So many times we are ‘dealing’ with life. Pause, breathe, pray, give thanks! Amen
“Oh, you’re so pretty!”
“I loved your speech!”
“Hey, the dinner you made was delicious!”
“What a nice drawing!”
“Thanks!” We answer, quite touched by their generous words. Then we go home and we read verses like this:
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.
~ Psalm 115:1 ~
Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
~ Psalm 29:2 ~
Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.
~ Acts 12:23 ~
and a HOST of other ones like this in the Bible. And we ponder, “How can I give glory to God?” I don’t claim to know all the answers. But from what I read in Scripture, I write.
#1: Glory Does Not Belong To Us
“Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.”
~ Psalm 115:1 ~
Glory is DUE to God – just like a library book is due to the library! It is so right to give glory to God! An alternative to “Thanks” is “Thank you! To God be the glory!” One time at the store the lady checking me out said, “Oh, you’re so pretty!” I answered, “Thank you – and thank God because He made me!”
#2: GOD Deserves Glory
“He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength…”
~ Job 9:4 ~
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
~ Revelation 4:11 ~
“God thundereth marvellously with his voice great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth;likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.”
~ Job 37:5-6 ~
When we go outside, we can look around us and praise the Lord for His mighty strength, power, honor and glory. Let’s give glory where glory is due!
#3: Our Utmost For His Highest
“…thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.”
~ Psalm 30:11-12 ~
I believe the part of this verse that says, “To the end that my glory may sing praise to you” means that the psalmist was saying all of his glory will give glory to God – in other words, even his glory is a servant of the Lord. When we come to grips with the fact that all our righteousness is like filthy rags, and depend upon grace, all our glory will be a servant to the Most High. If we live like that, it will be noticed and reap God MORE glory!
“The Lord lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.”
~ Psalm 147:6 ~
#4: God Wants Obedience
“And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
~ 1 Samuel 15:22 ~
Have you ever wanted to do ‘great things for God’? It’s a good thought, but Who is God? He doesn’t need us to do great things for Him! With all of our protests and trying to save the world, I sometimes think we’re a lot this band of ants, and that God laughs at us.
“Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.”
~ Psalm 104:29 ~
God can, without any effort, destroy all of us in an instant, just like we could step on a pile of ants think nothing of it. And yet we try to do ‘great things for God.’ As when Saul plundered a city and offered up the best of the animals to the Lord, even though he was disobeying God’s command in the process, we sometimes get caught up in offering our biggest and best and neglect obeying. The Lord takes greater delight in our obedience than in our self sacrifices. Though we may think we have the way to save the world from the results of the fall, God doesn’t need us to save it. He already provided salvation for the world, and He doesn’t need us to do it again. He specifically put us on earth to bring Him glory and one way we can do that is by obeying Him. For the purpose of reaping Himself the most glory, He put us where we are in the body we have with the family we have in the time period we are in, and with the gender we have. (Did you ever think that just by being grateful for the gender God gave you, you are reaping Him glory?)
Little is much when God is in it! Labor not for wealth or fame; there’s a crown and you can win it, if you go in Jesus’ Name.
#5: Praise Him For Others
“O Lord, thou art my God;I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things;thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”
~ Isaiah 25:1 ~
The work God has done in our lives and the work He has done in others’ lives, and the work He has done in the past… well, it adds up to quite a lot!! Not everyone… that is, most people… that is, hardly anyone in this world directs their praise to the Lord, so we praise Him when they don’t. A practical application of this is to incorporate “praise the Lord!” in our vocabulary, and use it often!
#6: Proclaim The Good News
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.
~ Psalm 96 ~
Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. ~ Psalm 30:4
I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. ~ Psalm 69:30
We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near. ~ Psalm 75:1
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. ~ Psalm 107:1
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! ~ Psalm 107:8
I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. ~ Psalm 69:30
Don’t you just feel it, reading through the Bible, the call to give thanks? We were born to worship and I praise the Lord for Scripture that directs us to the right place to devote our worship! Giving thanks is acknowledging the gift, blessing the giver, and, in the case with thanking God, it is observing that we don’t deserve to be a recipient. What a beautiful thing! There are SO MANY verses in the Bible on giving thanks, but, from just the ones I listed above, here are some things we can gather on how to give thanks.
#1: Sing praise to the Lord. I once made a list of songs that actually praise God and put them on a post-it note in my computer. #2: Whenever we remember the name of the Holy One, we can give thanks and remember what He has done for us! (What a contrast from using His name in vain!) #3: Remember His works and thank Him for them. A good way to do this might be to keep a journal. I have done this, and it has been such a blessing to me, and as I read it, I can’t help but praise God for all His works!)