Praise and Thanksgiving

“Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.” (Psalm 135:1)

Don’t be thankful and give praise because your situation could be worse. That’s praising the degree of bad that you do or don’t have, not the amount of good, or that you have good at all.

Praise and thanksgiving to God should never be quantified or qualified. God should always be praised to the fullest extent, all of the time, in every circumstance.

Praise and thanksgiving should never raise or lower according to the degree of good or bad experienced. You are not a thermometer and circumstance is not mercury.

Do not misunderstand. We are to always recognize, appreciate and express gratitude for any favor or advantage God grants us. We should always lean on God for strength, guidance and understanding during times of adversity. Sometimes we just need to get out of the pool entirely and let God handle it all.

Remember, everything is of God and comes from God. He is the first cause and the essential cause of everything. Praise Him all of the time for everything for God is everything!

But what warrants praise and thanksgiving to God is not what He does for us. The devil can “do” for us too, are you going to praise him as well?

Let me ask you something. Did you marry your spouse for what they could do for you? Or did you marry them because you loved them?

The Hebrew word for praise is, “halal”. It means to shine or to flash forth light. The word for thanksgiving is “towdah” which means confession.

When we praise God we are confessing Him, we are shining light on Him, on who He is as well as what He does. We are edifying God by illuminating Him to others. We are that, “light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14).

Praise and thanksgiving is more than expressing gratitude for a benefit. Praise and thanksgiving is confessing God and shedding light on Him for the world to see!

Bill Hitchcock