Focus: Returning Thanks

Text: Ps.116:12

"What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?"

We serve a God who is rich in blessings, and He enriches us with them. He flows and overflows with boundless bounties. His supplies are surplus. The psalmist jubilantly declares, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah" (Ps.68:19). He goes on to say to himself, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (Ps.103:2). Look at your life and see proofs of divine benefits! Everywhere you look, benefits abound. In the storehouse of grace, we find variegated and bountiful benefits.

James tells us that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (Jam.1:17). John writes, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…" (Jh.3:16). 

Jesus Christ is God's greatest gift to humanity. He is God's highest blessing in our lives. He is God's unspeakable gift.

The psalmist took a look at himself and saw all that God had done for him. He looked back and saw where God took him from. He looked around himself and saw where God had brought him to. He looked into his future and saw His throne lasting forever. Everywhere he looked he could see that God was good to him. Then he asked himself, "What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?" David was thoughtful, and only the thoughtful are thankful. He knew it was the right thing to do, to return thanks to God for His limitless kindness and rich goodness. He says to God, "Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee" (Ps.56:12). Give the Lord praise for what He is doing in your life. Be grateful to Him! Learn to return all thanks to Him! God has been nothing but good to you.

David found himself in a situation where he needed to make a sacrifice to God to avert danger or doom for the people of God. He saw the need to acquire a portion of land on which the sacrifice would be made. Interestingly, the owner of the parcel of land was willing to give it up to him, but David said to him, "Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing…" (2Sam.24:24). David was ready to give his God something costly. He did not believe in cheap worship. For David, worship required going all the way to making glad the heart of God. God had done so much for him that giving him something of quality won't hurt. Do you know something? It turned out that the land David bought from Araunah was the very place where Solomon sited the temple. 

Interestingly too, it was the costly ointment Mary poured on Jesus Christ a week before His death that served as his embalming for burial. No one had the time to do the necessary embalming for His body because they were a moment away from the sabbath. What Mary did was like an act of foresight. Our Lord Himself attested to that. He said Mary had done it against His day of burial. 

The good we do today has a way of impacting someone's tomorrow.

Let us learn to give back to the giver of all good gifts - God Himself. He deserves the best of gifts from us. A leper, who was healed by Christ, returned to give Him thanks. Luke says that he returned "and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks…" (Lk.17:16). Matthew tells of wise men who came to the land of Judah at the instance of the birth of King Jesus. He writes, "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" (Mt.2:11). They caught a revelation of who that child was, and they opened their treasures and presented Him with precious gifts. 

We all have treasures to open and present gifts to the Christ of God. He is our Savior and Sovereign. He was born king and born to rule. If we are wise enough, we will worship Him, open our treasure-boxes and present good gifts to Him. Wisdom and worship belong together. The wise become worshippers, openers of treasure-boxes, and givers of gifts to the Lord. The wise return thanks in a big way. Do it now!

Bishop Moses E. Peter