When you thank people in your life, you are helping yourself as much as you are helping others. Now, you might find it humbling to thank other people—but taking the time to do so creates goodwill, a favorable environment, and even fosters friendship.
Researchers discovered the best habit to help nurture happiness in life is to be appreciative. People are happier when an attitude of gratitude fills their lives. In one study, researchers told one group to write down five events, people, or items, which made them thankful. They did so every week for ten weeks.
Another group listed five major events; another, the five hassles this week. The “thankful” group was happier and more content than the others; even more, they were more resilient and healthy and experienced fewer headaches.
So, what is gratitude? It includes being thankful—but more. Gratitude is being thankful and choosing to express such thankfulness. Those researchers wound up affirming what God reveals to us in His written Word: Gratitude is something good. Thanking others brings joy to the giver, helps radiate happiness to others, and even fosters an encouraging climate. Can thankfulness and gratitude even be contagious?
We find this in our psalm for today: David thanks God for answering his prayer. The group then grows larger, with those around David thanking God for the words of His mouth. The group even grows larger, with the Psalm finishing with reasons for everyone to be thankful to God: The Lord’s faithful love lasts into eternity!
For us to understand where David runs with this psalm, his story needs to become our story. God plucked David from obscurity, anointing him as king. He emboldened David to fight Goliath, a giant, and he became a hero. Danger filled David’s life, but God saved him from those who wanted him dead. Later, as king, David enjoyed power and privilege—then undeserved grace when he abused such power and privilege.
In Psalm 138, David appealed to God: “When I called, you answered me, and with Your strength, you strengthened me.” We aren’t sure what particular event David referred to when he said he called to God. But if we peer into David’s life, we do find much that applies.
God guided and taught David, giving him salvation and hope. David often found himself in deep trouble, often because of poor choices he made. But God still listened to his cries for help and even delivered him. God is merciful and kind, isn’t He? He didn’t stay angry with David or give up on him, even though he deserved it. David, indeed, had much for which to be thankful.
Like David, we also have many reasons to be thankful. The problem is we aren’t. We need prodding and poking. We need a reminder to thank others, even to thank God. Do you remember telling your kids to write thank-you notes? They received grandma’s gift, but what happened after they opened the package? They didn’t want to write the thank-you note, for a response of thanks isn’t natural for us. We’re selfish.
We might even think we deserve the stuff in our hands. So, why bother saying thanks? Such an attitude robs us of joy. How so? Because we don’t receive what we deserve, or so we think. Life turns into a life shortchanged, a life where others keep you from getting what you think you deserve. Soon, you become a malcontent, bitter at others for keeping you from getting what you deserve.
Here’s the truth: The other person doesn’t owe you anything—most of all God. The faster you realize this truth, the sooner the chip on your shoulder disappears. You and I don’t deserve anything from God, let alone forgiveness for our sin and unthankful hearts. We aren’t worthy of the good He gives us because we aren’t good enough to deserve it. We are by nature sinful and impure, sinners in need of a Savior.
Now, if you find it hard to be thankful with a heart overflowing with gratitude, think of trying to transform an entire group to be that way! In the psalm, David calls all the kings of the earth to thank God. Why? For hearing the words of His mouth.
Be thankful to God for His words? That sounds crazy. It involves a total reorientation, God pressing the reset button, which comes at the end of the psalm. “Though the Lord is exalted, he takes note of the humble, but he is aware of the arrogant only from afar. Even when I walk into the thick of danger, you preserve my life. You extend your hand against the anger of my foes, and your right hand delivers me.”
We are brought low by sin, and yet God still takes note of us. Danger surrounds us, sometimes caused by our stupid choices, and yet God still preserves us for eternity. Enemies surround us from within and without, and yet God extends His hand against those enemies.
David begins the psalm: “I give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart.” He gives thanks to God with his entire being: body, mind, and spirit. He gives himself to God in thankfulness, living a life of gratitude. David didn’t always do that. Many times, he lived only for himself, not serving God in faith or even the people of Israel as their king.
Do you remember David and Bathsheba? Israel’s army was at war, but David remained safe, cloistered in Jerusalem. One evening, he went to the roof of his palace in the cool of the night. David seeks respite from the heat of the day. There, he spies a woman in the moonlight, who is bathing after dark: Bathsheba. The reflected light, the water glistening on her skin, and her female form bedazzle the king. He is star struck, or better yet “moonstruck.” His sexual attraction turns into lust.
He’s king. Who can stop him? So, David takes Uriah’s wife for himself. Even worse, he heaps bad on top of bad, sending Uriah to the most dangerous area of battle, colluding with his men to desert him during the worst of the fight. Uriah dies. David did more than commit adultery; he even murdered another. David was messed up!
Not so for the second David, the greater David, who came as King of kings to sit on the throne of David. He showed us what life looked like, a life of offering one’s whole self in thanksgiving to God. Jesus was thankful for us when our thankfulness faltered.
Jesus lived a life of gratitude because we could not, would not, did not, and do not—not as we should! Where we are selfish, He was selfless. He lived out thankfulness toward God—even amid His suffering! At His last meal before His death on the cross, arrest and condemnation would soon barge into Jesus’ life. He recognized the pain to come—but He still gave us His Supper, what we sometimes call the “Eucharist,” which means “thanksgiving.”
At His last meal before death, Jesus took bread and gave thanks. He shared the cup, His blood in the Passover wine, which He soon would sacrifice for our sin and selfishness. In a time of much fear and danger, Jesus gave thanks. He expressed thanks, which is gratitude.
Jesus did what David, you, and I could never do. He gave His whole self to God, putting His body on the cross, yielding His mind to God. He gave His Spirit to His Father. Because of Jesus, the last verse of Psalm 138 becomes real for us.
“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. O Lord, your faithful love is eternal. Do not abandon the work of your hands.” God will not reject the work of Jesus on the cross. The resurrection is proof. Jesus’ death on the cross did pay the ransom for our sin. He won the victory.
What Jesus did on the cross He delivers to us the Eucharist, the Thanksgiving meal we celebrate, His Supper. Jesus changes us from the inside out, forgiving us of all sins and covering our selfishness. His Supper is God’s gift of thanksgiving, given to us for the sacrifice Jesus made. When we come to our Lord’s Supper in His way, He makes us into a forgiven and thankful people.
David experienced God’s presence in his life. David’s life was sometimes one self-caused disaster after another. Moments of spiritual brilliance filled him, even while he later suffered from stupidity and unbelief. Despite himself, how did God deal with David? God still used and delivered David, even despite himself.
David reflects on that and delights in another psalm: “Those who look to God are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed” (Psalm 34:5). Look to God, not yourself: He will make you radiant with joy, leading to a thankful heart.
Even thankfulness is God’s gift to you, which a faith-filled heart will recognize. So, let’s pause for a moment. Close your eyelids. Think about your life and the reasons you have to be thankful to God. [Pause.] Open them.
Now, if what you are grateful for includes God blessing you through someone else, come up with a way to express that thankfulness to him or her. Don’t let your thanks stay hidden and dormant; let it bloom into gratitude.
Faith-filled gratitude is how the redeemed-and-forgiven sinner expresses thanks for the life-giving gifts of God. In a few moments, the opportunity to express our collective thanks will come through our gifts, which we give back to God in the Offering.
Even more, when we share in the Eucharist, the meal of Thanksgiving, God’s gift of forgiveness, we have even more of a reason to give thanks. For what Jesus does for us in His Supper lasts into eternity. Amen.
