Gratitude

July 9, 2019

Some time ago, Psalm 34:3 caught my attention. “Come, magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt his name together” is a call to a corporate worship that empowers us. A magnifying glass doesn’t make the object viewed any larger; it only makes it look larger. Magnifying God doesn’t make God any bigger; it just helps us see more clearly and in more detail. When we worship together, we see things about God that we might miss if all we do is our private devotions. Like looking through a telescope or peering into a microscope, features that were unobservable by the naked eye pop into view, and we see.

But corporate worship doesn’t always produce greater clarity or deeper insight and devotion. Church fights are all too common for us to imagine that there is anything magic or automatic about corporate worship. Psalm 69:30 provides a clue to probing the depths and intricacies of God: “I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” It is gratitude that unlocks the door to a deeper walk with God. Personally and corporately, only gratitude does this. “Worship” without gratitude is no worship at all. People can and do come to church to complain, to boast, to further their own agenda. Even pastors. I’ve known many. An angry pastor who uses the pulpit as an opportunity to grind a particular political, social, or religious axe.

Privately, if my devotional time is filled only with “what do I get out of it” and is devoid of praise and thanksgiving, how can I say I’ve in any way encountered the living God? All I’ve done is worship myself. Only praise and thanksgiving have the power to lift us above self-preoccupation into the Presence of our God and Savior—the One who saves us from ourselves.

There’s just one caveat regarding gratitude. If I am only thankful for the blessings of this life—things that can be taken away—my gratitude will always contain an element of fear. “What if I lose my freedoms, health, relationships, possessions?” Fear automatically puts a damper on gratitude, tempering and toning it down. The focus subtly shifts from the Giver to the receiver, and joy vanishes. Tonight, I am thankful not only for the blessings of this life—my family, friends, health, and possessions. I am thankful for the salvation—the grace I’ve been shown, the forgiveness I’ve experienced, the guidance for life, and the hope for eternity.