Sing your way to Thankfulness

YOU are a songwriter. We all sing tunes every day. I’m thinking about some of the whiny tunes I sing sometimes. Songs like: “Come on people, do you all have to drive so slow?” and then; “I’m too tired. Can’t it wait until I rest a while,” “Bills, bills, bills; seems all I pay are bills.” I bet you can write your own sad tune too.

We may write some other decent songs sometimes too, like: “I really enjoy me some chocolate pie,” “It’s Friday, the finest day of the week,” or “I just played the best game of my life.”

We’re all singing some kind of tune every day. We may as well be singing songs of thanks to the Lord than some of the others we sing.

As to giving of thanks, it was a habit of the Lord Jesus. He would give thanks and bless the food before meals. He thanked his Father for his wisdom in hiding truth from the wise and revealing it to babes (Luke 10.31). He thanked the Father ahead of time for hearing his prayer to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11.41) Then, at the end of the last Passover meal with his disciples, the bible says they sung a hymn (Matthew 26.32).

I understand that according to Jewish tradition, this parting Passover hymn would have been one of the Psalms from 113 to 118 which was called the Hallel, meaning “praise.” It’s the root of the word, “hallelujah” which means “praise Yahweh” – in every language.

It may have been these words:

Praise the LORD!

Praise, O servants of the LORD,

Praise the name of the LORD!

Blessed be the name of the LORD

From this time forth and forevermore!

From the rising of the sun to its going down

The LORD's name is to be praised.

The LORD is high above all nations,

His glory above the heavens.

Who is like the LORD our God,

Who dwells on high,

Who humbles Himself to behold

The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?

He raises the poor out of the dust,

And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,

That He may seat him with princes ---

With the princes of His people.

He grants the barren woman a home,

Like a joyful mother of children.

Praise the LORD!  –  (Psalm 113)

Perhaps they sang these powerfully prophetic words:

         Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.Z
Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have delivered my soul from death, 
My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.
I will walk before the LORD In the land of the living. (Psalm 116.5-9)
I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, 
And will call upon the name of the LORD. (verse 17)

Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter of the bible, but mighty in message:

          Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!

          For His merciful kindness is great toward us, 

          And the truth of the LORD endures forever. 

          Praise the LORD!

It could have been Psalm 118 which both begins and ends with this:

  Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
  For His mercy endures forever.

These Psalms were not just spoken, but sung. We can say for certain that Jesus did sing and led his small band of believers in song as well.

Many times I have returned from the house of God uplifted and have carried that boost with me to start my week off in thanksgiving and praise. Often we will remember scriptures that are sung better than those that are spoken.

Whenever your thanksgiving meter is on the down side, bust out into a song. Sometimes I do and people look at me kind of funny, but that’s OK. If you are too shy to sing in public, sing in the shower, in your car or when home alone. But songs of thanks and praise can get your heart going in the right direction. Just watch what God will do from there.

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