Cultivating Gratitude
“Dad, can you get me some water?” my youngest daughter asked. “Sure,” I said, bringing her a full cup. She took it wordlessly. Then my oldest daughter made the same request. She didn’t respond either after I got her some water. Annoyed, I blurted out, “Is anyone going to say, ‘Thank you’? Why is that so hard?”
Sometimes there’s nothing like parental frustration to open the door for God to work. Immediately I felt the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit: Yes, Adam, why is it so hard to say, “Thank you”? Busted. Turns out a lack of gratitude isn’t just my kids’ problem; it’s mine too.
I don’t know why saying thank you can be so hard, but it certainly seems to be a part of the human condition. In the psalms, however, we see a model for growing in gratitude. There, David and others often praise God amid myriad trials. And a particular phrase frequently precedes their thanksgiving: “I will . . . .”
In Psalm 9:1, David deliberately chooses thankfulness: “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” We might be prone to think of gratitude primarily as a feeling. But David reminds us that it’s also a choice.
Like David, as we choose to cultivate a habit of giving thanks, we can gradually grow to recognize and appreciate God’s goodness in every aspect of life.
By Center for Bible Engagement - Our Daily Bread Ministries
Psalms 9:1-12
1I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
3My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
5You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.
7The Lord reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
8He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
9The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
11Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
12For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.
