, “I am thankful for the house the LORD has provided for us.  I am thankful for the car God has provided.  I am thankful that God gave me such a beautiful, gracious, loving, wife.”?

Many people are willing to say, “I am thankful for…” because they like and enjoy that thing or person in their life, Yet if they do not give credit where credit is due they are not truly grateful and God does not get the glory that he deserves.

May we become people who are “Giving thanks to the Lord” and “Calling out His name” so that He is exalted and we give testimony of His grace and love in our lives.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton  FW #21