O my soul,
Are you grateful?
I mean, really, joyously grateful to the one who has rescued you, redeemed you, blessed you, and given you hope and a future. Are you grateful to him with all your heart? It matters that you are!
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
― Luke 17:11-19
Ten lepers were healed but only one was sufficiently grateful to return to Jesus, to thank him and to praise God. What did Jesus say to this one alone? “Your faith has made you well.” Doesn’t this leave us wondering, what of the others? Did they remain healed? We don’t know and we can’t know. I suspect the generosity of the Lord towards ungrateful sinners is that they did in fact remain healed. But really, shame on them!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
― Psalm 9:1-2
So is this what gratitude must be? Ensuring to thank the Lord with your whole heart as and when you receive blessing and healing and deliverance, with the expectation of further blessing to come? By no means! O my soul, you must not settle for such an impoverished understanding of thankfulness.
Paul gives us a clue.
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
― 1 Thessalonians 5:18
In all circumstances you must give thanks, even acknowledging that some of these circumstances are hard to bear. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Consider David, fleeing for his life from Saul. Listen to his words.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts⸺the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
― Psalm 57:1, 4
Does this sound remotely like one who is receiving blessing and healing and deliverance? And yet,
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
― Psalm 57:5
And even in the midst of peril how does he end his psalm?
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
― Psalm 57:9-11
There is something profound here which must be understood, and it is the nature of sacrifice in thanksgiving. Another psalmist articulates it like this.
I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
― Psalm 116:1-4
It is in times such as these that it is costly to give thanks, and yet it is precisely because of this that the thanksgiving becomes a sacrifice. The psalmist continues.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
― Psalm 116:15-17
Has he been saved or will his death imminently become precious in the sight of the Lord? It seems somewhat ambiguous to me. Is this why his thanksgiving is a sacrifice? Perhaps he will not even survive the time of crisis and yet still he gives thanks to God. This is the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and it is costly.
O my soul, I know your heartbreak and your longing. In these you must give thanks. And yes, that is so very painful, but you simply must. Be encouraged by the words of the Apostle Paul.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
― Philippians 4:6-7
There remain two observations still to be made and it is vital that they be understood.
The first is that giving thanks in a situation of pain and grief and heartbreak is not giving thanks for these things, in some kind of passive-aggressive “thank you for hurting me” way. But it is never too difficult to find something truly worthy of thanksgiving.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
― Ephesians 1:3-4
And this surely remains a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
The second may seem to be quite close to “thank-you for hurting me”, but in fact it is not. It is the place where joy and sorrow meet and are inextricably intertwined.
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
― Hebrews 12:7
O sons and daughters dearly loved, know that your Heavenly Father is so deeply invested in you there is nothing he won’t do for your eternal good. And some of these things are painful indeed to endure.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
― Hebrews 12:11
In the midst of the most painful experience, offer up to God your sacrifice of thanksgiving for such commitment and investment that he has made in you, that he will see through to completion.
Asaph speaks the word of the Lord to those who may have forgotten this.
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!
― Psalm 50:23
O my soul, offer up to the Lord your sacrifice of thanksgiving however much you are hurting! 🙏