Studying the Psalms: Thanksgiving

Our third in this series of studying the psalms is on thanksgiving. We have already looked at praise and lament. There is no set division of the psalms, and many can be counted twice or even three times according to the various categories. This study of the psalms should take us through the year with five total studied.

Thanksgiving Defined

Thanks is a word that we use often, and perhaps even without much thought. A simple ‘thanks’ when someone holds the door open for you, or invites you to pass through the doorway first. Webster says that thanks are ‘kindly or grateful thoughts; an expression of gratitude.’ I think I would add ‘express appreciation for an act, gesture, or thoughtful words.’

Psalms of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving psalms do not follow the same pattern, but rather a bit of a repeating pattern as you read them. They often open with thanks, then move to something that God has done and thanks him. Some of them are simply full of joy and include thanks to God for his goodness. Some of them also include the mess the person or the Israelites find themselves in, that they called to God, and he answered then they thank him. It honestly seems to follow the thoughts that I often have when I thank him.

I usually see the solution or have it in hand, then thank him. Then I recall all the mess that was, yet is no more, and I thank him again. Or I am filled with joy over something and recognize him, appreciate him, and say thanks. The psalms of thanksgiving follow that kind of pattern of acknowledging him.

Psalm 107 opens with thanks and encouraging others to tell the story of God in their lives. It then tells of difficulties, call on thanks to God and describes how he answered the needs that were evident in the difficulty.

Psalm 136 includes the common refrain, ‘his love endures forever.’ It opens with an exhortation to give thanks three times before then saying what god has done and that ‘his love endures forever.’ It is a wonderful reminder that what god has done for us he does out of his love, and nothing that we could or will ever do. He acts for us and cares for our needs because of who he is, love. There is nothing we can do to earn that love, and expressing what that means to us is a natural overflow of thanks.

Gratitude to God

Psalms of thanks are perhaps the most spontaneous that we produce in our own lives. Perhaps we do not need to study this type to incorporate it more. But I know that reading it and seeing the poetry of repetition and such helps me move into a space of thanksgiving much more quickly when my head perhaps wasn’t there.

Which is your favorite psalm of gratitude? Drop a note in the comments below to share.

For additional study of psalms of thanksgiving, see psalms 8, 18, 111, 113, 117, 124, and more.