Dean's Devos: "Be Sure to Include God in Your Thanksgiving Celebration "

The idea of giving thanks is a recurring theme in the Bible. The following four lines occur verbatim in two psalms (57:9-10; 108:3-4):

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds. (ESV)

They remind us that it is to God we should give thanks, and that our God-directed thanksgiving should be a witness to those around us. They also give us two reasons we should be thankful—God’s steadfast love (ḥesed) and his faithfulness (’emet).

Those divine attributes are partners that occur together over twenty times in the Psalms. ESV translates the first word as “steadfast love,” while other versions use “kindness” or “mercy.” The central idea is an attitude that expresses itself in acts of kindness and mercy to those who are in a pitiful state. ESV translates the second word as “faithfulness,” while other versions use “truth” or “fidelity.” The central idea is total dependability in works and words.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, be sure to take time to thank God that he is totally dependable in what he says and does and that he acted to take pity on each of us when we were in the pitiful state of being separated from him because of our sin. Be sure to include God in your Thanksgiving celebration this year.