Written byDeanna Brooks, Volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

 Thanksgiving…gratitude…appreciation. Most of us were probably taught the importance of thanking someone when they did something for us. 

In the United States, we have a day in November that we call Thanksgiving. Families and friends often gather to share a meal. They may watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and often a football game. But I wonder how much time is spent in actually being thankful… not just for our physical blessings, but for a God who loves us deeply. 

In Ephesians 5:20, the apostle Paul encourages us with these words: “…giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”(ESV). 

“Giving thanks always” …do we do that? 

David, a man after God’s own heart, penned many psalms of thanksgiving. What makes David’s words so special to me is that he had a lot of struggles: he had to run and hide from King Saul for about 10 years… his sin with Bathsheba… constant battles against Israel’s enemies… and discord within his own house among his children. 

Still, he had a heart of thankfulness.

1 Chronicles 16:8-36 is a song of David when the ark was returned to Jerusalem after being taken by the Philistines. In verses 8 and 9, we see David bursting out in thankfulness and praise: “Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!” 

Throughout the book of Psalms, there are many expressions of thanksgiving written by David. 

Psalm 100 is the one many people think of first: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations!” (Verses 4, 5).

In Psalm 111, David begins by saying he will give thanks to the Lord with his whole heart. 

Psalm 30 seems to have been written after a near-death experience…perhaps when David was fleeing from King Saul…and he closes verse 12 with these words: “O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!”

Psalm 9 was probably written after a victory over one of Israel’s enemies, and in verse 1, David says, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”

In Psalm 28:7, David acknowledges the Lord as his strength and shield: 

The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.”

Psalm 119 shows David’s heart for the Lord as he praises Him with thankfulness: 

“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (verse 97).

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (verse 103).

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (verse 105).

“Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart” (verse 111). 

These are just a few of the writings of David that show why he is called “a man after God’s own heart” (1Sa 13:14, Ac 13:22). 

The key to David’s being a man after God’s heart is found in Psalm 119:10: “…with my whole heart I seek you.” 

In reading through the Psalms, one thing that stands out to me is that David was continually meditating on God‘s goodness, what God had done, and how God was continuing to both pursue and protect David… not only from his enemies, but from his own sins. David’s response was one of thankfulness. 

God continues to pursue us with the same diligence today. In Psalm 23:6, we read, “Surely goodness, and mercy shall follow me.”  The Hebrew word for “follow” means an “intense pursuit” … like a lion chasing its prey. God wants to rescue us from the clutches of Satan. Is our response to His pursuit like that of David… a heart seeking Him and filled with thankfulness?