The dark Northwest winters take a toll on me, and I think we can all agree that it’s been a long year of pandemic. I was feeling tired and blah yesterday as I joined a Zoom meeting. Someone mentioned the importance of expressing gratitude to those around us and to God. Another person mentioned Ann Voskamp’s book, 1,000 Gifts. It’s a favorite of mine. But at that moment, something in me pushed back against the idea. When we’re feeling down, I don’t think thanksgiving comes naturally, and I certainly didn’t feel like working at it. But the idea remained in the back of my mind.
This morning I glanced out the window and saw the cutest little Chickadee. It had bright eyes and its feathers were so fluffy they almost looked like fur. I took joy in the sight. And I thought how hard would it be to take a moment to thank the Creator? So, I did. A little later, I saw a robin. I thanked God for the robin—and also for the reminder that spring is coming. Perhaps I did have the energy for thanksgiving, after all.
Then I sat down to read, and opened my Bible to Psalm 50. The last verse (verse 23) reads:
He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.
Reading about sacrifices and thank offerings can seem foreign to our ears, so let’s unpack this verse a bit. The Hebrew word translated “sacrifices” does, indeed, mean to sacrifice or slaughter, conveying the idea of animal sacrifice. However, I was surprised to see that the next two words, “thank offerings”, are translated from just one Hebrew word, “todah“. It just means thanks or thank you. We would say “todah” in Hebrew class when our teacher handed us a paper. I said it when a waiter brought food in Israel. Perhaps it was translated as “thank offerings” to be sure we didn’t miss the idea of animal sacrifice. But today the sacrificial system is no longer in place. Could the idea of sacrifice be involved in our spending the time and energy to stop and say “thank you”?
“he prepares the way”. The word translated “way” can mean path. I pictured someone clearing trees, or laying paver stones to make a path. And what will this path lead to?
“that I may show him”. The original word translated “show” means to cause to see, to make visible. It’s not creating something new, but opening our eyes to something already there.
“the salvation of God”. The Hebrew word for “salvation” is rich in meaning: liberty, deliverance, help, freedom, welfare… More specifically, my Key Word Bible says “salvation of God” means Savior.
Now, let me get back to Ann Voskamp for a moment. She says that thanks comes before the miracle. (Think of Jesus, giving thanks for the few loaves and fishes before feeding a multitude with them.) Perhaps that’s exactly what this verse from Psalms is saying, too.
Here’s my own loose paraphrase of Psalm 50:23:
A person who makes the effort to thank God honors God, and that act puts the individual on a path toward being able to see God’s loving hand at work setting things right and restoring our relationship with him.
What do you think?
For myself, I’m going to try to take that extra moment and tiny bit of energy to say “thank you”, and keep my eyes open for what God will show me.
Hang in there, everyone!
