Genuine saving faith is characterized by a life of praise and thanksgiving. The true believer is filled with gratitude to God for all His gifts, especially the gift of Himself, and has a compelling desire to express that gratitude by worshipping Jesus.
This is why I’ve become so fond of reading the Psalms. The book of Psalms is the hymnal of God’s people, and we would do well to immerse ourselves in their repeated proclamations of the greatness, love and faithfulness of the Lord.
Psalm 95 is a call to worship that the believing heart is delighted to obey:
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Over the years, God has convicted me of the sins of self-pity and ingratitude. I find it easy to look around and compare myself to others and covet their situations. Perhaps you know what I’m talking about — the “grass is greener on the other side of the fence” syndrome. This can lead to a negative attitude toward my circumstances, and before long I find myself oblivious to all the blessings of God which I am ignoring. How quickly we can become blind to the goodness of God! I have been guilty of this many times.
The antidote to such spiritual myopia is to look away from myself and turn my attention toward Jesus. And the psalms help me to do that, especially the psalms that focus on praise and thanksgiving.
I did a word study on the topic of “thanksgiving” in the Psalms. In the ESV, there are 35 psalms in which some form of the word “thank” appears (thank, thanks, thanksgiving, thankful). I started reading these psalms in the morning, asking God to help me focus on Him and His praiseworthy attributes. And I can tell you that God is at work in my heart, teaching me much about Himself for which I can worship Him. (At the end of this post you’ll find a link to a list of these psalms, along with a 7-week reading plan to cultivate a life of gratitude.)
When reading psalms of praise and thanksgiving, the true believer’s heart will resonate with the psalmist’s, and your soul will be filled with joy. At times, while worshipping God for all He is and has done, you will be overwhelmed by the greatness of God and experience what is described in 1 Peter 1:8 as “an inexpressible and glorious joy” (NIV), or as the KJV puts it, “joy unspeakable.”
I love this verse! And when we unpack the larger context, we find that Peter is writing to Christians who are going through tough times – “for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1:6). What kinds of trials? These believers were being persecuted for their faith: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening . . . If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed . . . If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:12, 14, 16).
These first century believers were facing opposition from non-believers, yet here is how Peter describes them: “Though you have not seen [Jesus], you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).
People of saving faith are people who have joy even when persecuted. And we can experience this joy because regardless of our circumstances, we continue to praise and thank God for providing “the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (v. 9). We can worship God every day in any situation because He is “the rock of our salvation” (Psalm 95:2).
Click here for a list of 35 psalms of thanksgiving, along with a 7-week reading plan to cultivate a life of gratitude.
Editor’s Note: This post is an excerpt from Wayne’s book, Jesus: Savior, King, Living Water.
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