I Will Give You Thanks

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

July 27, 2025

Psalm 138

 “Summer in the Psalms: I Will Give You Thanks”

It’s the end of July, but the title of today’s sermon sounds like Thanksgiving: “I Will Give You Thanks.” In our nation, the fourth Thursday in November is the national day of Thanksgiving that we celebrate each year. This is the day set aside for us as a nation to give thanks and praise to God for the many blessings that we receive from his hand. But these opening words from Psalm 138, which we read responsively earlier in the service, help us understand that each and every day is a day of thanksgiving. The psalm moves us from thanksgiving on our lips to thanksliving in our lives. Our summer preaching series, “Summer in the Psalms,” continues today as we look at Psalm 138 under the theme “I Will Give You Thanks.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

Biblical scholars and commentators write the following: “The entire Bible is filled with the praise of God. It extends from the indirect, hidden praise of the Creator in its first pages to the songs of the saints at the edge of time in the accounts of John’s Revelation” (The Psalms: Structure, Content & Message, by Claus Westermann. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1980; p. 71). Originally, “this psalm of thanksgiving… was recited by the worshipper within the precincts of the sanctuary, whilst he gazed at the Temple buildings” (The Psalms: A Commentary, by Artur Weiser. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1962; p. 798). Psalm 138 is a song of thanksgiving, attributed to David. Psalms of thanksgiving are one of the categories within the Psalter. So far in this summer series, we’ve also focused on two other categories: imprecatory psalms, invoking God’s judgment on his enemies, and psalms of lament. There are other categories as well.

In our own lives, giving thanks can be a fickle thing. As long as things go our way and we get what we want, we are thankful – maybe. But what happens when things don’t go our way, and we don’t get what we want? What then? At such times, it is very easy to become frustrated, angry, and bitter, not only at our situation in life, but at God himself. After all, isn’t God supposed to take care of us and give us everything we need? Yes, but this doesn’t always happen as we think it should, and so our thankfulness can prove to be very shallow, stingy, and self-serving. Hear again how today’s Epistle lesson (Colossians 2:6-15) begins: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Because we are rooted, built up and established in faith, we have good reason at all times and in all places to give thanks to the Lord, not only when times are good and there is an abundance, but also when times are challenging and we are lacking. God’s steadfast love and faithfulness transcend it all. Listen to these words from Psalm 138: “On the day I called, your answered me; my strength of soul you increased… Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me” (Psalm 138:3, 7).

The highest reason for which we give thanks is the love of God made known to us in the life, death, and resurrection of his own Son, Jesus. As Paul the apostle writes in the Epistle lesson: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-15). Whether things are going our way in life or not; whether or not we get what we want in life, we give thanks. We give thanks because know who we are based on Whose we are. We belong to Christ, and nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

Our sending hymn at the close of this service is one that we often associate with the Thanksgiving holiday, the much-loved “Now Thank We All Our God.” This hymn is centuries-old and has stood the test of time. It was written by Martin Rinckart (1586-1649), a German Lutheran pastor, who “studied at the University of Leipzig. After holding some pastoral positions, he was called in 1617 to serve in his hometown of Eilenburg [a walled city in eastern Germany, just south of Wittenberg] as archdeacon. There he served until he [died] in 1649. Rinckart’s pastoral service coincided with the devastating Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). After 1630, the city was under great pressure from refugees, and a plague struck in 1637. More than eight thousand residents died, including all but three members of the city council, many schoolchildren, the pastors of the other churches in the city (except one who had fled), and Rinckart’s wife, Christine. That year Rinckart officiated at over four thousand funerals, and some days he led mass funerals for as many as fifty people at once. He also had to take on the duties of the two other parishes in Eilenburg and provide temporal guidance for the civic leaders who remained. The plague was followed by an extreme famine… Rinckart helped organize emergency assistance, purchasing grain for the hungry out of his own pocket, and his door was often surrounded by crowds of poor, hungry people. He gave away everything but the barest scraps for his family… Through all these burdens Rinckart’s spirit was not crushed. His attitude may be seen in the signet ring he wore that was inscribed with a single word MVSICA. That a musician would carry a ring with the word “musica” on it is not surprise… But the word had another meaning for Rinckart: he explained it as abbreviating the sentence Mein Vertrauen Steht In Christo Allein (“my trust is in Christ alone”) (Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns, Volume 1. St. Louis: Concordia, 2019; p. 1418). The hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God,” was written by Martin Rinckart at the height of the chaos, destruction, and death of the Thirty Years’ War in 1630. In the midst of this, his hymn calls on God’s people to give thanks and praise:

Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things has done/In whom His world rejoices;

Who from our mothers’ arms has blest us on our way

With countless gifts of love and still is ours day.

(Lutheran Service Book #895, stanza 1)

 Martin Rinckart’s hymn echoes those opening words from Psalm 138: “I give thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.” Let us do the same. Amen.