Throughout the Scriptures we find numerous calls to bring praise to the Lord with thanksgiving, or examples of people doing so. The book of Psalms contains a great collection of praise and worship “songs”, and encourages us to follow the pattern it sets. “Oh, sing to the Lord a new song” Psalm 98:1; “I will sing of mercy and justice to You, O Lord, I will sing praises” Psalm 101:1; I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever …” Psalm 89:1, and praise continues to rise time and again throughout the book. Psalm 100 is a great “Psalm of thanksgiving”, “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing … Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise …” verses 1,2,4. In the New Testament we are taught that not only are we to be “established in the faith” but we are to abound “in it with thanksgiving” Colossians 2:7, while Colossians 4:2 shows us that earnest prayer should be seasoned with thanksgiving and Philippians 4:6 says we should not be anxious about things, rather “by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” In other words our petitions should be made amidst the incense of thanksgiving and praise. Psalm 100:5 gives us three of the many things for which we should be thankful: His goodness, His mercy, and His truth.

Praise God

-By Rose Hill

Make a joyful noise everyone in the land,

For all good things come from our Fathers hand.

Serve Him and be mighty glad,

In His presence you can’t be sad.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise,

Be thankful and bless Him all of your days.

For He is good and His mercy endures,

And His great blessings can be yours.