The Doctrine of Practical Praying, Chapter 35
CHAP. XXXV. Of Thanksgiving.
THanksgiving is that invocation whereby we do render due thanks and prayse unto God for his benefits. As touching the name; This duty is byOf the divers names and phrases whereby thanksgiving is expressed in the Scriptures. divers names expressed in the Scriptures, Psal. 100. 4. Isai. 12. Psal. 145. 2. As, To prayse God, Gen. 29. 35. To blesse him, Psal. 103. 1, 2. and 104. 1. 1. Chron. 29. 13. Jam. 3. 9. To confesse unto him, Matth. 11. 25. H…b. 13. 15. To give him thanks, Psal. 105. 1. 1. Chron. 16. 8. 1. Thess. 5. 8. Rom. 1. 21. Eph. 5. 20. To magnifie the Lord, Luke 1. 46. Act. 10. 46. and 19. 17. To extoll him, Psal. 145. 1. To exalt his name, Psal. 34. 3. To glorifie him, Matth. 9. 8. and 15. 31. Luke 2. 20. To make his name glorious, Psal. 66. 1, 2. To offer (viz. a voluntary oblation) …hanksgiving and prayse, Psal. 50. 14, 23. To offer the sacrifice of prayse unto God, that is, the fruit of our lips confessing to his name, Heb. 13. 15. as Hosea speaketh chap. 14. 2. To render the calves of our lips; To sacrifice unto God with the voice of thanksgiving, Jon. 2. 9. Psal. 116. 17. To sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
The duties required in thanksgiving are eitherOf the common duties required in thanksgiving common to it with prayer, or proper and peculiar unto it. For when I say that thanksgiving is a kind of invocation, you are to understand that all those things which were spoken of in the generall treatise are particularly to be applied to thanksgiving. The which I will the rather do, because commonly those things are delivered not as generall points but as particular to prayer.
Thanksgiving therefore as well as prayer, is a Thanksgiving what it is.religious speech of the faithfull unto God in the name of Christ, made according to the will of God by the help of the holy Ghost, concerning good things apperteining to Gods glory and our own good. I call it a religious speech, because it is a principall part of that religious worship which we ow unto God: whereby it is also distinguished from the civill thanksgiving to men, and is therefore religiously to be performed.
In the rest of the definition I noted six things which are essentiall to all invocation, and without which it cannot be acceptable unto God: First, That the party which doth invocate must be faithfull: for God heareth not sinners: And thanksgiving being a sacrifice, the holy Ghost telleth us that the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord, Prov. 15. 8. The proper subject of Gods prayse is the Church:The proper subject of Gods prayse is the church Eph. 3. 21. To him be prayse in the Church. Psal. 65. 1. Praise waiteth for God in Sion. The Lord, Psal. 50. 14, 15. exhorteth his saints and his peculiar people to offer unto him thanksgiving, and to call upon him in the day of trouble: But v. 16. unto the wicked saith God, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, and to take my covenant into thy mouth, seeing thou hatest to be reformed, and castest my wor…s behind thee? Sacrifices are to be offered by none but priests; and all the faithfull and they onelyonly are a royall priest…ood, to offer up spirituall sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1. Pet. 2. 5, 9. Revel. 1. 6.
This duty is necessarily required of all, and cannot without sinne be omitted by any; but cannot beThanksgiving can be rightly performed by the faithfull onelyonly. acceptably performed but by the faithfull. And therefore the faithfull are in a speciall manner exhorted to this duty, Psal. 30. 4, and 145. 10. and 149. 5, 6. And this sheweth the necessity of faith in Christ and repentance towards God. Again, those which give thanks must be joyfull and rejoyce in the Lord; but the wicked cannot rejoyce in the Lord; neither ought they whilest they continue in their sinnes to be joyfull: yea, our Saviour denounceth a wo to such laughers, Luke 6. The faithfull therefore alone are exhorted, as to rejoyce alwayes, so in all things to give thanks, 1. Thess. 5. 16, 18. Psal. 132. 9, 16. and 149. 2, 3, 5, 6. and 33. 1. Rejoyce in the Lord, O ye righteous; for prayse is comely for the upright.
Secondly, as prayer so also thanksgiving is toThanksgiving is to be offe…ed unto God alone. be offered unto God alone as the authour and principall giver of all good things, Jam. 1. 17. Psal. 50. 14. Col. 3. 17. Ephes. 5. 20. We may and ought to be thankfull unto men as unto the instruments of God; as Rom. 16. 4. And to be unthankfull is a great fault; 2. Tim. 3. 2. But if neglecting God we give thanks unto men as the authours, we commit sacrilegious idolatry in robbing God of his honour and giving it unto men. In this sense prayse and thanksgiving is a sacrifice which must be offered to the Lord alone; and in this sense his name alone is to be exalted, Psal. 148. 13. and therefore they which so give thanks to men, or rest in the means, they sacrifice unto them and make them their God; they sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their drag, Hab. 1. 16. Eph. 5. 20. foreign, unto God and the Father.
Thirdly, Thanksgiving as well as Prayer is to beThanksgiving to be offered in the name of Christ. offered unto God in the name of Christ, Ephes. 8. 20. foreign, in Christ Jesus, Ephes. 3. 21. foreign, through Christ Jesus, Rom. 1. 8. & 7. 25. Col. 3. 17. Heb. 13. 15. For we are an holy priesthood, to offer up spirituall sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1. Pet. 2. 5. Revel. 8. 3.
Fourthly, for the manner; There is required inOf the manner of thanksgiving the soul, 1. in generall, that our thanksgiving be a speech of the soul and not of the lips alone. David therefore in some places stirreth up his soul to prayse God, Psal. 103. 1, 2. and 104. 1. And elsewhere he professeth that he would prayse God with his whole heart, Psal. 9. 1. and 86. 12. and 111. 1. that is, with an upright heart, Psal. 119. 7. To which purpose Paul also exhorteth us to sing in our hearts unto God, Ephes. 5. 19. Col. 3. 16. To little purpose serveth the outward melody of the voyce, unlesse there be a concent thereof with the heart: We must therefore be carefull to sing Davids Psalmes with Davids affections; but we may not sing or praise God either with feigned lips or with wandring thoughts.
2. In the mind there is required, first, Understanding; Psal. 47. 7. Col. 3. 16. and secondly, F…ith, whereby we are to be perswaded that this our service and sacrifice of praise is acceptable unto God in Christ; without which our thanksgiving cannot be as it ought, chearfull: unlesse we be perswaded by faith of Gods goodnesse towards us how can we be thankfull to him?
3. In our heart it is required that our praise or thanksgiving be humble, reverent, and hearty: Humble; that we may ascribe the whole praise unto God, unto whom alone it is due, and assume no part thereof unto our selves; Psal. 115. 1. Reverent; for without reverence we cannot give unto the Lord the praise that is due unto his name, Psal. 29. 2. nor ascribe unto him eternall kingdome, power and glory. We must in our thanksgiving rejoyce in God, but we must rejoyce in reverence, Psal. 2. 11. and 95. 2, 6. performing therein a religious service and worship to God. Hearty, with all our heart; and that in particular with thankfulnesse and chearfulnesse, without which our thanks will be either cold or counterfeit. See Psal. 68. 26.
And as for bodily duties: The voyce in more speciall manner is required in thanksgiving. Therefore our tongue is called our glory, because by it we are to glorifie God. We are not by silence to smother Gods prayse; but as we are inwardly thankfull so must we testifie our inward thankfulnesse by our outward thanksgiving. And in this kind of Invocation especially is singing warranted and commended unto us in the Scriptures, not onelyonly of the Old Testament but also of the New, Jam. 5. 13. Ephes. 5. 19. Col. 3. 16. Matth. 26. 30. Acts 16. 25.
Fifthly, this invocation also is to be performed by the help of the holy Ghost. For naturally we are tongue-tied in Gods prayses: but it is the spirit of God that doth open our lips that our mouth may shew forth his prayse, Psal. 51. 15. It is the spirit of grace which maketh us to sing with grace in our hearts.
Sixthly and lastly, our thanksgiving must be for good and lawfull things: otherwise we go about to make God the authour of evil.