Listen

The one who enters in the Lord’s name is blessed; we bless all of you from the Lord’s house. The Lord is God! He has shined a light on us! So lead the festival offering with ropes all the way to the horns of the altar. You are my God—I will give thanks to you! You are my God—I will lift you up high! Give thanks to the Lord because he is good, because his faithful love lasts forever.

Psalm 118:26-29

Think

The entirety of Psalm 118 is framed in thanksgiving for what God has done. It begins and ends, “O give thanks to God for God is good, God’s faithful love lasts forever.” The whole psalm is a litany of thanksgiving for all the things God has done.

We often think that praising God is singing songs or writing beautiful prayers (and those are ways to praise), but often praising God begins with simple gratitude. It begins with taking notice of all the things we have to be grateful for and seeing that many of them are outside of our control. It can begin with something as small as the sun rising each morning, the beginning of a new day, or a small piece of beauty in the world.

In gratitude we find joy, mystery, wonder, and more. As we delight in those things, we give praise to God.

Nick Carson

Question to Ponder:

How can you practice gratitude as an act of praise?

Pray

Thank you, God, for the simplicity of gratitude. Thank you for so many beautiful, wonderful things around me. Thank you for me, and the people around me.

Amen.

Go

Go and sing loud and dance wild,

speak truth and stand strong,

hold beauty in your heart,

love hard and be soft,

make mistakes and say you’re sorry,

and try always to be you,

because all of life is a hymn singing God’s praise.