The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving Ps 35: 18 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
In the Bible, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are a royal priesthood [1 Pet 2:5]. And as priests, we offer spiritual sacrifices to God. One of our spiritual sacrifices is the sacrifice of praise which is thanksgiving offered by our lips [Heb 13:15]. Interestingly, the first mention of any form of the word thanks is found in Lev 7:12. There it is the peace offering which is offered for thanksgiving. It was offered by the priests just like we offer thanksgiving to the Lord as our spiritual sacrifice. In Ps 35:18, we find that David gave thanks in the great congregation; he praised the Lord among much people.
The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, the folks in our Wednesday night prayer meeting offered thanks to God “in the great congregation.” Members thanked the Lord:
- For another Thanksgiving and another day of life.
- For my wonderful wife.
- For our church.
- For a godly mother and a faithful, godly husband.
- For God working in our family to bring us closer to him through the truth.
- For my wonderful mother, her husband, and my wife and family.
- For the Lord Jesus Christ, for my salvation, and for his wonderful words.
- For our pastors.
- For hearing our pastor on the radio and for his continued preaching of the truth.
- For the two “old” men from our church who knocked on my door 17 years ago.
- For the many people in our church who have prayed for my health.
- For my saved husband and our three saved children who are faithful to the Lord.
- For our pastor who came to my house many years ago out of concern for my family.
- For my husband who insisted, against my objections, that we come to this church.
- For our Lord’s goodness, long-suffering, grace, provision, love, salvation, and words.
- For my saved family and for the opportunity for us to all be together for Thanksgiving.
- For the Lord bringing me back to this church and for his goodness to me.
- For the man who invited me to church, for my wife, children, and mother and father-in-law.
- For the Lord directing us to this church where we are fed with good preaching and teaching.
- For my prudent wife [Prov 19:14] and for our faithful members who make pastoring a real joy.
These spiritual sacrifices of thanksgiving were a wonderful way for us to praise the Lord. He has been so good to us and we are truly grateful. Thank you, Lord.