Section 17
17 A Godly man is a thankful man; praise and thanksgiving, is the work of heaven, and he begins that work here, which he shall be always doing in heaven. The Jews have a saying, the world subsists by three things; the Law, the worship of God, and thankfulness; as if where thankfulness were wanting, one of the Pillars of the world were taken away, and it were ready to fall. The Hebrew word for praise, comes from a radix, that signifies to shoot up; the Godly man sends up his praises, as a volley of shot towards heaven. David who was modeled after God's heart, how melodiously did he warble out God's praises? therefore was called the sweet singer of Israel, 1 Samuel 23. 1. Take a Christian at the worst, yet he is thankful: The Prophet Jonah, who was homo, a man of a waspish spirit; the sea did not so work with the tempest, as Jonah's heart wrought with passion; yet, through this cloud you might see grace appear; he had a thankful heart, Jonah 2. 9. I will Sacrifice to thee with the voice of thanksgiving, I will pay that which I have vowed. For the clearer illustrating of this, I shall lay down these four particulars.
1 Praise and thanksgiving is a Saint-like work; we find in Scripture, the godly are still called upon to praise God, Psalm 135. 20. You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord. Psalm 149. 5. Let the Saints be joyful in glory, let the high praises of God be in their mouth; praise is a work proper to a Saint.
1 None but the godly can praise God aright; as all have not skill to play on the Lute, so every one cannot sound forth the harmonious praises of God; wicked men are bound to praise God, but they are not fit to praise him; none but a living Christian can tune God's praise; wicked men are dead in sin, how can they lift up God's praises, that are dead? Isaiah 38. 19. The grave cannot praise thee: A wicked man stains and eclipses God's praise, if a foul hand work in Damask, or flowered Satin, it will slur the beauty of it; God will say to the sinner, what have you to do, to take my name into your mouth? Psalm 50. 16.
2 Praise is not fitting for any, but the godly, Psalm 33. 1. Praise is comely for the righteous: A profane man stuck with God's praises, is like a dunghill stuck with flowers; praise in the mouth of a sinner, is like an Oracle in the mouth of a fool; how uncomely is it for him to praise God, whose whole life is a dishonoring of God? It is as indecent for a wicked man to praise God, as it is for an Usurer to talk of living by faith, or for the Devil to quote Scripture; the godly only are fit to be choristers in God's praises, 'tis called the Garment of praise, Isaiah 61. 3. This garment sits handsome only on a Saint's back.
2 Thanksgiving is a more noble part of God's worship; our wants may send us to prayer, but it argues a heart highly ingenuous to bless God; the Raven cries, the Lark sings; in petition we act like men, in thanksgiving we act like Angels.
3 Thanksgiving is a God-exalting work, Psalm 50. 23. Whoever offers praise, glorifies me, though nothing can add the least cubit to God's essential glory, yet praise exalts him in the eyes of others; praise is a setting forth of God's honor, a lifting up of his name, a displaying the trophy of his goodness, a proclaiming his excellency, a spreading his renown, a breaking open the box of ointment, whereby the sweet savor and perfume of God's name is sent abroad into the world.
4 Praise is a more distinguishing work; by this a Christian excels all the infernal spirits; do you talk of God? So can the Devil, he brought Scripture to Christ; do you profess religion? So can the Devil, he transforms himself into an Angel of light; do you fast? He never eats; do you believe? The Devils have a faith of assent, they believe and tremble, James 2. 19. But, as Moses wrought such a miracle, as none of the Magicians could do the like; so here is a work Christians may be doing, which none of the Devils can do, and that is the work of thanksgiving; they blaspheme, but do not bless; Satan has his fiery darts, but not his harp and viol.
Use 1 See here the true genius and complexion of a godly man, he is much in doxologies and praises. 'Tis a saying of Lactantius, he cannot be a good man, who is unthankful to his God: A godly man is a God-exalter; the Saints are Temples of the Holy Ghost, 1 Corinthians 3. 16. Where should God's praises be sounded, but in his Temples? A good heart is never weary of praising God, Psalm 34. 1. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Some will be thankful while the memory of the mercy is fresh, but afterwards leave off; The Carthaginians used at first; to send the tenth of their yearly revenue to Hercules, but by degrees they grew weary, and left off sending. David as long as he drew his breath, would chirp forth God's praise, Psalm 146. 2. I will sing praises to my God, while I have any being: David would not now and then give God a fit of Music, and then the instrument must be hung up, but he would continually be celebrating God's praise.
A godly man will express his thankfulness in every duty, he mingles thanksgiving with prayer, Philippians 4. 6. In every thing by prayer, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Thanksgiving is the more divine part of prayer; in our petitions we express our own necessities, in our thanksgivings we declare God's excellencies. Then prayer goes up as incense, when it is perfumed with thanksgiving.
And as a godly man expresses thankfulness in every duty, so in every condition; he will be thankful in adversity, as well as prosperity, 1 Thessalonians 5. 18. In every thing giving thanks: A gracious soul is thankful and rejoices, that he is drawn nearer to God, though it be by the cords of affliction; when it goes well with him, he praises God's mercy; when it goes ill with him, he magnifies God's justice; when God has a rod in his hand, a godly man will have a Psalm in his mouth. The Devil's smiting of Job, was like the striking upon a musical instrument, he sounded forth praise, The Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord, Job 1. 21. God's spiritual plants, when they are cut and do bleed, drop thankfulness, the Saints' Tears cannot drown their praises.
2 If this be the sign of a godly man, then the number of the godly will appear to be very small. Few are in the work of praise, sinners cut God short of his thank-offering, Luke 17. 17 where are thenine? Often Lepers healed, there was but one returned to give praise; the most of the world are Sepulchers, to bury God's praise; you shall hear some swearing and cursing, but few that bless God: Praise is the yearly rent that men sit at, but most are behind hand with their rent. God gave King Hezekiah a famous deliverance, but Hezekiah rendered not again, according to the benefit done unto him, 2 Chronicles 32. 25. That But, was a blot in his Escutcheon; some instead of being thankful to God, render evil for good, they are the worse for mercy, Deuteronomy 32. 6. Do you thus requite the Lord, foolish people and unwise? This is like the Toad, that converts the most wholesome herb to poison; where shall we find a grateful Christian? We read of the Saints, Revelation 5. 8. Having harps in their hand; the Emblem of praise; many have tears in their eyes, and complaints in their mouths, but few that have harps in their hand who are blessing and praising the name of God.
Use 2 Let us put ourselves upon a scrutiny, and examine by this Character whether we are godly, are we thankful for mercy? 'Tis a hard thing to be thankful.
Question. How may we know whether we are rightly thankful?
Answer. 1 When we are careful to register God's mercy, 1 Chronicles 16. 4. David appointed certain of the Levites, to record and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel. Physicians say, the memory is the first thing that decays; 'tis true in spirituals, Psalm 106. 13. They soon forgot his works: A godly man enters down his mercies, as a Physician his receipts into a book, that they may not be lost. Mercies are Jewels that should be locked up; A child of God keeps two books always by him, one to write his sins in, that he may be humble, the other to write his mercies in, that he may be thankful.
2 Then we are rightly thankful, when our hearts are the chief instrument in the music of praise, Psalm 111. 1. I will praise the Lord with my wholeheart. David would not only put his Viol in tune, but his heart; if the heart does not join with the tongue, there can be no consort; where the heart is wanting, the Parrot is as good a Chorister, as the Christian.
3 Then we are rightly thankful, when the favors which we receive, endear our love to God the more. David's miraculous preservation from death, drew forth his love to God, Psalm 116. 1. I love the Lord, it is one thing to love our mercies, another thing to love the Lord; many love their deliverance, but not their deliverer; God is to be loved more than his mercies.
4 Then we are rightly thankful, when in giving our praise to God, we take all worthiness from ourselves, Genesis 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, thou hast showed unto thy servant; as if Jacob had said, Lord the worst bit thou carvest me, is better than I deserve. 2 Samuel 9. 7. Mephibosheth bowed himself, and said, what is your Servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I am? So a thankful Christian, when he takes a survey of his blessings, and sees how much he enjoys, that others better than he want, Lord says he, what am I, a dead dog, that free-grace should look upon me, and that thou shouldst crown me with such loving kindness?
5 Then we are rightly thankful, when we put God's mercies out of Use; we turn our enjoyments into improvements; the Lord gives us health, and we spend and are spent for Christ, 2 Corinthians 12. 15. He gives us an estate, and we honor the Lord with our substance, Proverbs 3. 9. He gives us children, and we dedicate them to God, and educate them for God; we do not bury our Talents, but trade them, this is to put out our mercies to Use: a gracious heart is like a piece of good ground, that having received the seed of mercy, thrusts forth a crop of obedience.
6 Then we are rightly thankful, when we can have our hearts more enlarged for spiritual mercies, than for temporal: Ephesians 1. 3. Blessed be God, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings: A godly man blesses God more for a fruitful heart, than a full crop; he is more thankful for Christ, than for a Kingdom: Socrates was wont to say, he loved the King's smile more than his gold: a pious heart is more thankful for a smile of God's face, than he would be for the gold of the Indies.
7 Then we are rightly thankful, when mercy is a whet to duty, it causes a spirit of activity for God; Mercy is not as the Sun to the fire, to dull it, but as oil to the wheel, to make it run faster. David wisely argues from mercy to duty, Psalm 116. 8, 9. Thou hast delivered my Soul from death, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. It was a saying of Bernard, Lord I have two Mites, a soul and a body, and I give them both to thee.
8 Then we are rightly thankful, when we excite others to this Angelical work of praise: David would not only bless God himself, but calls upon others to do so, Praise the Lord, Psalm 111. 1. That is the sweetest music, which is in consort; when many Saints join together in consort, then they make heaven ring of their praises; as one drunkard will be calling upon another, so in a holy sense, one Christian must be stirring up another to the work of thankfulness.
9 Then we are rightly thankful, when we do not only speak God's praise, but live his praise: It is called gratiarum actio, then we give thanks, when we live thanks; such as are mirrors of mercy, should be patterns of piety, Obadiah 17. Upon Mount Sion, shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness: To give God oral praise, and dishonour him in our lives, is to commit a barbarism in religion, and is to be like those Jews who bowed the knee to Christ, and then did spit upon him, Mark 15. 19.
10 Then we are rightly thankful, when we do propagate God's praises to posterity, we tell our children what God hath done for us, in such a want he supplied us, in such a sickness he raised us, in such a temptation he succoured us: Psalm 44. 1. O God our Fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the time of old. By transmitting our experiences to our Children, God's name is eternized, and his mercies will bring forth a plentiful crop of praise when we are gone. Heman puts the question, Psalm 88. 10. Shall the dead praise thee? Yes, in this sense, when we are dead, we praise God, because having left the Chronicle of God's mercies with our Children, we put them upon thankfulness, and so make God's praises live, when we are dead. —dumque aurea voluet astra polus, Memori semper celebrabunt cantu.—
Use 3 Let us evidence our godliness by gratefulness, Psalm 29. 2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name.
1 It is a good thing to be thankful, Psalm, 147. 1. It is good to sing praises to our God. 'Tis ill when the tongue (that Organ of praise) is out of tune, and doth jar, by murmuring and discontent; but it is a good thing to be thankful: it is good, because this is all the creature can do to lift up God's name; and it is good, because it tends to the making us good: the more thankful we are, the more holy; while we pay this tribute of praise, our stock of grace increases: in other debts, the more we pay, the less we have, but the more we pay this debt of thankfulness, the more grace we have.
2 Thankfulness is the quit-rent we owe to God, Psalm 148. 11, 13. King of the earth, and all people, let them praise the name of the Lord: Praise is the tribute or custom, to be paid into the King of heaven's Exchequer: Surely while God renews our Lease, we must renew our rent.
3 The great cause we have to be thankful, 'tis a principle grafted in nature, to be thankful for benefits: The Heathens praised Jupiter for their victories.
What full clusters of mercies hang upon us? When we go to enumerate God's mercies, we must (with David) confess ourselves to be nonplussed, Psalm 40. 5. Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, they cannot be reckoned up in Order. And as God's mercies are past numbering, so they are past measuring: David takes the longest measuring line he could get, he measures from earth to the clouds, nay, above the clouds, yet this measure would not reach the height of God's mercies, Psalm 108. 4. Thy mercy is great above the heavens. O how hath God enriched us with his silver showers? A whole constellation of mercies, hath shined in our Hemisphere.
1 What Temporal favours have we received; every day we see a new tide of mercy coming in; the wings of mercy have covered us, the breast of mercy hath fed us, Genesis 48. 15. The God which hath fed me all my life long to this day. What snares laid for us have been broken? What fears blown over? The Lord hath made our bed, when he hath made others grave; he hath taken such care of us, as if he had none else to take care for; never was the cloud of providence so black, but we might see a Rainbow of Love in the cloud? We have been made to swim in a sea of mercy, and doth not all this call for thankfulness?
2 That which may put a string more into the instrument of our praise, and make it sound louder, is to consider what spiritual blessings God hath conferred upon us: he hath given us of the upper-springs, he hath opened the Wardrobe of Heaven, and fetched us out a better garment than any of the Angels wear; he hath given us the best robe, and put upon us the Ring of faith, whereby we are married to him: These are mercies of the first magnitude, which deserve to have an Asterisk put upon them, and God keeps the best Wine till last, here he gives us mercies but by retail, the greatest things are laid up; here are some Honey drops, and foretastes of God's love, the Rivers of pleasure are reserved for Paradise; well may we take the harp and viol, and triumph in God's praise; who can tread upon these hot coals of God's love, and his heart not burn in thankfulness?
4 Thankfulness is the best policy, there is nothing lost by it; to be thankful for one mercy, is the way to have more, 'tis like pouring water into a Pump, which fetches out more; Musicians love to sound their trumpets, where there is the best Echo, and God loves to bestow his mercies, where there is the best Echo of thankfulness.
5 Thankfulness is a frame of heart God delights in; if repentance be the joy of heaven, praise is the music. Bernard calls thankfulness the sweet Balm that drops from a Christian.
Four Sacrifices God is much pleased with, the sacrifice of Christ's blood, the sacrifice of a broken heart, the sacrifice of Alms, and the sacrifice of thanksgiving: Praise and Thanksgiving (says Mister Greenham) is the most excellent part of God's worship, for this shall continue in the heavenly choir, when all other exercises of Religion shall cease.
6 What a horrid thing ingratitude is, it gives a dye and tincture to every other sin, and makes it Crimson; ingratitude is the spirits of baseness, Obadiah verse 7. They that eat thy bread, have laid a Wound under thee: Ingratitude is worse than brutish, Isaiah 1. 3. 'Tis reported of Julius Caesar, that he would never forgive an ungrateful person; though God be a sin-pardoning God, he scarce knows not how to pardon for this, Jeremiah 5. 7. How shall I pardon thee for this, thy children have forsaken me, when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery. Draco (whose Laws were written in blood) published an edict, that if any man had received a benefit from another, and it could be proved against him, that he had not been grateful for it, he should be put to death; an unthankful person is a monster in nature, a Paradox in Christianity; he is the scorn of heaven, and the plague of earth; an ungrateful man, never doth well but in one thing, that is when he dies.
7 The not being thankful, is the cause of all the Judgments which have lain upon us; our unthankfulness for health, hath been the cause of so much Mortality; our Gospel-unthankfulness, and Sermon-surfeiting, hath been the reason why God hath put so many Lights under a Bushel; as Bradford said, my unthankfulness was the death of King Edward the sixth: Who will bestow cost on a piece of ground, that brings forth nothing but briars? Unthankfulness stops the golden Vial of God's bounty, that it will not drop.
Question. How shall we do to be thankful?
Answer. 1. If you would be thankful, get an heart deeply humbled in the sense of your own vileness; a broken heart is the best pipe to sound forth God's praise; he who studies his sins, wonders that he hath any thing, and that God should shine upon such a dunghill, 1 Timothy 1. 13. Who was before a Blasphemer, and a Persecutor, but I obtained mercy: How thankful was he? How did he Trumpet forth free grace? A proud man will never be thankful, he looks upon all his mercies, to be either of his own procuring or deserving; if he hath an Estate, this he hath gotten by his wit and industry, not considering that Scripture, Deuteronomy 8. 18. Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that gives thee power to get Riches. Pride stops the Current of gratitude: O Christian! think of thy unworthiness, see thyself, the least of Saints, and the chief of Sinners, and then thou wilt be thankful.
2 Labour for sound evidences of God's love to you; read God's love in the impress of holiness upon your hearts; God's love poured in, will make the Vessels of Mercy run over with thankfulness, Revelation 1. 5, 6. Unto him that loved us, be glory and dominion for ever. The deepest Springs yield the sweetest water: hearts deeply sensible of God's love, yield the sweetest praises.
17. A godly man is a thankful man. Praise and thanksgiving are the work of heaven, and he begins here on earth the very work he will be doing forever in heaven. The Jews say the world is sustained by three things: the law, the worship of God, and thankfulness. As if to say, where thankfulness is missing, one of the pillars of the world has been removed and it is ready to fall. The Hebrew word for praise comes from a root meaning to shoot upward. The godly man fires his praises like a volley of shots toward heaven. David, who was shaped after God's own heart, sang God's praises with great sweetness — which is why he was called the sweet singer of Israel, as 1 Samuel 23:1 says. Even at his worst, a Christian is thankful. The prophet Jonah had a sharp and irritable spirit. The sea did not churn as wildly in the storm as Jonah's heart churned with passion. Yet through that dark cloud, grace appeared — he had a thankful heart. Jonah 2:9: I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. For a clearer understanding, let me lay out four particulars.
1. Praise and thanksgiving is the work of a saint. Scripture continually calls the godly to praise God. Psalm 135:20: You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord. Psalm 149:5: Let the saints be joyful in glory; let the high praises of God be in their mouths. Praise is work that belongs to the saint.
First, only the godly can praise God rightly. Not everyone has skill to play the lute, and not everyone can sound forth the harmonious praises of God. Wicked people are obligated to praise God, but they are not fit to do so. Only a living Christian can tune praise rightly. Wicked people are dead in sin — how can those who are dead lift up God's praises? Isaiah 38:19: The grave cannot praise You. A wicked person stains and obscures God's praise. If a filthy hand works with beautiful silk, it ruins the fabric. God will say to the sinner: What right do you have to take My name on your lips? Psalm 50:16.
Second, praise is fitting only for the godly. Psalm 33:1: Praise is becoming for the upright. A corrupt person decorated with God's praises is like a dunghill stuck with flowers. Praise in the mouth of a sinner is like a solemn oracle spoken by a fool. How out of place it is for someone to praise God whose entire life dishonors God. It is as indecent for a wicked man to praise God as it would be for a loan shark to talk about living by faith, or for the devil to quote Scripture. Only the godly are suited to be singers in God's choir. Praise is called the garment of praise in Isaiah 61:3. This garment fits well only on a saint's shoulders.
2. Thanksgiving is the highest form of worship. Our needs may drive us to prayer, but blessing God shows a heart of rare generosity. The raven cries, but the lark sings. In petition we act like men; in thanksgiving we act like angels.
3. Thanksgiving exalts God. Psalm 50:23: Whoever offers praise glorifies Me. Though nothing can add the smallest measure to God's essential glory, praise lifts Him up in the eyes of others. Praise is a display of God's honor, a lifting up of His name, a showing forth of the trophy of His goodness, a proclaiming of His excellence, a spreading of His fame — like breaking open a jar of ointment so that the sweet fragrance of God's name is carried throughout the world.
4. Praise is a uniquely distinguishing work — by it, a Christian surpasses even the evil spirits. You talk about God? So can the devil — he quoted Scripture to Christ. You profess religion? So can the devil — he disguises himself as an angel of light. You fast? He never eats. You believe? The devils have a faith of intellectual assent — they believe and tremble, as James 2:19 says. But just as Moses performed miracles the magicians could not match, there is a work Christians can do that no devil can do — and that is thanksgiving. They blaspheme but do not bless. Satan has his fiery darts but no harp or instrument of praise.
Application 1: Here we see the true nature and character of a godly man — he is much given to praise and doxology. Lactantius said: A man cannot be good who is unthankful to his God. A godly man is a God-exalter. The saints are temples of the Holy Spirit, as 1 Corinthians 3:16 says. Where should God's praises be sounded, if not in His temples? A good heart never grows tired of praising God. Psalm 34:1: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Some people are thankful while the memory of a mercy is fresh but then let it drop. The Carthaginians at first sent a tenth of their annual income to Hercules as an offering — but gradually they grew weary and stopped. David, as long as he drew breath, kept singing God's praises. Psalm 146:2: I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. David would not give God a brief burst of music and then hang up the instrument — he continually celebrated God's praise.
A godly man expresses his thankfulness in every act of worship — he mingles thanksgiving with prayer. Philippians 4:6: In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Thanksgiving is the more divine element of prayer. In our petitions we express our own needs; in our thanksgivings we declare God's excellencies. Prayer rises like incense when it is perfumed with thanksgiving.
And just as a godly man is thankful in every act of worship, so he is thankful in every situation — thankful in adversity as well as prosperity. 1 Thessalonians 5:18: In everything give thanks. A gracious soul is thankful to be drawn closer to God, even when the cord drawing him is affliction. When things go well, he praises God's mercy. When things go badly, he honors God's justice. When God has a rod in His hand, a godly man has a psalm in his mouth. The devil's striking of Job was like striking a musical instrument — it produced praise. Job 1:21: The Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. God's spiritual plants, when they are cut and bleed, drip with thankfulness. The tears of the saints cannot drown their praise.
2. If this is the mark of a godly man, then the number of truly godly people appears to be very small. Few are engaged in the work of praise. Sinners shortchange God of what is owed Him in thanksgiving. Luke 17:17: Where are the nine? Of ten lepers healed, only one returned to give thanks. Most of the world serves as a tomb for God's praise — burying it rather than raising it up. You will hear people swearing and cursing, but few blessing God. Praise is the annual rent all people owe, but most are far behind in paying it. God gave King Hezekiah a remarkable deliverance — but Hezekiah did not give back according to the benefit he had received, as 2 Chronicles 32:25 says. That 'but' was a blemish on his record. Some, instead of being thankful, actually return evil for good — they are made worse by mercy. Deuteronomy 32:6: Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? This is like a toad that converts wholesome plants into poison. Where do we find a genuinely grateful Christian? We read in Revelation 5:8 that the saints had harps in their hands — a picture of praise. Many have tears in their eyes and complaints on their lips, but few have harps in their hands, blessing and praising the name of God.
Application 2: Let us examine ourselves by this mark — are we thankful for mercy? It is a harder thing than it appears to be genuinely thankful.
Question: How can we know whether we are rightly thankful?
Answer: 1. When we are careful to record God's mercies. 1 Chronicles 16:4: David appointed certain of the Levites to remember, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel. Physicians say memory is the first faculty to decay — and this is true spiritually as well. Psalm 106:13: They quickly forgot His works. A godly man records his mercies the way a doctor records prescriptions in a book, so they are not lost. Mercies are jewels that should be kept safe. A child of God keeps two books always at hand: one to record his sins, so that he stays humble; the other to record his mercies, so that he stays thankful.
2. We are rightly thankful when the heart is the main instrument in our music of praise. Psalm 111:1: I will praise the Lord with my whole heart. David did not only tune his instrument — he tuned his heart. If the heart does not join the tongue, there is no true harmony. Where the heart is absent, a parrot is as good a singer as a Christian.
3. We are rightly thankful when the mercies we receive make us love God more. David's miraculous preservation from death drew out his love to God. Psalm 116:1: I love the Lord. It is one thing to love our mercies and another thing to love the Lord. Many love their deliverance but not their deliverer. God is to be loved more than His gifts.
4. We are rightly thankful when we give all credit to God and take no worthiness to ourselves. Genesis 32:10: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and all the faithfulness that You have shown to Your servant. It was as if Jacob were saying: Lord, even the smallest portion You carve out for me is more than I deserve. 2 Samuel 9:7: Mephibosheth bowed himself and said, What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I am? In the same way, a thankful Christian, when he surveys his blessings and sees how much he enjoys that others — better than he — do not have, says: Lord, what am I — a dead dog — that free grace should look on me and crown me with such loving kindness?
5. We are rightly thankful when we put God's mercies to use. We turn our enjoyments into opportunities for service. The Lord gives us health, and we spend ourselves for Christ, as 2 Corinthians 12:15 says. He gives us an estate, and we honor the Lord with our wealth, as Proverbs 3:9 says. He gives us children, and we dedicate them to God and raise them for God. We do not bury our talents but trade them. This is to put God's mercies to work. A gracious heart is like good soil that, having received the seed of mercy, brings forth a crop of obedience.
6. We are rightly thankful when our hearts can be more enlarged for spiritual mercies than for earthly ones. Ephesians 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. A godly man blesses God more for a fruitful heart than for a full harvest. He is more thankful for Christ than for a kingdom. Socrates was known to say he valued the king's smile more than his gold. A devout heart is more thankful for a smile from God's face than for all the gold of the Indies.
7. We are rightly thankful when mercy acts as a spur to duty — when it creates energy for God. Mercy is not like the sun to a fire, dimming it, but like oil on a wheel, making it turn faster. David wisely moves from mercy to duty. Psalm 116:8-9: You have delivered my soul from death; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Bernard said: Lord, I have two coins — a soul and a body — and I give them both to You.
8. We are rightly thankful when we draw others into this heavenly work of praise. David did not only praise God himself — he called others to do so. Psalm 111:1: Praise the Lord. The sweetest music is played together. When many saints join in together, they make heaven ring with their praise. Just as one drinker calls out to another, so in a holy sense one Christian must stir up another to the work of thankfulness.
9. We are rightly thankful when we not only speak God's praise but live it. The Latin phrase gratiarum actio means that we give thanks by living thankfully. Those who have received great mercy should be examples of great godliness. Obadiah 17: On Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy. To offer God praise with the mouth while dishonoring Him in our lives is to commit a gross inconsistency in religion — like those Jews who bowed the knee to Christ and then spat on Him, as Mark 15:19 records.
10. We are rightly thankful when we pass God's praises on to the next generation — telling our children what God has done for us. In one time of need He provided for us; in one illness He restored us; in one temptation He helped us through. Psalm 44:1: O God, our fathers have told us what deeds You performed in their days, in the days of old. By passing on our experiences to our children, God's name is preserved, and the mercies He showed us will produce a fresh crop of praise long after we are gone. Heman asks in Psalm 88:10: Will the dead praise You? Yes — in this sense: when we are dead we still praise God, because we have left the record of His mercies with our children, inspiring them to thankfulness, so that praise continues to live when we no longer do. As one ancient poet put it: as long as the golden stars wheel across the sky, they will celebrate God's name with grateful song.
Application 3: Let us demonstrate our godliness through gratitude. Psalm 29:2: Give to the Lord the glory due His name.
1. It is a good thing to be thankful. Psalm 147:1: It is good to sing praises to our God. It is harmful when the tongue — that organ of praise — falls out of tune through complaining and discontent. But it is good to be thankful. It is good because this is all a creature can do to lift up God's name. And it is good because it tends to make us good. The more thankful we are, the more holy we become. While we pay this tribute of praise, our store of grace increases. In other debts, the more you pay, the less you have — but the more you pay this debt of thankfulness, the more grace you receive.
2. Thankfulness is the rent we owe to God. Psalm 148:11-13: Kings of the earth and all peoples — let them praise the name of the Lord. Praise is the tribute to be paid into the treasury of the King of heaven. As long as God renews our lease on life, we must renew our payment of praise.
3. Consider the great cause we have for thankfulness. Gratitude for benefits received is a principle written into human nature itself. Even pagans praised Jupiter for their victories.
What full clusters of mercy hang upon us? When we try to number God's mercies, we must confess with David that the task is impossible. Psalm 40:5: Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; none can compare with You. They cannot be counted. And as God's mercies are beyond numbering, so they are beyond measuring. David took the longest measuring line he could find, stretching from earth to the clouds — and beyond the clouds — and still could not reach the height of God's mercies. Psalm 108:4: Your mercy is great above the heavens. How richly God has showered us with blessing. A whole constellation of mercies has shone in our sky.
First, consider the earthly blessings we have received. Every day a new tide of mercy comes in. The wings of mercy have covered us; the breast of mercy has fed us. Genesis 48:15: The God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day. How many snares laid for us have been broken? How many fears have blown away? The Lord has made our bed when He has made others' graves. He has cared for us as if we were the only ones He needed to care for. No cloud of providence has been so dark that we could not see a rainbow of love within it. We have been made to swim in a sea of mercy — does not all of this call for thankfulness?
Second, what should add more strings to our instrument of praise and make it ring louder is considering the spiritual blessings God has given us. He has given us from the springs above. He has opened the wardrobe of heaven and clothed us in a richer garment than any angel wears. He has given us the best robe and placed on our finger the ring of faith, by which we are united to Him. These are mercies of the highest order — they deserve to be marked with a star. God saves the best wine for last. Here He gives us mercies only a portion at a time, and the greatest things are yet to come. Here we have some drops of honey and foretastes of God's love. The rivers of pleasure are reserved for paradise. Well may we take up the harp and celebrate God's praise. Who can stand on these glowing coals of God's love and not have his heart burning with thankfulness?
4. Thankfulness is the wisest strategy — nothing is lost by it. To be thankful for one mercy is the way to receive more. It is like pouring water into a pump, which draws out more. Musicians love to play where the echo is best — and God loves to pour out His mercies where the echo of thankfulness is fullest.
5. Thankfulness is a disposition God delights in. If repentance is the joy of heaven, praise is the music. Bernard calls thankfulness the sweet balm that drops from a Christian.
There are four sacrifices God takes great pleasure in: the sacrifice of Christ's blood, the sacrifice of a broken heart, the sacrifice of generosity to others, and the sacrifice of thanksgiving. As Richard Greenham said: praise and thanksgiving is the most excellent part of God's worship, for it will continue in the heavenly choir when all other religious exercises have ceased.
6. Consider how terrible a thing ingratitude is. It colors and intensifies every other sin, turning it a deeper shade of crimson. Ingratitude is the very essence of baseness. Obadiah 7: Those who ate your bread have set a trap beneath you. Ingratitude is worse than animal behavior. Isaiah 1:3. It is said of Julius Caesar that he would never forgive an ungrateful person. And though God is a sin-pardoning God, ingratitude seems to stretch even His mercy. Jeremiah 5:7: How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken Me; when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery. Draco, whose laws were written in blood, decreed that if anyone received a benefit from another and could be proved ungrateful for it, he should be put to death. An unthankful person is a monster in nature and a paradox in Christianity. He is the scorn of heaven and the plague of earth. An ungrateful person does one good thing only — when he dies.
7. Our failure to be thankful is the cause of the judgments that have fallen on us. Our ingratitude for health has brought so much sickness and death. Our ingratitude for the Gospel — our surfeit of sermons taken for granted — is the reason God has put so many lights under a bushel. As John Bradford said: my unthankfulness was the death of King Edward the Sixth. Who will invest in a field that produces nothing but briars? Unthankfulness stops the golden flow of God's bounty so that it will not pour out.
Question: How can we become truly thankful?
Answer: 1. If you want to be thankful, get a heart deeply humbled by a sense of your own unworthiness. A broken heart is the best instrument for sounding forth God's praise. The person who truly understands his sins marvels that he has anything at all — that God would shine on such a dunghill. 1 Timothy 1:13: I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor — but I received mercy. How thankful Paul was! How loudly he proclaimed free grace! A proud man will never be truly thankful. He looks at all his blessings as either self-earned or deserved. If he has wealth, he credits his own cleverness and hard work — not considering Deuteronomy 8:18: You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth. Pride chokes the flow of gratitude. Christian — think of your unworthiness. See yourself as the least of saints and the greatest of sinners, and you will be thankful.
2. Work to gain solid assurance of God's love for you. Read God's love in the stamp of holiness He has pressed on your heart. God's love poured in will make these vessels of mercy overflow with thankfulness. Revelation 1:5-6: To Him who loved us — to Him be glory and dominion forever. The deepest springs yield the sweetest water. Hearts that are deeply moved by God's love yield the sweetest praise.
