Thanksgiving in Worship

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

And His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name

For the Lord is good;

His lovingkindness is everlasting

And His faithfulness to all generations.

(Ps. 100:4-5, NASB)

            Modern worship, whether we realize it or not, tends to be focused on what we as spectators desire to get out of the experience. As I was traveling to meet one of my children for lunch recently, I was listening to a Christian radio station. My ear caught several advertisements by churches marketing themselves to the station’s audience by sharing all of the different ministries and programs they had to offer to each member of the family. For each person, he or she would have his or her own dynamic experience with God. On the surface that sounds exciting. However, we have become so accustomed to such consumer-based/market-driven moves within our culture that they do not seem at all out of place within the church any longer. To us, there appears to be absolutely nothing wrong with “shopping around” to find just the right church to fit our particular needs. Yet, this is not at all the perspective Scripture has of the Church or, more importantly, of the worship of Almighty God. Worship has nothing to do at all with what we want, desire, or need. It does not take into consideration what style of music we prefer or whether we feel more comfortable with traditional or contemporary, “high” or “low” church customs. To our possible dismay and definitely to our conviction, worship is directed toward and solely defined by God Himself.

            As the Psalmist plainly tells us, we are to have hearts full of thankfulness when we “enter into His gates” to worship Him. How can we do this if we are so concerned about what we want out of worship? If we think going to worship is about what we are to receive from it, our thankfulness is misplaced from the beginning. The psalmist is thankful because of who God is to him and for what God has done for Him. He is overwhelmed by the goodness and grandeur of God. Thus, he says, “Give thanks to Him, bless His name, for the LORD is good.” Not only does the psalmist know this personally, but he has seen the Lord’s grace operational in the lives of his forefathers for generations innumerable in the past. He knows that “His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness (is present) to all generations.” Thus, the psalmist can “enter His gates with thanksgiving” with a heart ready to authentically worship the Lord.

            When next you go to worship, I challenge you not to think of worship in a self-centered fashion, as if worship has anything to do with you, your wants, desires, preferences, or needs. Instead, I dare you to put all of these things in your past and remember the God who has saved you and called you into His “kingdom of light” by His grace alone, who has blessed you with much more than you ever deserve in this life. “Count your many blessings, name them one by one” and then “enter into His gates with thanksgiving”. Your worship of the Lord may never be the same again.