Sing a Song of Thankfulness

What do you think of when you think of giving thanks? I’m not talking about Thanksgiving as a holiday; I’m talking about the actual act of giving thanks to someone for something. Perhaps you think of prayer, writing a thank-you note, or using spoken words. Those things are what first come to my mind. But recently, I’ve started noticing a different approach to thankfulness pop up in Scripture.

This month I’ve been participating in a guided exercise where every day I write a passage from the Bible that focuses on thankfulness. As I’ve been writing, I’ve noticed a pattern. Of the thirty passages selected to transcribe, thirteen of them explicitly mention something else in addition to giving thanks, even tying it directly to thankfulness. Any ideas what it might be? It’s singing. Let’s take a look, and you’ll see what I mean: 

“I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.” Psalm 7:17 (all verses ESV, emphasis added)

“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

“Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” Psalm 28:6-7

“Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.” Psalm 30:4

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” Psalm 30:11-12

“I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.” Psalm 57:9

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.” Psalm 92:1-4

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” Psalm 95:1-2

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” Psalm 100:1-4

“I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;” Psalm 138:1

“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.” Psalm 138:4-5

“Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!” 1 Chronicles 16:8-9

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16

Seems like we need to pay attention to the idea of singing and how it’s connected to gratitude. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that time and time again singing is mentioned in close proximity to giving thanks. You might have noticed that “give thanks” is sometimes accompanied by “sing praise,” and while praise and thanks are technically two different things (I’ve heard it explained that we thank God for what He does and praise Him for who He is), we can see by the way the psalms in particular are structured that the psalmist is essentially reiterating the same thing in a different way, a common lyrical structure in Hebrew poetry. For example, Psalm 57:9 basically says the same thing in parts A and B, using different words in each: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples [A]; I will sing praises to you among the nations [B].” When we see this pattern emerge over and over again, we should take note and ponder the implications of the fact that giving thanks and singing are so closely connected.

I’m reminded of a sermon I heard when I was visiting family in Texas a few years ago. Joseph Tenney of Church at the Cross preached from 2 Chronicles 20 where King Jehoshaphat and the Israelite people were facing a formidable enemy. You might be familiar with the verse, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you”—that’s from this account (2 Chron. 20:12). The Israelites were in a seemingly hopeless situation, but they fixed their focus on God, fasting and praying for deliverance. A Levite (whose tribe, you’ll remember, was the tribe in charge of leading music, among other things) received a word from the Holy Spirit telling the people not to be afraid, for God would fight on their behalf.

So the next day, the Israelites went out to meet their enemy, and the king made a surprising move: “And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, ‘Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever’” (2 Chron. 20:21). He told the people to…sing? Yes, you read that right. They were to sing and give thanks to God—there’s singing and giving thanks showing up together again. So picture the Israelites standing there facing a multi-nation enemy and putting their singers on the front lines. Not exactly the most conventional military strategy, right? What do you think happened next?

“And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed [… and] they all helped to destroy one another” (2 Chron. 20:22-23). Did you catch that? God intervened when the singing started. Seems like singing praise to God is a pretty significant thing.

Such was the point that Joseph Tenney made in his sermon entitled “Worship as Warfare.” He emphasized how “worship routs the enemy,” both the physical enemy in the case of the Israelites and our spiritual enemy now. And this is where we start to see the importance of singing when giving thanks. As Elder Tenney pointed out, Satan knows the significance of songs. As a fallen angel, he once stood before the throne of God, which we know from Scripture is a place where songs of praise are common. So he knows the power of music directed in worship to God. Imagine his frustration, then, when God’s children fix their attention on God, focusing on thanking and praising Him, and doing so through song. God’s glory is magnified, our hearts are uplifted, and our faith is strengthened—all things our enemy detests.

Are you being tempted? Are you discouraged? Are you anxious? Are you discontent? Are you weary? Are you overwhelmed? Think of things to thank God for. Then go a step further and sing—in your devotional time, while you’re driving, while you’re cooking or cleaning house or folding laundry or fill-in-the-blank. Sing a song of thankfulness to God. You don’t even have to be able to carry a tune. You can make up your own song or sing some of the theologically rich songs that others have composed. There are even albums like Glory Revealed and Glory Revealed II that are word-for-word Scripture set to music.

In this way, we can live out Colossians 3:16, which commands, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Notice that here thankfulness describes the way in which we sing. So not only does giving thanks occur alongside or produce singing as we see described in the Old Testament passages above, but also singing to God in general should be characterized by thankfulness in our hearts. Singing and thankfulness, thankfulness and singing—the two go hand-in-hand.

So next time you sing in worship, I encourage you to really think about what you’re singing and realize how very much there is to be thankful for. And next time you think of what you have to be thankful for, try breaking out in song. It might seem awkward at first, but I have a hunch that the more you make music a part of your spiritual training, the easier it will become and the more you will realize the beauty of the clues God has given us in His Word to show us the power of songs of thankfulness to Him. 

PC: Pamela Hollis. Used with permission.

Welcome to My Perfectly Imperfect World

Hospitality. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot especially in Southern circles, and it’s a quality which characterizes the Middle East, but I’m finding that in different places it can mean different things. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines being hospitable as being “given to generous and cordial reception of guests” or “promising or suggesting generous and friendly welcome.”[i] From my experience growing up in the South, I saw a lot of “Southern hospitality,” but frequently the “friendly welcome” was conditional, and the generosity had limits.

Hospitality in the South often meant a well-dressed hostess bringing out the best dinnerware to the fancy dining room in an immaculately tidy house for invited guests on a scheduled day for a specific purpose with a definite end time. Growing up in this culture, I subconsciously internalized the notion that to welcome people into one’s home, the house had to be spotless, a fully-developed meal—with dessert—had to be served, and loungewear was unacceptable attire. Even if someone was just “stopping by,” both house and person had to be fully presentable. In other words, hospitality was a lot more self-focused than it was others-focused.

Over time, I came to recognize the superficiality of this type of hospitality, especially as it was shown in contrast to a handful of families I knew who would offer whatever they had on hand as they welcomed people to step into their daily routines in their messy (i.e. lived-in) homes on short notice for an indefinite period of time. They made no allusions to perfection. They welcomed others with generosity and friendliness to join in their everyday lives and reap the benefits of their heart-felt hospitality.

The combination of seeing that contrast and reading Rosaria Butterfield’s book The Gospel Comes with a House Key (highly recommended!) grew in me the desire to display a genuine hospitality without preconditions where I am okay with allowing—even inviting—people into the messiness of my everyday life. This doesn’t mean there is never a time or place for bringing out the fancy plates and having the house cleaned and straightened and getting dressed up when guests come. There’s nothing wrong with those things. But if that is our standard and understanding of hospitality, how much are we limiting ourselves and depriving others (and ourselves) of the genuine friendship and fellowship that comes from living life together?

So what it does mean is not getting upset when people drop in or invite themselves over. What it does mean is putting off my pride and my desire to put on a good front. It means being generous with what I have instead of waiting until I have “enough” to be able to share. It means not thinking more highly of myself than I should. Do you remember the verse that talks about that? Paul writes in Romans 12:3, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (ESV). He goes on to talk about different members of the Church having different gifts which should be utilized (vv. 4-8), and then what does he talk about just a few verses later? You guessed it. Hospitality.

Romans 12:13 is one of four places in the New Testament where the word “hospitality” is used, and one of three where it is in the form of a command. In all three of these cases, the literary context of each command includes mention of a particular fruit of the Spirit. See if you can pick up on it.

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. […] Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” Romans 12:9-10, 13 (ESV)

“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.” Hebrews 13:1-2a (ESV)

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” 1 Peter 4:7-9 (ESV)

Did you see it? Love, love, love. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that love and hospitality are mentioned so closely together in all three instances. After all, it is the love of Christ which undergirds His welcoming of us into His family—the ultimate act of hospitality. He gave everything for us, even His very life. And He gives His Spirit to us Who enables us to exhibit His love in our lives. Love is both the motivation and the power behind genuine hospitality. When we gaze upon the love of God in Christ, we are better able to lay down our pride and selfishness and open our homes and lives in love.

I am certainly still a work in progress in this area, although moving to the Middle East is already giving me opportunities for rapid growth. It’s common here when you move into a new home for friends to come by and congratulate you. And by “come by” I mean come in. The “Southern hospitality” mindset would cry “Horrors!” at the thought of welcoming guests into a sparsely furnished home strewn with half-emptied boxes, undecorated walls, and cluttered shelves. And double horrors if the guest was a pastor!

So when a family friend asked if she and her husband and the pastor and his wife could come over one evening after church less than a week after we arrived, I have to admit the thoughts of how messy our apartment was and how little supplies and furniture we had did enter my mind. The desire for people’s first impressions of our home to be ones of a neat, beautifully decorated, comfortably furnished, well-supplied haven certainly was present. And—full disclosure—I did spend some time that morning straightening a few shelves and putting out the few fall decorations I had brought with me.

But because I had already decided that I wanted to learn to practice selfless hospitality, I chose to put my pride aside and welcomed our guests with our suitcase-filled entry room, our messy shelves, our mismatched mugs, our pulled-in kitchen chairs, and our borrowed end-tables. And it was lovely. Because hospitality is not about putting on a show. It’s not about us at all. It’s about giving and serving and welcoming as Christ has given to and served and welcomed us. Do I still have a long way to go in the process of dying to self and showing hospitality? Absolutely. But praise be to God, He is gracious and patient. So just as I am seeking to grow in offering genuine, Christ-centered hospitality, I challenge and encourage you to join me—because as it turns out, welcoming people into our imperfect-yet-redeemed lives is the most perfect hospitality of all.

PC: Teresa Cantrell. Used with permission.

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[i] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hospitable : accessed 4 November 2021.