Can we praise God without being thankful? Can we be thankful without praising God? This devotion looks at the two elements of worship.
Nuggets
- Praise and thanksgiving are both elements of worship.
- We are to be thankful in every circumstance.
- Praise has to be genuine.
If you have read other devotions, you know by now that I like finding connections and nuances. It jumped in my head once how thankfulness is different than praise. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context
Praise and thanksgiving are both elements of worship. “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Ps. 69: 30 KJV).
But how do they connect and diverge?
Thankfulness
The Holman Bible Dictionary defines thanksgiving as a response of gratitude to an act of God. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 2: 7 NKJV). It should be an integral part of our walk as a disciple.
Don’t we have a lot for which to be thankful? We have eternal life. We have provision and protection from the One Who made this universe. God gives us guidance and healing.
Well, that is something we are just supposed to do. “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High” (Ps. 50: 14 NLT).
Did you catch that? “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God …” (Ps. 50: 14 NLT). Remember, job description #1 says we are to be living sacrifices.
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
How are we supposed to give thanks to God? “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5: 20 NLT). It should be through the name of Jesus.
It is only through Jesus that we even have access to God. If Jesus hadn’t paid the price for our sins with His blood — and we hadn’t accepted the gift of salvation — we wouldn’t have access to God.
We are to be thankful in every circumstance. “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thess. 5: 18 KJV).
Yes, that is hard to do. But it takes the focus off of us and puts it on Him — where it should be.
If you go to Nave’s Topical Bible and navigate to thankfulness, you see a long list for which we should be thankful. Yep, it is a long list, but I am sure it isn’t everything. If we took a look at what is on it, we would be here past Christmas.
Praise
Holman Bible Dictionary describes praise as “one of humanity’s many responses to God’s revelation of Himself.” We praise God because we know His importance and significance.
Praise is expressed through different ways: “glory,” “blessing,” “thanksgiving,” and “hallelujah” (Holman Bible Dictionary). That means we can do a variety of things to express it. I thought it was interesting that praise and music is specifically linked.
From where is this praise supposed to come? “But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person” (Mt. 15: 18 CSB).
Okay. Hang on. That verse talks about good and bad.
Well, yes. What it is saying is the praise has to be genuine. If I get up to sing a song because I want everyone to see how good a singer I am — or even how saintly I am — I am not praising God. I am praising me. If I keep the focus on Him, I am genuinely praising Him.
Read the book of Psalms. Psalms means praise. And remember, many of those were the songs in the synagogue service.
“Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your name throughout the earth! You have covered the heavens with your majesty” (Ps. 8: 1 CSB).
“The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise” (Ps. 19: 7 CSB).
“The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, enveloped in strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. Your throne has been established from the beginning; you are from eternity” (Ps. 93: 1-2 CSB).
“Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away” (Ps. 139: 1-2 CSB).
Making the Connections
At first, I thought we can praise without giving thanks — but I don’t think we can be thankful without praising. “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs” (Ps. 69: 30-31 KJV).
Definition Chick — magnify means to make great or celebrate in praise. The word is usually used when talking about the character of God.
Now that we have that out of the way, look at verse 31. “This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs” (Ps. 69: 31 KJV). What we do doesn’t please God as much as our praising and being thankful to Him.
It isn’t about us; it is about Him.
Okay, that turned into chasing a rabbit. Back on track.
Then, I thought this is another chicken-and-egg thing. We aren’t going to praise if we aren’t thankful. The thankful bubbles into the praise.
But wait a second. What about the tough times when we definitely are not thankful? We don’t feel like praising.
Remember, “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5: 20 NLT emphasis added). That means the good times and the bad.
That is when we have to be thankful anyway. We have to take our eyes off of us so we can praise God in all things.
How Do We Apply This?
We apply this by being thankful and giving praise with more than just our words. We do this with our lives. Remember, living sacrifice.
But it is more than just doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts. We have to be instruments of worship up to a sacrifice of worship. Remember, we said that, by being one of His priests, we show others through our praise what He is accomplishing in our lives.
We let God use us in any way He calls. I know that is hard sometimes. But God knows what is best for us.
So, how do we wrap all this up with a bow? We are told to be thankful always — even in the bad times. That means we should be praising God always. Thankfulness is what we feel; praise is the expression of that thankfulness.
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! (Ps. 150: 1-6 ESV)
What do you think?
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