The Sacrifice of Praise

The fruit of lips that confess his name.

A seventeenth-century German pastor is said to have buried 5,000 of his parishioners in one year, an average of nearly 15 a day. Yet, although his parish was ravaged by war, pestilence, and an invader’s economic oppression, he wrote this table grace for his children:

Now thank we all our God

With heart and hands and voices;

Who wondrous things hath done,

In whom His world rejoices.

Who, from our mother’s arms,

Hath led us on our way

With countless gifts of love,

And still is ours today.

In 1636, amid the darkness of the Thirty Years’ War, Martin Rinkart drew spiritual strength from a spirit of thanksgiving for God’s past and present goodness.

Fifteen years earlier, when the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in America, they, too, were acknowledging their gratitude to God for his “countless gifts of love.” Whether expressed in the ecstasy of jubilation or the agony of desperation, it is a good thing to give thanks (Ps. 92:1). Jesus regularly gave thanks to the Father. Thanksgiving is a necessary and natural part of the Christian life. Thanksgiving sanctifies all aspects of life, including suffering (1 Thess. 5:18).

Thanksgiving encompasses the whole of the Christian life. God commands us to thank him for everything he brings into our lives (Eph. 5:20). We can do this because we have confidence that God is working everything together to the specific good of conforming us to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:28–29). The condition for enjoying our Christian liberty is that we receive everything with thanksgiving (1 Tim. 4:4).

There are at least 140 references in Scripture to thanksgiving. Many passages link thanksgiving with praise, often through music. In fact, to “prophesy” through music meant to praise and give thanks (1 Chron. 25:3). “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving” (Ps. 69:30, NIV). Translators have sometimes considered thanksgiving and praise almost as synonymous terms. Today, we read Psalm 40:3 as “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” Miles Cover-dale, in 1535, translated the last phrase, “even a thanksgiving unto our God.”

The word most frequently used in the New Testament for giving thanks, eucharistein, implies intimacy with the person to whom thanks is given. Matthew uses it when he records the Lord giving thanks at the Last Supper (Matt. 26:27). The root word of thanksgiving is charis, “grace.” We acknowledge this when we refer to “giving thanks” before a meal as “saying grace.” Paul emphasizes that when we give thanks to God through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, we are to do so with grace in our hearts (Eph. 5:18–20; Col. 3:16–17). We must have God’s grace in our hearts if we are rightly to give thanks to him.

God commands that we offer thanks to him: “And be thankful” (Col. 3:15). Therefore, our expressions of thanks are a sign of our obedience. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” (Ps. 100:4).

Praise and thanksgiving also are evidence of faith, as Jesus made clear in the case of the one thankful leper out of ten who were healed (Luke 17:11–19). Lack of faith and a spirit of ingratitude go together. God condemned pagan worshipers who “neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him” (Rom. 1:21), and many times he dealt severely with Israel for failing to be thankful.

Thanksgiving and praise often involve sacrifice. “I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord” (Ps. 116:17). Sometimes we fail to understand the sacrificial nature of our verbal praise and thanksgiving, whether spoken or sung. “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb. 13:15). It is significant that the phrase “sacrifice of praise” occurs in a book written to Christians fully conversant with the principles of Jewish sacrificial law, including offerings of thanksgiving (Lev. 7:11–15). They understood that God would accept only those sacrifices that met his conditions (Gen. 8:21), and that he would reject those that did not (Lev. 26:31). “When you sacrifice an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf” (Lev. 22:29).

The Requirements For Thanksgiving

God’s Word spells out at least five conditions required of a thankful worshiper. The first is a loving and obedient heart. God considers obedience to his Word more important than an extravagant sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). Since “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34), what we say or sing should reflect the commitment of our hearts to God.

Unfortunately, this is not always true. In Mark 7:6–7, Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” In such instances, God will not accept our sacrifices. “Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring me choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps” (Amos 5:22–23).

A second condition is reconciliation with fellow Christians. Jesus mandated healed relationships among Christians as a prerequisite to offering acceptable sacrifices: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23–24). God does not hear our scintillating sermons or spectacular music if we have failed to do all we can to correct an injury we have inflicted on another Christian. Many ministries do not enjoy God’s blessing because they lack the integrity of restored relationships.

The third thing we need is genuine humility. A spirit of pride and self-righteousness can make our sacrifices and thanksgiving unacceptable (Amos 4:5). In fact, such a spirit can make a sinful act out of an outward expression of thanksgiving, such as the Pharisee who gave thanks to God that he was not like the publican (Luke 18:9–14).

Fourth, we must have a rejoicing spirit. We are to offer our sacrifices cheerfully and willingly (2 Cor. 9:7). God does not want anything that we only give “grudgingly or of necessity.” It must be a genuine gift (Exod. 28:38).

Fifth, and last, our thanksgiving is to be sincere. The English table grace says it so beautifully: “For what we are about to receive, may we be truly thankful.”

The Price Of Thanksgiving

Scripture also makes clear the costs of the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. A sacrifice is not truly a sacrifice if it comes too easily. When Araunah the Jebusite offered his threshing floor and oxen without charge so that David could make a free sacrifice to the Lord, David replied, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24). Whatever was given had to be costly to the giver. The Law prorated the offerings according to the giver’s resources, from a young bull for the rich (Lev. 4:3) to a little fine flour for the destitute (Lev. 5:11–13).

There are a number of ways the fruit of our lips can be a costly sacrifice of praise. In particular, there may be the cost of preparation. We have no right to expect people to listen to what we have to say or sing if we have not earned the right to be heard by preparing our message as best we can—artistically, technically, and spiritually.

Some offerings of praise are sacrifices only in the cost to the listener of enduring them. I know of a pastor who sometimes would bow his head—and not in prayer—when his church choir sang. A sacrifice of praise should edify God’s people, not embarrass them.

There are several types of cost of preparation. One is the cost of time. Publius Syrus (c. 42 B.C.) said, “It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.” Scripture repeatedly places emphasis on mastery of an art as a condition for ministry through that art. Those who built the temple and fashioned its works of art were selected for their exceptional ability. The temple musicians were selected on the basis of their skill and training (1 Chron. 25:7).

Preparation may require the cost of disciplining emotion. Perhaps the emotion most often encountered is frustration. We may be frustrated with ourselves for a certain lack of skill, or with an uncooperative and insensitive committee, with an unappreciative congregation, or an insecure fellow Christian who is undercutting our ministry. We may even be frustrated with God for not diminishing all the other frustrations.

The subtle emotion of fear can be especially hard to discipline. Fear of criticism may hinder us from fulfilling our spiritual responsibilities. If we are content with things as they are, we never will make them what they could be and our sacrifices will become shallow routine. We must constantly pray that we will not delude ourselves into thinking we are exercising leadership in praise and thanksgiving when in fact we are merely running in place. There is a certain false safety in mediocrity. For instance, a fear that others will outshine us may cause us to surround ourselves with mediocrity so that we will look better by comparison.

There is also the cost of perception. Praise is not a spectator sport, nor is it just an emotional experience. The mind, as well as the heart, is to be engaged. Paul said, “I will sing with my spirit [emotions], but I will also sing with my mind” (1 Cor. 14:15). The more mature expressions of biblical truth may require a greater effort on our part to enter into them.

To consider the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, one must also be aware of the scriptural principle that requires the cost of a clean sacrifice. The Law demanded that, irrespective of cost, there were to be no imperfections. We, too, are to bring the very best we can to God, to perform our sacrifices of praise to the best that we are able. Sacrificial excellence is not a contradiction in terms, but a mark of spiritual maturity.

However, we must be realistic about our abilities and resources. Mary and Joseph could bring only two turtledoves when they presented Christ in the temple (Luke 2:22–24). There are times when we would do well to offer a clean turtledove sacrifice of praise rather than one that is like a maimed and spotted sheep. It is much better to do simple (not simplistic) things well than to do great things poorly.

We, too, are to be clean. Those who approach the Lord are to do so with “clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24:4). The priests purified themselves and the people before they offered sacrifices. Before Isaiah was commissioned to proclaim God’s message, his defiled lips were cleansed (Isa. 6:7). Perhaps we need to be encouraged to spend more time at the beginning of a service in prayer and fellowship with God, examining our hearts, and less time in prattle and fellowship with one another.

The Perpetuity Of Thanksgiving

Finally, offering the sacrifice of praise is a way of life. “Let us continually offer …” writes the author of Hebrews. The Old Testament sacrifices had to be offered continually. The Levitical ministers stood before the Lord in rotating shifts, offering thanksgiving around the clock. David offered thanksgiving at night (Ps. 119:62) and in the morning (1 Chron. 23:30). We, too, are to give thanks “without ceasing” (Eph. 5:20). One way to help us do this would be to maintain a daily record of what we are thankful to God for.

We live in a state of offering our very selves to God as continual, living sacrifices. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1). In fact, we are the only gifts we truly can give, for every gift we have is a gift from God (James 1:17). As the seventeenth-century English poet Richard Crashaw wrote, “we ourselves become our own best sacrifice.”

The fruit of our lips is certainly a part of presenting our bodies. As part of this continual sacrifice, we offer our sacrifices of praise, and we will continue to do so throughout eternity. “O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever” (Ps. 30:12).

Our willingness to offer genuine sacrifices of praise is an evidence that we consider the Lord worthy of all our sacrifice and of our thanks. Revelation 4:9–11 stresses that he is worthy of thanksgiving. Don Wyrtzen has expressed this beautifully:

He is deserving of all thanks and praise,

With joy overflowing our voices we raise,

We’ll sing and sing of Him for endless days,

This is our sacrifice of praise.

Whether spontaneous or extensively prepared, our sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise must meet God’s conditions if they are to be acceptable. Costly, clean, and continual, they are an evidence of faith, a test of obedience, a source of encouragement, and an expression of love.

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