4 Offer a Sacrifice of Thanks to the Lord

I started to look up verses in a concordance about thanks, thanksgiving, bless, blessing, blessed. And, the first few verses I looked up were those found in this chapter. Let’s look at the first verse:

Psalm 50:23--Expanded Bible (EXB)

23 Those people honor [glorify] me

who bring me offerings to show thanks [thank offerings; v. 14].

And I, God, will save those who do that [go on my way/path].”

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{Note: Friend, and fellow thanksgiving and joy pursuer, read this verse in several versions of the Bible before you read from here. Trust me. You want to. This is a good verse and is highly informative. We don’t want to miss anything from it and want to get the full meaning out of it.}

{Another Note: If you have a computer and use it, I have a gem to share with you. Go to:

http://www.biblegateway.com/

In the search field at the top, enter, “PSALM 50:23.”

Go there.

Then, scroll to the bottom of the screen. Do you see where it says, “PSALM 50:23 IN ALL ENGLISH VERSIONS?” Click on that. (Just so that you know, you can only use that feature for looking up one verse at a time.)

Now, in front of you, you will have every English version of the Bible’s version of that verse in front of you. Talk about an incredible resource. For this verse, I recommend printing them out so you can refer to all of them and get as much out of this verse as you can. It’s an important one with lots of facets we don’t want to miss.}

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BACK TO PSALM 50:23:

Lord, this verse is a multi-faceted one. Help me to understand it and everything it offers and tells me to do. Help me learn this verse and apply it to my life.

The bottom-line is this: Thanksgiving is an offering or a sacrifice we are to give God.

It is a sacrament.

We are to take it seriously and approach the altar, if only in our mind and usually in just our mind, with this offering and sacrifice: Thanksgiving. We are to offer Him thanks. It is a holy rite and a sacred moment and is not to be taken lightly. And, it isn’t supposed to be ignored. After all, there are several verses that talk about how we are to always give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and Ephesians 5:20, for example). Consequently, thanks is our offering and sacrifice we offer God at the altar in our minds and hearts. It is not to be taken lightly or ever taken for granted.

It is a moment of worship. It is sacred, holy, and set apart. It is consecrated.

We approach the altar and bear our minds and hearts to Him as we approach the altar and offer the sacrifice of our thanksgiving. We lay our thanks before Him.

How can I ever look at thanksgiving the same again?

How can I not keep a daily list and offer them at the altar? 

EXB

Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.