10 Thanksgiving Thoughts based on Psalm 138:

1. As you give thanks tonight and in this season, remember to give thanks to the LORD. v. 1: “I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart.”
2. Express your thanksgiving in song. In verse 1, David says, “before the gods I sing your praise.” How fitting is song when we are thankful? Have you ever considered that God wired us to sing? He very easily could have left that ability out. We could be speaking only creatures.
3. Ensure the ingredient of submission is mixed in to your thanksgiving. See how David says in verse 2, “I bow down toward your holy temple.” David recognized something about God that resulted in him bowing down.
4. Meditate on God’s steafast love and faithfulness in order to be moved to thanksgiving. David identifies the reason for his thanksgiving when he says in verse 2, “and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.” These are the things for which David gives thanks. First, God’s steadfast love. David realized that God was resolved to do him good. He knew that God’s doing him good was not contingent upon his performance or his attitude. And, second, God’s faithfulness. David saw that God would do what he promised.
5. Zero in your thanksgiving on God’s exalted name and Word. David says in verse 2, “for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” David was thankful that God exalted his name. He knew that God’s exalted name had some benefit for him. Isaiah 26:8 says, “Your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.” Here is the problem with our all-too-often-experienced state of ingratitude: God’s name, his renown, is not the desire of our soul. We’re like a little child sulking that we didn’t get a my little pony when what arrived was a thoroughbred race horse! What we need is to realize that we have actually received the greatest gift, a far better gift than whatever one we are upset about not getting. We need God’s help to see straight. Our hearts are idol factories. But, God helped David to see right and He can help us to see right.
6. Rejoice in answered prayer! David says, “On the day I called, you answered” How many times has God said yes! We rightly talk about God not answering our prayers right away. We rightly remind ourselves that He will sometimes say no to our requests for His own wise reasons. But, oh, can you count how many times He has said yes?
7. Eagerly expect God to answer prayer according to His Word. Again in verse 3, “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” As we give thanks for what God has done in the past, we should anticipate him answering our future prayers. James 1:5-6 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”
8. In your thanksgiving, long for world-wide thanksgiving unto God. David says in verses 4 and 5, “All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.” His personal thanksgiving resulted in a desire to see God thanked among the nations.
9. With a humble and thankful heart, remember God is for you. Verse 6 says, “For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.” As we walk as humble Christians, we can be sure that God regards He acknowledges us. He draws near to us. Like a father is always on the side of his young children, so God our Father is always on our side. David says in another psalm, “This I know, that God is for me.”
10. As you walk through this troubled world, give thanks for God’s deliverance in Christ. David says in verse 7, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.” David was confident in God’s deliverance and we should be, too. Left to ourselves we could have no such confidence. Our sin is serious. Our sin has resulted in us being seperated from God. But God has sent his very own Son into this world, to live, die, and rise again so that we might be saved. Remember Christ this thanksgiving season. Trust him. And remember that every blessing, whether physical or spiritual, is found in him.