By Jeff Dominguez
In the opening verses of Psalm 136, the Psalmist invites the readers:
“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever.”
If you’ve noticed, the Psalmist invited the readers three times to give thanks to God. This is proof that the main theme of Psalm 136 is to give thanks to God. After the opening verses, the Psalmist recalled all of the wonderful things that God has done such as His creation (v4-9), the Exodus (v10-16), His victories over earthly kings (v17-22), and how He saved and provided for His people (v23-25). After recalling all of these, once more, the Psalmist invited everyone to, “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Ps 136:26).
It is without a doubt that God deserves all the praise and thanksgiving. No matter what we do, we can never repay God for everything that He does for us. But if we look at how the command to give thanks to God is spread out through the Bible, it appears that God is not asking us to repay Him. He simply wants us to live according to His ways and give Him thanks.
So how do we give thanks to God? Is it alright if we just say thank you?
Many of us thank God in this way; we pray to Him and thank Him for all that He’s done. Thanking Him in prayer is good, but the Bible reveals that there’s more than just thanking Him in prayer. There’s a biblical way on how to give thanks to God. And of course, I will share with you what it is.
The biblical way of giving thanks to God can be learned from Luke 17: 11-19. This passage is also usually referred to as “Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers.”
“11On the way to Jerusalem He was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14When He saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19And He said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
This is the famous and classic story where out of the ten lepers who got healed, only one came back to give thanks to Jesus. I sincerely believe that this is a sad representation of our relationship with God. Most of us just go to God if we need help or if we need to ask for something. But after we got what we asked for, we immediately forget God. This is also a wake-up call for us to imitate that one man who went back just to find Jesus and thank Him for what He did.
Now, this one man who returned to thank God demonstrated the biblical way of giving thanks to God. To learn what that is, we will examine the detailed account of his actions. In verses 15 and 16, it says,
“15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.”
This is the biblical way of giving thanks to God. It is the five main actions of the man:
“15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.”
- “he saw”
- “turned back”
- “praising God with a loud voice”
- “he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet”
- “giving Him thanks”
Through the example of this man, the Bible taught us how we should give thanks to God. To better understand this, we’ll study and explore these five actions.
“HE SAW”
The first action of the man was to see what Jesus did for him. This is a symbol that means to recognize and appreciate the things that God does for you. It sounds simple but this is actually very critical. If you remember, only one of the ten went back to give thanks to Jesus. Literally speaking, it is certain that all of them saw that they were healed from their leprosy. But when the Bible said that this one-man “saw” that he was healed, it means he recognized that Jesus healed him.
This first action in the biblical way of giving thanks to God is very crucial. First, a lot of people fail in this action alone. Many of us take for granted the things that God does for us. In fact, most of us even complain! Second, if a person fails at this point, he won’t be able to proceed to the next four. Learning to recognize the things that God does for you is essential in establishing a healthy fellowship with Him. If you don’t, you’ll become the kind of person who always complains and grumble to God in prayer. You’ll start to see God negatively and even judge Him as unkind and selfish. But if you learn to appreciate everything including the smallest things like being able to wake up alive, a nice breakfast, a simple but decent job, family and friends that care for you, and even the air you breathe, I’m sure, your heart will be full of love and gratitude for God. You’ll see Him as a very loving and generous God. And surely, you’ll never stop praising and giving Him thanks.
“TURNED BACK”
The next action of the man was to turn back. In the context of the story, he literally turned back to where He encountered Jesus. But symbolically speaking, this means that the man seeks Jesus. He went looking for Him. And if you remember, Jesus rarely stays in one place. He constantly moves around. So I’m guessing that by the time the man went looking for Him, He wasn’t in the same place anymore where they originally met. In that case, this man had to ask around where Jesus went and do his best to find Him. And good news! According to the passage, he did found Jesus (v16).
In this action point, the Bible is teaching us that if we really want to thank God for the things He did for us, then we should be seeking Him. A person who is sincere in giving thanks to God will also turn his life around to find Jesus. To further emphasize, there’s a popular term that means to turn back or to change one’s mind. The term is called REPENTANCE. This term is popular because all of God’s servants, the prophets and the apostles, and even God and Jesus themselves, all called us to repentance. To repent is like what the man did: He completely turned around to seek Jesus. God also wants us to turn around and turn away from our sinful lives and seek Him. So if you want to thank God, don’t just say thank you to Him. Repent as well.
“PRAISING GOD WITH A LOUD VOICE”
The third action of the man was to praise God with a loud voice. I’m sure that sounded familiar, for we call that very act as WORSHIP. So yes, the third part of the biblical way of thanking God is to worship Him.
If you’ve been a follower of Jesus for some time now, I’m sure you are already familiar with what worship is. In this age, we usually refer to that as singing songs for God. But in the context of the story, that is not what the man did. What he did was he praised Jesus in public. As the passage explicitly stated, he praised God with a loud voice. The man was probably shouting and has caught the attention of everyone around them. So this means that the third act of the biblical way of giving thanks to God is to share what He did for you in public. It means you proclaim it. You share it with your family, friends, workmates, and so on. Proclaim the goodness of God to the whole world!
I believe that we should share with others everything that God does for us. It is a crime against Him if we just keep it to ourselves and hide His goodness from others. Here’s proof. After casting the demons away in the incident of the demon-possessed man (Luke 8:26-39), Jesus said to the man: “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you” (v39). As an encouragement, this is also a way to glorify God and to share the Gospel with others. By sharing with others the good things that God did for us, we are making God attractive to them. This is why the Bible is teaching us that if we truly want to thank God, we must share His goodness with others.
“HE FELL ON HIS FACE AT JESUS’ FEET”
The next action of the man was that he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet. This is also another form of worship.
If you’ve noticed in the last action, the verse specifically referred to Jesus as “God.” Now, this action verifies it. In the Jewish culture, to sit or fall at someone’s feet is an act of worship to God. This means that the man publicly acknowledged and worshipped Jesus as God. Symbolically, this refers to the act of surrendering to the lordship of Jesus. If you’ve read the Bible, you’ll notice that many oppose Jesus’ claim to deity. In fact, Jesus was crucified because of the accusation of claiming to be God (which is true). So this action is the culmination of actions 2 and 3. To give thanks to God is to acknowledge His lordship over your life. You cannot give thanks to God and ignore His lordship. Here is an example to help you better understand this. Many people claim to believe in God but they don’t really have a relationship with Him. These are the people who will only come to God when they need something. After they received what they asked for, they will go back to their sinful ways. This is what’s being corrected here. If you truly want to thank God, don’t just say thank you to God, change your ways! Repent! Surrender your life to God. Submit to His ways. Believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how we thank God that is truly satisfying to Him.
“GIVING HIM THANKS”
And finally, we have come to the last one. As plain as it is, the last act is to verbally and directly give thanks to God. This is the common way of thanking God that we all know. However, there is still something deeper to this.
I believe that there’s a reason why this was done last. While I’m not suggesting that these actions should be done in order, I believe that before we thank God in this way, we should do the others first. As I have pointed out, many people thank God in this way but they don’t do the other four. As a result, there’s no relationship between them and God. It appears that God is like a genie to them. A magical being that is only summoned when they need something. I remember the tragic event in John 6. In the beginning, Jesus fed five thousand people (v1-14). Because of that, the people loved Him and started to follow Him (v24). But when Jesus saw their hearts, he confronted them about their motives and declared to them that they shouldn’t be seeking worldly food, but heavenly food (v26-27). Jesus boldly declared that He is that heavenly food, the “Bread of Life” (v35). He added that whoever comes to Him shall never be hungry again, and whoever believes in Him will never be thirsty again. Sadly, the people didn’t believe Him and turned away from Him (v66). This is also going to be the fate of anyone who will only come to Jesus for material blessings. The main message of John 6 is to come to Jesus to get Jesus.
This is why the biblical way of giving thanks to God prioritizes changes in the way we see Jesus first before we actually give thanks to Him. The biblical way of giving thanks to God is designed to change our hearts first so that we can truly thank God in a way that satisfies Him
As I close, I want to summarize the whole thing. Just as I’ve said, the biblical way of giving thanks to God is designed to change our hearts regarding Jesus. That is exactly what happened to the man who returned. After recognizing what Jesus did for Him, it also changed the way He sees Jesus. He accepted and believed that Jesus is indeed God, the one and only Savior of the world. So it appears that he wasn’t just cured of leprosy, he also got saved!
I am praying that after you read this article, it will also change the way you see Jesus. The Bible reveals that He is our Lord and Savior, the only way to heaven (John 14:6). He is because He’s the one who died for our sins on the cross (Rom. 5:8). Because of His sacrifice, the only thing we need to do to be saved is to believe in Him.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
That’s how easy it became for us because of the sacrifice of Jesus. And believe me, eternity is short to thank Him for saving us.
To God be the glory.
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