Why do we say "thank you"? We say 'thank you' to show our appreciation for the service which has been rendered us. Whether the words are said to the waitress, the clerk, the minister or the teacher, we say them.
If we are merely being polite, the words do not really resonate from our hearts. It is etiquette and nothing more. If we are being sarcastic, we are not really exhibiting thankfulness, we are showing them that they have no value to us and do not appreciate their service. If we question the sincerity of their work, we reveal our inability to say 'thank you'.
Since we appear to have difficulty saying 'thank you' to each other, it must be really hard to say 'thank you' to God. How sad is that? There are so many, many things to be thankful to God for every single day that it would more than fill our waking hours to be thankful for them. We usually generalize our thankfulness, when we tell God how much we are thankful to Him for.
When we pray over our meals, saying grace, we thank God for the food placed before us; thank God for the hands that prepared it and ask Him to bless those hands. We ask God to bless the food to the nourishment and healing of our bodies, that we might continue to serve Him when He calls us. We thank God for the blessings of the day. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
The blessings of the day is a generalization. And that is, for most of us, the one time of day we are saying 'thank you' to God. But for my husband and I, thankfulness to our God is spread out throughout our day. God applies His love to us through His Word and we apply His Word to our lives. Beginning with our mornings: O give thanks unto the Lord, for His mercy endures forever. This line of thankfulness is repeated 8 times in the Book of Psalm. (Psalm 105:1; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1,9; 136:1,2,3,26)
In fact, the words 'thank(s) thanked thankful thankfulness thanksgiving(s)' appears in the Bible (KJV) 137 times. Of these 137 verses referring to 'thankfulness' in all its forms, 131 tell us to give 'thanks' to God. And they tell us how and why to give 'thanks', also.
John 11:41 the why "because You heard me"
Romans 1:8 the how "through Jesus Christ"
1 Corinthians 1:4 the why "always on your behalf"
1 Corinthians 14:18 the why "that I speak in tongues"
Philippians 1:3 the why "upon every remembrance of you"
1 Thessalonians 1:13 the how "without ceasing"
1 Thessalonians 1:13 the why "because the Word of God was received and applied"
2 Thessalonians 1:3 the how "always"
2 Thessalonians 1:3 the why "your faith grows exceedingly and your love for one another is in abundance"
1 Timothy 1:12 the why "Jesus Christ enabled me, because He counted me faithful, and put me into the ministry"
2 Timothy 1:3 the how "I serve with pure conscience"
2 Timothy 1:3 the why "without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day"
2 Chronicles 5:13 the how "the singers and the musicians sang and made noise as one voice"
2 Chronicles 5:13 the why "He is good: His mercy endures forever"
2 Chronicles 5:13, 14 the result "the glory of the Lord filled the house so full, there was no room in it for anyone else"
2 Samuel 22:50 the why "therefore (because He has delivered me from my enemies v49)
2 Samuel 22:50 the how "I will sing praises unto Thy name"
1 Chronicles 16:8 the why "make known His deeds among the people"
I Chronicles 16:34 the why "for He is good; for His mercy endures forever"
1 Chronicles 16:35 the why "He is the God of our Salvation, our deliverer, He gathers us together"
1 Chronicles 16:41 the why "because His mercy endures forever"
1 Chronicles 25:3 the how "musicians handpicked by the king to give thanks to the Lord and to praise Him"
2 Chronicles 31:2 the how "appointed by the king to minister the offerings, give thanks and praise the Lord"
Ezra 3:11 the how "sing together"
Ezra 3:11 the why "because He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel"
Ezra 3:11 the how "with a great shout"
Ezra 3:11 the why "because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid"
Nehemiah 12:24, 31, 38, 40 the how "upon the walls, the gates and to the towers"
Nehemiah 12:43 the why "so that the Joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off"
Psalm 6:5 the how "alive"
Psalm 6:5 the why "because I have life and everything that life entails"
Psalm 18:49 the why "v48 He delivers me from my enemies, lifts me up above they that rise against me: delivers me from the violent man"
Psalm 18:49 the how "among the heathen, sing praises unto Thy name"
Psalm 30:4 the why "at the remembrance of His holiness"
Psalm 30:12 the why "v11 You turned my mourning into dancing: You removed my grief, and girded me with gladness"
Psalm 30:12 the how "to the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. I will give thanks forever"
Psalm 75:1 the why "for Your name is near Your wondrous works declare"
Psalm 79:13 the why "we will show forth Your praise to all generations"
Psalm 92:1-4 the why "v2 to show Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night" "v4 You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work: I will triumph in the works of Your hands"
Psalm 92:1-4 the how "v1 sing praises to Your name" "v3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery, upon the harp with a solemn sound"
Psalm 97:12 the why "at the remembrance of His holiness"
Psalm 105:1 the why "make known His deeds among the people"
Psalm 106:1 the why "for He is good: for His mercy endures forever"
Psalm 106:47 the why "to triumph in Your praise"
Psalm 107:1 the why "for He is good: for His mercy endures for ever"
Psalm 118:1, 29 the why "for He is good: for His mercy endures for ever"
Psalm 119:62 the why "because of Your righteous judgments"
Psalm 122:4 the why "unto the testimony of Israel" (the commandments of God)
Psalm 136:1-3,26 the why "for He is good: for His mercy endures forever"
~ Have you ever read this chapter? There are 26 verses and each verse ends
with "for His mercy endures forever" ~
Daniel 6:10 the how "facing Jerusalem, praying on his knees 3x day, in supplication (making his needs known before God)"
Daniel 6:7 the why "disobeying the king's order to worship a different god than our God would cause the king to send that person to their death in the lions' den"
Matthew 15:36 the how "simply" the why "to feed the need"
Luke 17:15, 16 the how "with a loud voice glorified God" and "fell on his face at Jesus' feet"
Luke 17:14, 15 the why "healed completely of leprosy"
Luke 22:17, 19 the why "Christ declaring that both cup and bread were representative of His body and His blood and that when we take them it is a remembrance of Who He is and What He did for us"
1 Corinthians 15:57 the why "God gives us the victory {over death and the grave} through our Lord Jesus Christ"
2 Corinthians 2:14 the why "Who always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes known the sweet taste of His knowledge by us to every place."
2 Corinthians 9:15 the why "for His unspeakable gift {every good and perfect gift [James 1:17] is from God)"
Ephesians 5:3, 4 the why "because an unclean life and unclean words do not adorn the saints of God" v2 "walk in love, as Christ loves us, and gave His life for us an offering and a sweet smell to God"
Ephesians 5:20 the how "always" the why "for all things unto God and the Father"
Colossians 1:3, 4 the why "praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of His love which you have for all the saints"
Colossians 1:12 the why "God has qualified us to partake in the inheritance of the saints in light"
Colossians 3:17 the how "whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus"
1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 the why "making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and our Father; knowing beloved brethren, your election of God."
1 Thessalonians 5:18 the why "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you"
2 Thessalonians 2:13 the why "because God has chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth"
1 Timothy 2:1 the why "intercede on everyone's behalf"
Hebrews 13:15 the how" offer a sacrifice of praise to God continually"
Revelation 11:16, 17 the who "the 4 and 20 elders" the how "falling on their face and worshiping before God" the why "because God has taken to Himself His great power and has reigned"
The remaining verses are in regards to the word 'thanksgiving(s)'. All of which are offered up to God individually. It is by our choice, our will, our decision. Each time the word 'thanksgiving' is mentioned it is with sacrifice, with praise, with singing, with offerings.
However, each of the preceding verses are also instructive verses. They tell us how the person gave thanks AND why the person gave thanks. We, too, are instructed even now; for the Word of God is constant, never changing, ever flowing. As we apply these truths to our lives, we learn to embrace God not from a distance, but ever nearer and nearer.
Thank You, Lord, for saving a wretch like me. For loving me so much You died for me, then fought death hell and the grave and overcame them for me. For loving me enough to create in me a clean heart every time I fall short of overcoming temptation. For filling me with Your Holy Spirit, who comforts me and guides me in all Your ways. For giving me a desire to draw close to You, so close that our hearts beat as one. For using me in Your kingdom, to lead other people to Your well of Living Water, which flows from the throne of God. Thank You, Lord, thank You so much.
