Overwhelmed with Thanksgiving
As people often come for counseling because they are overwhelmed, so should they also leave… overwhelmed! They might come because they are overwhelmed by situations such as:
- The gut-wrenching hurt of a wayward child that continues in grievous sin.
- The loss of a loved one.
- A marriage that is characterized by conflict and resentment.
- A seemingly unbreakable pattern of pornography or substance abuse.
- The guilt and grief in dealing with the consequences of past sins.
The aim of biblical counseling is to come alongside fellow sufferers and sinners who are overwhelmed with life issues, and help them in the midst of their struggles to be overwhelmed with the person, promises, purposes, provisions, and presence of Christ—even in the midst of the most trying of times (1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 8:28-39).
The very real grief or guilt they are experiencing must be engaged through taking them to the Scriptures. In doing so, one theme to note that is repeated through the Scriptures is that of thanksgiving. For example, consider 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which says, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Ephesians 5:20 says, “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:4 says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Philippians 4:6 calls believers to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Easier said than done, right?
People become overwhelmed in suffering and sin because they lose sight of their Creator and Shepherd whose sovereign care for them is far greater than any and all of life’s circumstances. Thus, they seek to take control of life (putting themselves in the place of God) and become controlled by their emotions (anxiety, anger, despair, etc.) rather than by the love of Christ and in taking refuge in Him (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
Therefore, with much compassion and discernment, one way to help them move from being overwhelmed by life to being overwhelmed by the Author of life is to help them understand how they learn to “give thanks in all circumstances.” The greatest way we can cry out to God when overwhelmed is through the very Word that He has given us, with the Psalms being a great place to return to time and time again. For example, let us consider Psalm 100, which is “A Psalm for giving thanks.”
Psalm 100: “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
In Psalm 100, the first four verses give seven imperatives of worship which shed light on both how to express thanksgiving and why we should continually be characterized by thanksgiving.
1. MAKE a Joyful Noise to the LORD! (v. 1)
Should we fail to consider the One to Whom we are to “make a joyful noise,” then we might as well drop the adjective “joyful” as all life would equate to nothing more than a “meaningless noise.” So you might ask your counselees: Who is “the LORD,” that “a joyful noise” should flow from their lips? Derek Kidner explains: “The joyful noise is not the special contribution of the tone-deaf, but the equivalent in worship to the shout or fanfare to a King.”1 They were to come before the LORD in worship with exuberant thanksgiving because He is the LORD, the King above of all kings! And not only that, but the LORD is their King! This fact leads directly to the next imperative.
2. SERVE the LORD with Gladness! (v. 2a)
The word “serve” could also be translated as “worship,” and likely the context here is a calling to come as God’s created people to collectively worship Him. And in what manner are they to serve or worship the LORD together? “With gladness!” Why should they worship the LORD with gladness? Because as John Calvin noted: The LORD’s “kindness towards his own people is so great as to furnish them with abundant ground for rejoicing.”2 Why not ask your counselees to make an ongoing list of the ways in which the LORD has been kind to them? Recounting the LORD’s kindness, both individually as well as collectively, leads His people to the next imperative.
3. COME into His Presence with Singing! (v. 2b)
It is important to note that the seven verbs in the first four verses are plural imperatives, which means that worship was not just what they did individually, but God’s people were to gather together for corporate worship to sing to the Lord with thanksgiving and joy. John Stott commented on this verse as he wrote: “If God is King, what can our worship be but joyful? Away with funeral faces and doleful dirges! Joy, gladness, and singing are to be the accompaniment of worship.”3 Stott is not making light of the difficulties that Israel experienced, but rather making much of their King who upheld His people through their circumstances as they looked to Him. Thus, the people were to look to their heavenly King.
4. KNOW that the LORD, He is God! (v. 3)
God had proven Himself time and time again in Israel’s history to be the One true God, and yet do we not see rampant idolatry through their history? What idols do those whom you are counseling have in their lives? If they were to ask those who know them best what it is they love the most, would the immediate response be “Jesus Christ”? Idols lead to ingratitude rather than thanksgiving, for idols can never truly satisfy and only lead people away from joyful worship of God.
John Calvin comments on Psalm 100: “As it is then a most difficult thing to retain men in the practice of the pure worship of God, the prophet, not without reason, recalls the world from its accustomed vanity, and commands them to recognize God as God.”4 Thus in Psalm 100:3, the people were to remind each other in their singing “that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his.” Their songs of thanksgiving in recollecting who the Lord is and what He had done for them as His people, helped them (as it will for your counselees) to keep their hearts worshipping their Creator, rather than making idols out of His creation. As “his people, the sheep of his pasture” (v. 3c), the LORD invited them to come before Him as we see in the next verse.
5. ENTER His Gates with Thanksgiving and His Courts with Praise! (v. 4a)
As His redeemed people, the sheep of His pasture, Israel was called to draw near to Lord with continual worship. As the Lord chose Israel to be His own people and lavished His blessings upon them, the only reasonable response was to come before Him with worship filled with thanksgiving. Thus, the next imperative for worship is to give thanks.
6. GIVE Thanks to Him! (v. 4c)
Israel was to continually and collectively give thanks to the LORD as their Creator, Savior, and Shepherd. For what can and should your counselees likewise be thankful? From salvation to provision of daily needs, perhaps have them start a journal of the things for which they can daily give thanks to the Lord. Doing so will lead them to the next verse.
7. BLESS His Name! (v. 4d)
Yet how could Israel, as well as God’s people today, possibly bless their Creator God Who is already infinitely blessed in the very essence of Who He is? As Alec Motyer explains: “Blessing Yahweh” means to “take note of His glories and excellencies and respond to them in wonder and adoration.”5 This is precisely what the Psalmist does in the next verse.
Three Reasons for Living a Life Characterized by Thanksgiving
Ultimately, thanksgiving is rooted in the very essence of Who God is, and Psalm 100:5 highlights three attributes of God that should always result in thanksgiving by His people.
1. God’s Goodness (v. 5a)
Psalm 100:5 says, “For the LORD is good.” His very essence is good, as are all His actions. Israel had repeatedly seen the goodness of God, testifying that “You are good and do good (Psalm 119:68).” Throughout the Scriptures, do we not continually see the goodness of God on display? God is good, His creation is declared good (Genesis 1), His word is good (Romans 7:12), and His purposes are good (Romans 8:28-29). Of course, the supreme example of God’s goodness is the cross of Jesus Christ.
As Phillip Ryken wrote: “The cross has brought salvation to the world. If God brought the greatest good out of the greatest evil, he can bring good out of what seems to be evil in your own life. It is all part of God’s good plan.”6 Therefore, as Charles Spurgeon reminds us, “So long as we are receivers of mercy we must be givers of thanks.”7 We give thanks to God for His goodness and mercy not only in gathering to worship Him each Sunday, but also as we scatter during the week to reflect God’s goodness (according to Galatians 6:9-10) by “not growing weary of doing good… but as we have opportunity, doing good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
When overwhelmed by the goodness of God, even during the most difficult of circumstances, we will still do good to others. This is exactly what Christ did upon the Cross, and we are called to imitate Him (Ephesians 5:1-2). If your counselees lose sight of Christ, they will be of no good to anyone. Point them time and time again to the goodness of God towards them in Christ Jesus. And then help them consider in what ways they can show thankfulness to God by doing good to others?
Next in Psalm 100:5, the people were to worship with thanksgiving because of God’s steadfast love.
2. God’s Steadfast Love (v. 5b)
As J.I. Packer wrote, God’s “love finds expression in everything that He says and does.”8 Why? Because “God is Love” (1 John 4:16). In Psalm 100:3, the people worship with thanksgiving because they are “the sheep of his pasture.” In knowing the LORD as their Shepherd, they can give thanks for as David concludes in Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy [or lovingkindness] shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Consider these words by Richard Phillips about the love of God from Psalm 100 as he applies it to the Church today:
Whatever trials may come to us in life, every Christian finds here ample reasons to give thanksgiving to God with a joyful heart. He is God! It is he, the Creator, who made us! And he has made us his own people, creating not only the human race but Israel and the church to be the pasture for his sheep. To say that we are the sheep of his pasture is to acknowledge his tender LOVE for us, which overcomes every deterrent to thanksgiving. Do we enjoy prosperity? Then let us be sure to praise the Lord with thanks. Do we struggle in trials or suffer in sorrow? Then let us lift tear-streamed faces to the Lord and worship him who is worthy and who has LOVED us unto salvation. God’s Word declares that ‘we are his.’ Regardless of anything else, being his own precious, beloved people - individually and together as the flock of his church - let us be zealously motivated, knowing that the Lord is God, TO make a joyful noise to him, serving him with gladness, and coming into His presence with singing.9
Psalm 100:5 concludes by exhorting worship filled with thanksgiving because of God’s faithfulness.
3. God’s Faithfulness (v. 5c)
God’s “faithfulness” means that every Word of God proves true; that God fulfills every promise that He has ever made. Always point your counselees to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is their Faithful Good Shepherd. As you do so, Psalm 100 will lead them to be overwhelmed not with their circumstances, but rather overwhelmed with the infinite goodness, steadfast love, and faithfulness of God towards them as the sheep of His pasture and as the faithful Shepherd who will uphold them to the end (1 Corinthians 10:13).
[1] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73–150, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975), 356.
[2] John Calvin, Heart Aflame, 83.
[3] John Stott, Favorite Psalms: Growing Closer to God, 81-32.
[4] John Calvin, Heart Aflame, 241.
[5] Alec Motyer, Psalms by the Day, 63 (footnote 14).
[6] James Boice and Philip Ryken, The Heart of the Cross (Crossway, 1999), 131.
[7] Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David, 2b:234.
[8] J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 111.
[9] Richard Phillips, Psalms 73-106: Reformed Expository Commentary, (P&R, 2020), 350-51.