Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, may it be a wonderful day.
The very fabric of Scripture is woven with gratitude. God’s people are called not just to receive His gifts but to express gratitude for them. Thanksgiving isn’t an optional spiritual discipline in the Bible; it’s a natural overflow from the heart that recognizes everything good comes from the Father of Lights. Here’s how to give thanks to God in seven vivid biblical examples.
1. Miriam’s Song at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20-21)
Miriam the prophetess led the women to dance and sing after Israel passed through the parted Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army drowned. “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.” There’s raw, exuberant thanksgiving here, bodies moving, voices lifting, instruments sounding—because our God is our salvation.
2. Hannah’s Prayer after Samuel’s Birth (1 Samuel 2:1-10)
A barren Hannah begged God for a son. When God answered, she didn’t just whisper, “Thank you.” She wrote one of the most wonderful Old Testament hymns: “I exult in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord… There is none holy like the Lord; there is nothing besides you.” As a prophetic foreshadower of Mary’s Magnificat centuries later, her thanksgiving magnified God’s reversal of human impossibility.
3. David Dancing Before the Ark (2 Samuel 6:12-23)
When the ark of God finally entered Jerusalem, King David stripped off his royal robes, put on a simple linen ephod, and danced with all his might before the Lord. He made burnt offerings, blessed the people, and gave food to everyone. Despite Michal’s disdain for him, David replied, “I’ll celebrate before the Lord.” True gratitude doesn’t care about dignity.
4. The Ten Lepers and the One Who Returned (Luke 17:11-19)
TEN men cried out for mercy and were miraculously cleansed. Nine walked toward the priest. Only one, a Samaritan, turned back, fell on his face and thanked Jesus. The story is a quiet indictment of ingratitude and a reminder that thanksgiving completes the circle of grace received. Jesus asked, “Were not the ten cleansed? Where are the nine?”
5. The Psalmists’ Relentless Call to Give Thanks
The book of Psalms is Israel’s national hymnal of gratitude.
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“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1, repeated four times in the psalm)
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“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!” (Psalm 100:4)
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“I will give thanks to you forever” (Psalm 30:12)
God’s house was is place. Musical, loud, repeated thanksgiving.
6. Jesus Giving Thanks Before Multiplying Loaves (John 6:11)
On a Galilean hillside, facing five thousand hungry people and five loaves, Jesus didn’t complain about scarcity. The same Greek word (eucharisteō) is used at the Last Supper. Jesus models that gratitude precedes provision; thanksgiving is the soil in which miracles grow.
7. Paul and Silas Singing in Prison (Acts 16:25)
At midnight, Paul and Silas were beaked, feet in stocks, backs bleeding, but they didn’t curse the circumstances. Their thanksgiving was a witness to the jailer and led an entire household to Christ. The prison shook, doors flew open, chains fell off. Gratitude in suffering opened physical and spiritual freedom.
A Pattern for Us
These stories reveal a clear pattern: Biblical thanksgiving is:
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Public and expressive (dancing, singing, shouting)
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Specific (naming the deliverance, the child, the bread, the healing)
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God-centered (not “I’m thankful for stuff” but “I’m thankful to the Giver”)
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Often sacrificial (David’s offerings, the Samaritan’s return journey, Paul’s midnight concert while in pain)
It’s Thanksgiving time, and let’s move beyond generic “I’m thankful for family and health” platitudes. Let’s learn from Miriam, Hannah, David, the healed Samaritan, and the suffering apostles. Name the gifts. Lift your voice. Dance if the Spirit moves you. Tell how God has moved you.
Every good and perfect gift comes from above-and the God who gives such gifts deserves our wholehearted, uninhibited thanks.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 136:1).
Until Next Time: Be Blessed and Courage.
