How Gratitude Grows

By Danny Saavedra

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”—Psalm 100 (NIV)

As you likely know by now, each psalm has a sort of personality. Some psalms take on a tone of desperation amidst life’s trials—we call those lament psalms. Others are flavored with a prophetic perspective by looking ahead to the coming of Christ. Still others are defined by a prevailing sense of God’s faithfulness despite our past failures.

As one of the thanksgiving psalms, the personality of Psalm 100 is one of celebration and praise towards God. It’s a way of releasing the joy that’s been stored up in our hearts for who the Lord is and all He’s done. A life under God’s loving ownership will be blessed, and the great gladness that comes as a result of that needs an outlet—Psalm 100 is such an outlet!

Outlets like this are important. The fact we have a psalm so dedicated reminds us of this. But in addition, life also teaches us that if we don’t take deliberate steps to make time for something important, it will quickly get covered up by the unending cares of life. We need to schedule our celebration of who God is and to express this joy.

It seems more than appropriate at a time like this, as a year filled with many difficulties is winding down, that we stop and give God His due in this regard. So before reading any further, press pause and give voice to who the Lord is and all He’s been to you this past year.

Do you know what happens next? It’s given to us here in the above verse. As we take the time to celebrate God, it naturally leads us to the place of thanksgiving. You see, we can’t behold the beauty of God and its influence on our lives without responding to it . . . and that response is gratitude.

Know this: The more we stop and celebrate God, the more thankful we become. By looking back at Him, we receive the best possible outlook going forward. This is a spiritual law that can never be broken and one we’d all do well to abide by.

Each of us has experienced our own unique share of challenges, pains, disappointments, and even losses this past year. But our souls can’t dwell there. What are we to do? We need to dwell on who God is, because that never changes and is always worthy of our celebration. And as we do so, we’ll find a gratitude that defies our circumstances welling up to strengthen and sustain us for whatever lies ahead.

Pause: What’s the “personality” of Psalm 100? Why is it important to stop and celebrate who God is?

Practice: Schedule time and space to celebrate God and measure the growth of your gratitude.

Pray: Lord, I thank You and praise You for who You are and all You do. I thank You for the work You’ve done, are doing, and will continue to do to transform me deeper and deeper into the image of Your Son, Jesus. I thank You and praise You for the triumphs, trials, and even the tragedies of the past year, because I know that in all things You are working and weaving redemption for the good of those who love You and are called according to Your good purposes. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.