Why Being Thankful Matters
I knew this past week would be a challenging week for me so that’s why I chose the subject, Why Being Thankful Matters. Of course, all challenges are relative. I’m not a Christian in Egypt, the West Bank, or any other of a long list of countries where it is dangerous to be a Christ follower. I’m not trying to keep my family alive in a Syrian refugee camp or in South Sudan or North Korea. I’m not an American working 40 hours a week and still living below the poverty line and trying to keep my kids safe and to help them succeed. I’m not trying to find and rescue a family member who has been a victim of human trafficking and exploitation. I’m not homeless. Simply saying these things helps me to be thankful for how blessed I am and it also moves me to pray for people in situations far more dire, dangerous, and difficult than we are facing or can imagine.
January 26, 2014
Psalm 9:1-2, Why Being Thankful Matters
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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So much of being thankful or not is a function of our attitude. It’s like a pair of glasses that we choose to put on through which we see life. We can put on our Gratitude Glasses, or we can leave them on our bedside table when we get up in the morning. But know this, wearing them makes a huge difference in everything we see and experience. The truth is no matter how strong our faith, no matter how intentionally we seek to practice the discipline of being thankful, there will be times when we still have moments of discouragement and disappointment. I certainly have experienced that and I think most of us probably have. However, when we’re in those challenging seasons of life, practicing the discipline of being thankful actually helps us to persevere through them.
Let’s begin with this thought: There are times in life when it’s easy to be thankful. When our health is good, our important relationships are enjoyable and mutually enriching, when we have enough money to meet our needs, when we’re victorious in life. It’s easy to be thankful when everything seems to be going well. Psalm 9 is a Psalm of David in which he’s thankful because he’s in one of those good seasons in life. It begins with these words:
“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
The rest of the Psalm goes on to describe why David is so thankful and eager to tell others what God has done; why he’s delighting in God and singing the Lord’s praise. David’s thankful because God has given him victory over his enemies and over the wicked. He praises the Lord for being trustworthy; a stronghold for the oppressed who doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted. David says in verse 18, with the Lord, “the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.”
David is feeling on top of the world when he writes this Psalm. It’s an example of the first thing I want to say about why being thankful matters.
Being thankful heightens the enjoyment of the good seasons of life.
When we hear the word “Thanksgiving” we often think of “Thanksgiving Day” and the traditions we associate with a late Thursday in November. However, being thankful is intended to be part of our daily life. Not only does God intend for thankfulness to be part of our daily life, the Bible is filled with verses encouraging us both to be thankful and to express our thanks. I won’t bury you in an avalanche of scriptures, but trust me the words “thank, thankful, and thanksgiving” appear in the Bible many, many times. Let’s look more closely just at these two verses from Psalm 9 to see how being thankful heightens the enjoyment of the good seasons in life.
First, David says, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;” There is a relational component to life and to thanksgiving. Have you ever noticed that it moments of great joy or pleasure or times of deep pain, hurt, or grief there is almost an elemental emotional expression that causes people to cry out to God? Even people with no faith at all sometimes use the name of Jesus Christ as a curse or swear. Isn’t that ironic? They might not believe in him, but when they’re mad they yell his name as if the situation is Jesus’ fault. I’ve experienced this on a baseball field more than once where other people use Jesus’ name more than I do and not in a worshipful manner. These elemental cries of anger or joy depending on the situation reflect the deep human desire to believe, even if some folks don’t realize or acknowledge it, that there is someone out there and that we’re not alone in the universe.
David has a personal faith in the living God and he sees God as the source of his joys and blessings so in a good season in life it’s the most natural thing in the world for him to “give thanks to the LORD,” and to do so with his “whole heart.” Thanksgiving is no halfway, lukewarm emotion. If you’ve ever attended a great concert or performance that stirred your soul, ever been present for a post season sporting event that had you on your feet screaming your lungs out, then you know what it means to be thankful with your whole heart. It’s a nothing held back, no reservation, stand up, pump your fist, clap your hands, throw your head back and your arms over your head in joy, gratitude, and thankfulness kind of thing. And it’s awesome to experience. That’s how David feels and being thankful heightens the enjoyment of the good seasons in life. That’s why you turn around or run around looking for someone to hug or to tell. That’s why David says when he is overflowing with thanks: “I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” When we’re thankful we can’t keep it to our self, we need to tell someone, “Guess what happened to me, I’ve got to tell you what I did, or what my child or grandchild did,” you simply have to tell someone or you feel like you’ll burst like a shaken up can of soda. The difference being thankful makes in the good seasons of life is that it reminds us to enjoy the moment, because we know life isn’t always like this, these seasons and times don’t stay around 365 days a year so when we’re in one we enjoy it, share it, tell it, be glad in it, and even sing grateful praise to God. The enjoyment and relishing, the sharing and telling, the singing and praising all heighten the enjoyment and help to cement them in our mind, memory, and heart so that when he hit a difficult season in life, we have a reservoir of memory, experience, and faith that will help to see us through.
That is the second thing I want to say, not only does Being thankful heightens the enjoyment of the good seasons of life. Being thankful provides strength to make it through the difficult seasons of life. It would be great if we didn’t have difficult seasons in life, but we do. There are times when our hopes and dreams are disappointed or dashed. There are moments when we put our heart and soul into trying to be victorious, but even our best effort isn’t enough to bring victory. There are times when we open our heart to another person and that feeling isn’t returned or it is for a while and then we experience rejection. There are heart-breaking moments when a loved one who has been a significant part of our life grows gravely ill or dies. There are seasons when our body which has served us well for so long seems to betray us and is suddenly or gradually simply unable to do what is used to do. In all of these difficult seasons and the many, many more we could name but this enough to make the point, in all of these difficult seasons in life, being thankful provides strength to make it through. How does it work? I think it works in two basic ways. First, we put on our Gratitude Glasses and look for what we can still be thankful for in the moment. There’s a reason there’s an old hymn Count Your Blessings, that says “Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings see what God has done.” Speaking very personally, Jill will attest that I’ve had moments in the last year and even this past week when I have gotten discouraged or down because my health hasn’t been what it was for the first almost 48 years of my life. Part of what Jill helps me to do and what I try to do to get back on track is to think consciously of what I have to be thankful for in the moment. I can be down that I’ve had two unrelated heart issues in the last ten months or I can be thankful that I live in a time and a place where I was able to get treatment for those two things. You can be disappointed that you have to have surgery or be thankful that you can have surgery to fix the problem. I am more conscious of my body and thankful for everything that is working well at the moment.
The second thing we do in a difficult season of life is draw from the reservoir of faith that was fed by the good seasons we’ve experienced. We see this in a number of the Psalms where the writer will say, “I remember when…” Psalm 42 is a great example of drawing on our past experiences with God and thankfulness for what God has done to help us through a difficult present. The Psalm says, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon–from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me– a prayer to the God of my life.9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” The repetition of remembering what God has done in the past joined with putting our hope in God for the future helps us to remain thankful and provides us strength to get through the difficult seasons of life when we feel like all the waves have swept over us.
In the difficult seasons, keep your focus simple, as Marcus Aurelius shared: “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Being thankful heightens the enjoyment of the good seasons of life.
Being thankful provides strength to make it through the difficult seasons of life.
Thirdly, Being thankful is a discipline, not an emotion.
I find this quote by Henri Nouwen on Gratitude to be a good reminder to practice being thankful. “Gratitude … goes beyond the “mine” and “thine” and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint…The choice for gratitude rarely comes without some real effort. But each time I make it, the next choice is a little easier, a little freer, a little less self-conscious.” I posted that quote on Facebook on Friday and BBC member Sue Watson who has been going through a difficult season physically shared her response to this Nouwen quote. She wrote, “It was exactly this that has sustained me through this illness. Instead of focusing on illness , I saw all the blessings in my life . The prayers for me, visits, even Facebook posts were so appreciated. I saw them all as blessings from my Father. . It is hard to go through but I have indeed found I have a wonderful life.”
Like David in Psalm 9:1-2, we can give thanks to the Lord wholeheartedly, we can tell others of all God has done for us. We can be glad, delight in God, and sing the Lord’s praises. William Arthur Ward said, “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
When you get up in each morning, if you have any kind of bedside table, nightstand, or desk; imagine yourself reaching over and putting on your Gratitude Glasses before you even get out of bed. When you brush your teeth, be grateful that you have clean safe water, toothpaste and a tooth brush. Don’t take them for granted. When you take a hot shower, be thankful that you have hot water. Like putting on our glasses or brushing our teeth being thankful is an everyday habit for us to practice every waking moment.
Being thankful heightens the enjoyment of the good seasons of life.
Being thankful provides strength to make it through the difficult seasons of life.
Being thankful is a discipline, not an emotion.
The great college basketball coach John Wooden offered the following advice on being thankful, “Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books – especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.”
Prayer by Joyce Rupp Gratitude
To be grateful for what is,
instead of underscoring what is not.
To find good amid the unwanted aspects of life,
without denying the presence of the unwanted.
To focus on beauty in the little things of life,
as well as being deliberate about the great beauties
of art, literature, music and nature.
To be present to one’s own small space of life,
while stretching to the wide world beyond it.
To find something to laugh about every day,
even when there seems to be nothing to laugh about.
To search for and to see the good in others,
rather than remembering their faults and weaknesses.
To be thankful for each loving deed done by another,
no matter how insignificant it might appear.
To taste life to the fullest,
and not take any part of it for granted.
To seek to forgive others for their wrongdoings,
even immense ones, and to put the past behind.
To find ways to reach out and help the disenfranchised,
while also preserving their dignity and self-worth.
To be as loving and caring as possible,
in a culture that consistently challenges these virtues.
To remember to say or send “thank you”
for whatever comes as a gift from another.
To be at peace
with what cannot be changed.”
Why Being Thankful Matters Psalm 9:1-2
Questions for Reflection or Discussion:
When do you find it easiest to be thankful?
In what specific ways does David express his thankfulness in Psalm 9:1-2?
When do you find it most difficult to be thankful? What do you do in those situations or circumstances?
How does our attitude impact our ability to be thankful and grateful?
How would your life be different if you decided to celebrate every day with gratitude, to live each day as a gift?
What can you do each day to remind yourself to focus on being thankful?