How to Say Thank You
Contents
How should I give thanks?
1 Chronicles 17:16-27
There are many people I really envy among the characters in the Bible.
There are many people who thought, “It would be great if I did that too…”. One of them is David.
What I am most envious of David is the praise of God. Acts 13:22 says this. “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.” God praised David as a man after God's own heart.
Wouldn't it be great if God said that when he looked at me, he was in God's heart?
Then, what on earth was David's heart that was right in God's heart? The answer can be found in 1 Samuel 16.
God sent Samuel to the house of Jesse to appoint a king to replace Saul. Samuel wanted to anoint Jesse's eldest son Eliab as king. He was the eldest son and looked like a royal family at first glance.
But God did not let Samuel make Eliab king.
And in 1 Samuel 16:7, He said something that we should keep deep in our hearts. “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” When God looks at the heart of people, it is said that David's heart was unique at a glance. That David's heart was pleasing to God.
That is why David was chosen as king.
What is the center here? It refers to the deep inside of a person. In other words, it refers to the character of a person's heart, a person's heart. That is, David's heart, David's heart, was different.
It means that David's heart was more beautiful than anyone else, and he liked God.
That's right. David lived with a special heart toward God. He always pleased God with his beautiful heart. God blessed that beautiful heart.
I hope that you and I will also have such a beautiful relationship with God.
We can discover the secret of how to say a prayer of thanks in the text.
You must remember and give.
David's prayer of thanks begins like this.
“Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me to this?” We are thankful for the grace God has bestowed on us and our families so far.
David was originally born into an unnamed family in a small town called Bethlehem.
I grew up as a mere shepherd. Then he made himself the king of Israel.
David could not forget this. That is why we started our thanksgiving prayer with this prayer.
And David's prayer of thanks continues in memory of God's wonderful grace that he has bestowed upon his people.
The Israelites were slaves who had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years. God Himself came and brought them out of Egypt, brought them into the land of Canaan, and established a kingdom there.
David could not forget this again. That is why it is not left out in the prayer of thanksgiving.
God is pleased with this kind of heart.
One of the most loved and enjoyed hymns by Christians all over the world is Chapter 405, “You Raised a Sinner Like Me.” This song is so famous that even non-believers know it well and even sing it like a pop song.
From a young age, I lived a rough life as a sailor. He lived a depraved life while sailing all the time.
Besides being a slave captain, he did a really bad job selling black Africans into slavery.
Then, it met a huge storm and the ship was wrecked and died. After four weeks of hard work, he was rescued.
He realized that this was entirely by God's grace. Then, she ends her bad life and returns to England to start a new life. He decides to live a new life for God, devotes himself to his life of faith, and becomes a pastor.
He wrote hymns because he could not forget the wonderful grace of God. “I was amazed by the grace of the Lord who saved a sinner like me, and I found the life I had lost and gained light.”
Still, there was something I will never forget. So I said
'Even though my memory is fading, I remember two things very cleverly.
One is that I was a sinner, and the other is that Christ saved me.'
That's right. God has already done so many amazing things for me and for you.
Don't forget that. We should remember it specifically and be grateful for it.
The Lord appreciates that grateful heart. You cherish that beautiful heart.
So, our prayer of thanksgiving should start with remembering and giving thanks for God's wonderful grace.
You have to understand and give.
David's prayer of thanksgiving contains a surprising fact. It is gratitude for the character of God.
I am realizing who God is and I am grateful that such a person has become my God.
David confesses this in verse 20. “O LORD, as our ears have heard, there is no one like you, and there is no God but you.” It is a new way of realizing who God is and giving thanks to God based on that realization.
First of all, what David realized about God anew is the greatness of God. Verse 19 says this. “The Lord has done all these great things according to the will of the Lord” David cannot believe that a man like himself has become king, no matter how much he thinks about it. The great King Saul was dethroned. You defeated King Saul, who endured to the end and resisted. He protected himself through the valley of the shadow of death and the valley of tears to this day, and gave him victory in the end. It was possible because it was God.
David is realizing that this amazing God is his God.
And I am so thankful that the Almighty God is my God.
The next thing David realized about God was that God loved him. Verse 16 says this. “Who am I, and what is my house, that you have brought me to this?” It is that he loved a lowly person like me and a worthless person like me so much that he made him king and put him in this blessed place. I can't forget that great love, so I give thanks to God.
That's right. God is pleased with this kind of heart. He realizes who God is and receives the heart of gratitude for being his God.
God really loved me and you. He gave up his one and only son without a word.
He died on that cross and died in our place. And to this day, you have done amazing things for me and for you. We need to realize the advantage. And thank you.
Therefore, our prayers of thanksgiving should be offered after realizing God.