1 “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night, 3 on an instrument of ten strings, on the lute, and on the harp, with harmonious sound. 4 For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. 5 O LORD, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. 6 A senseless man does not know, nor does a fool understand this.” Psalm 92:1-6

A Christian — one who acknowledges his sins and shortcomings and looks to God in faith for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the shed blood of Jesus, God’s Son who came into this world to be our Savior — will be thankful to the LORD God for His lovingkindness and mercy.

In fact, having no other gods but the LORD God and rightly using His name to honor Him certainly includes thanking Him and praising Him for all He has done and still does for us (cf.Ex. 20:1-11; Deut. 5:6-15; Isa. 58:13-14).

And what does God say of those who should know there is an almighty and all-wise God who created and preserves all things but yet remain unthankful? We find the answer in Romans 1:20-21: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Those who are not thankful do not trust the LORD God or honor Him. Instead of being thankful to God for all His blessings, they often covet and desire what God has not given them, whether that be the goods of this world or the sinful pleasures of life. Thus, God’s commandment regarding coveting in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 (Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21) really forbids the inverse of being thankful and content with what God has provided us. Instead of trusting in God and His promises and giving Him thanks, people covet — not trusting God’s Word, being unthankful and discontent, and desiring those things God has not given us.

Psalm 92, like many other psalms, reminds us that it is good to give thanks to the LORD God, who has created us and sustains us, and who has redeemed us through the innocent sufferings and death of His only-begotten Son and who gives us spiritual life by His Spirit’s working in us through His Word (cf. Psalm 139:13-16; 36:9; 119:18). Though a senseless man does not know and understand this, praising God and giving Him thanks for His wonderful works, whether that be with musical instruments or with words of praise and thanksgiving, are the fruits of faith. They are the result of trusting in the promises of God recorded for us in His Word.

Indeed, as the psalm says, “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night …”

And, the LORD’s mighty works give us reason to rejoice in Him and be glad, for He not only gives us life and blesses us with all the good things we enjoy in this life; He sent His Son into the world to die in our stead, for our sins, and to win for us pardon, forgiveness and everlasting life! (Cf. Psalm 103:1ff.; Psalm 130:7-8).

Those who trust in Him and His mercy rejoice and give Him thanks and praise for all He has done for us!

O gracious and merciful God, we thank You and praise You for creating us in our mothers’ wombs and giving us life, for blessing us with all good things and sustaining our lives in this world, for sending Jesus Christ, Your only-begotten Son, into this world as a true man that He might, in our stead, keep Your commandments and then suffer the just punishment for our sins so that we might look to Him in faith and be pardoned, forgiven and granted eternal life in communion with You. We thank and praise You in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]