One of the best parts about expressing gratitude to others or God is that the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Not only does it bring peace to you, but it also plays a vital role in strengthening your bond with others.
The more you express your gratitude to others, the more reasons you will be grateful to others. It’s a practice that needs to be exercised from time to time to stay grounded and not feel pride.
The Jewish holy books have often taught us to be grateful. These books help express gratitude to God, to others, and oneself. As much as it is important to express your gratitude to others, it is equally important to express gratitude to yourself. Being grateful or expressing gratitude can always play an important role in bringing change in our lives.
The Jewish holy books have taught us to be grateful. It is more of duty towards others and self. The more grateful you are, the more fruitful it will be. Being grateful or thankful for what you have will help a lot in shaping your personality. Often people want or desire more than what they have, which isn’t wrong.
But, once when one learns to be at peace with themselves, they will notice significant differences. This would further help in their spiritual upliftment, which is a major part of everyone’s lives. Being thankful for your existence helps you connect to the Supreme Being.
The Jewish people reflect the teachings of the Bible. Imbibing positive thoughts throughout the day in your hearts will only lead to positive results. Reading the Bible verses each day would bury the seeds of positivity in our hearts.
The next song, by singer Motti Steinmetz, is based on a short prayer that should be said in the morning as soon as we wake up. The prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving to God for having mercifully restored our soul after a night’s sleep and glorifying us to wake up and continue living. The lyrics of Motti Steimantz (in free translation from Hebrew) are: As long as my soul is still in my body I thank you (God)
Why should we express gratitude?
Expressing gratitude or being thankful is one of the strongest emotions. It can help you rise above all. The Jewish symbols have a clear reflection of texts that help you become grateful to others. Apart from pleasing God, being thankful is all about gaining spirituality and having inner peace as well. Some of the prominent reasons why you should express gratitude include the following:
Happy with our part
When we say thanks, we are thankful for something; we are thankful for what is, that is, we are happy in our part. In the Ethics of the Fathers (chapter 4, verse 1), it is written: “Who is rich? One who is happy with his lot.” Saying thank you makes us see the good and recognize it and, by doing so, makes us more whole, more satisfied, and happier people.
Focus on people
Saying thank you requires us to acknowledge gratitude to someone who has done something positive for us. Someone who gave us something, someone who told us something good, someone who complimented us. Saying thank you focuses us on the person who has done an act for us and makes us see him in a positive light.
Focus on the moment
One of the central ideas in Jewish Hasidic theory and Zen’s theory focuses on the present moment in the present.
Nothing exists before and after; there is only what is happening at this very moment. All our attention must be focused on the here and now, without letting any external noise (metaphorical or real) distract us.
The more focused we can be in the present moment, the more whole our lives will be, our self-awareness will grow miraculously.
Once we practice practicing confession, we first practice paying attention to everything that happens to us, exactly according to the aspiration of the doctrine of storks and the species.
Don't be ungrateful
One of the ugliest human traits is ungratefulness. Someone does us good, helps us somehow, and we repay him with indifference and apathy. What leads us to a place of such behavior? A lack of human awareness? Egoism? Too much self-love?
This is the inability to see other people in front of us, not as physical figures but as human beings. We are too focused on ourselves and do not see others even when they help us. Our ability to get out of our shell and see other people, really pay attention to them, acknowledge gratitude for the things that have been done for us and benefited us will prevent us from developing the ungratefulness trait
Verses of Thankfulness in the Hebrew Bible
The Jewish culture has always promoted the trend of expressing gratitude and being thankful. In prominent festivals of the High Holidays, like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, everyone comes together to express their gratitude to the Lord. Here are some verses from the Old Testament that will help you learn to be more humble and be grateful to God.
“And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.”
Becoming happier
Ezra was born in Babylon (modern-day Iraq) and was one of the Jews’ leaders exiled there after the destruction of the First Temple.
With King Cyrus’s permission, Ezra immigrated with thousands of other Jews to the Land of Israel, intending to settle it and rebuild the Temple. His activity in the Land of Israel helped to re-establish the Jewish community that had faded greatly religiously and spiritually.
This verse deals with the thanksgiving that the children of Israel said about the re-establishment of the Temple and the return of the priests (Cohanim) and Levites to the Temple. Saying thank you to God is repeated repeatedly in different places in the Bible and prayers.
Judaism forces Jews to acknowledge and thank God all the time. Most of us do not tend to live in a constant sense of gratitude, but a person who chooses to live according to Jewish law will often find himself, say thank you again and again. This thank you helps a person recognize his place about God and develops modesty and humility.
"1. (To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David.) I will praise [thee], O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. 2. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High."
The translation of the first verse is different from the original in Hebrew. While the Hebrew verse indicates that the psalm was written due to someone’s death, according to the commentators, an enemy of King David, the translation copies the Hebrew words and creates one word: Muthlabben.
Like most of the book of Psalms, the verse is a song to God and thanks to Him.
Thanksgiving is said through the description of God’s wonders. If we want to learn from the way David thanks God, to the way we should thank other people, then describing a person’s actions is also a way of expressing gratitude.
Acknowledging the value of another person’s actions expresses our ability to lower ourselves and praise other people for things they have done.
Sometimes we tend to think that if we compliment other people on things they did, we will deduct from the things we did, but it is the opposite in reality.
If we compliment other people about things they have done, it will only increase us in their eyes; it will prove that we can be focused on other people and not just ourselves, and it will obviously have a lasting inner impact on us.
“I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.”
Here, ‘fathers’ refer to Daniel’s remote ancestors and not direct, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. God made promises to his progenitors and ancestors, and the same is continued on him as well. Hence, owing to the secrets and thankfulness of God, he ensures to be thankful to God. He bestowed the positive energy and goodness of God in him.
Like His ancestors’ promise, Daniel also states to be bestowed with courage, strength, and mind. In his dream, he asks for the promises that were bestowed on him from the strength and ‘who bestowed wisdom to know it.’
Although the flavors were made on Daniel, the result was God’s continuous prayer and His companions. This result shows the kindness and humility of Daniel not to get the results on his own but to share with his companions as well. This brought about an interest in his God.
It is more of a dream of the wise men, and this dream was interpreted by Daniel to all his companions to depict the Greatness of God.
“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.”
This verse is one of the most famous verses in the Psalms. Large parts of Jewish prayer are based on chapters and verses from Psalms. This entire chapter appears in a solemn and special prayer said at the beginning of each Hebrew month. The verse opens with a call to confess to God because His grace lasts forever and never ceases. The rest of the chapter also deals with the thanks that Kןמע David says to God for helping him in various situations.
If we want to learn something from the verse or the whole chapter, it is a good vision. David chooses to see the good that God has done for him. How much do we see the good we have in life? How obvious is this good for us? How happy are we to get up in the morning healthy?
Most of us do not attach much importance to health as long as we are healthy. After something happens, we suddenly realize how good we had before when we were healthy but did not know how to cherish and say thank you. Thank God, or thank you for our good fortune.
Gratitude means being able to see things in the right perspective in life. Ignore background noises that anger us or cause us negative energies. After all, all of these are completely careless compared to the fact that we are either our children or our loved ones, healthy.
“Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:”
The words of the verse are reflected in the Israelites, but it can also be assumed that this was stated for everyone, especially the Good men. The Goodmen is the one who sings praises in the name of the Lord and observes the goodness in every hidden aspect. These Good men also sing responses or offer vocal responses to the queries of the people.
The harp is a musical instrument that was used mostly in the times when the Hebrew Bible was written. The musical instrument was often considered to be an emblem or sign of the heart, which made melodies in praises of the Lord. The harp is brought into a proper tune to sing praises for God.
Through the verse, it is reflected that the heart of believers is no less than a harp that plays the tune of praises to the Lord. The believers make melodies in praises of the Lord.
"1. O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3. For the LORD [is] a great God, and a great King above all gods."
These three verses are part of a chapter that appears in the prayer recited on Friday evening in all synagogues as part of the Shabbat reception. One of the interesting things in this context is that in all the Orthodox Jews’ synagogues in the world, the same prayer is said, just as it was in exile when Jews lived in different countries without communication between them.
The Psalm finds an important place in the Hebrew Epistles. It acts as a warning to the Jewish people that they should not falter or bring any ill-thoughts into their faith. God is a merciful being, but one should have complete faith in him without any doubt. The Psalm is a warning from the writer’s day to the people to refrain from making the same mistake as their ancestors.
The first verse is an invitation to the people to sing praises in the name of the Lord. This exhortation acts as a sign for them to sing praises in the name of the Lord, similar to the one in that of Genesis. The words of excited people from Genesis are echoing throughout the verse. We shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the mercies of God and reflect the goodness of the Lord upon all.
“I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.”
The psalmist brings to light the holy congregation of praising the Lord in a public assembly. On being rescued from his enemies, he will sing praises to the Lord in the most public manner possible.
The psalmist refers that he would select God as the merciful author of kindness. The verse itself is a reflection of the grand gesture that the psalmist would make to God.
He would be thankful and sing praises in the name of his glory, a blessing in a public ceremony, especially in a church, where he would ask his mates to join hands with him.
The words will be ascribed to the Messiah. In his verse, the psalmist refers that he would join his hands with the people he would sing praises in the name of God. He would sing the songs of the Lamb and Moses to praise the superiority of God.
“I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.”
Here, the psalmist expresses his desire to express his gratitude or be thankful to God for endowing justice and being merciful to all. He is the Highest Lord, the one who sits above all. In this verse, it can be said that this was written in praises of Jehovah, “The perfections of Jehovah, who is above all.”
One who can surrender himself to God and sing praises for him will always be at peace with himself. He takes away the sufferings of His people and bestows on everyone His just treatment. To Him, all His people are equals. Anyone who doubts anything related to God will eventually find a solution and answers to their questions. All the just treatment will eventually rest with the “everlasting hallelujah.”
"4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, [and] bless his name. 5. For the LORD [is] good; his mercy [is] everlasting; and his truth [endureth] to all generations."
Psalm 100:4-5 is one of the simplest yet powerful verses that can give out the true meaning of life in a few lines. The verse eventually teaches us a lot about worship and being true to God. This one small verse has a huge impact on changing the lives of people.
The lines mentioned above are a translated version. The translated versions may be correct, but they often fail to capture the true meaning’s real essence. However, the richness of the verse is still beautifully captured in a few lines. It is said that one who knows Psalm 100 thoroughly will never face any problems in his life. It holds hidden meanings that help us rise above all in our lives.
The verse suggests that we should walk into God’s gates with pure thoughts and express our gratitude towards him for being so merciful. We should sing praises and hymns to please him. We only are blessed when we leave our hearts to our God. When asking for mercy and blessings from God, we should uplift our hands, as if uplifting our souls to the mercy of God.
“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
Unlike previous verses, the entire chapter was written out of great distress. You can even hear the despair in David’s “voice.” His many enemies, people speak in his condemnation, are an outcast, and are the subject of people’s jealousy. He is completely discouraged and describes his condition as of about to drown in a lime pit.
And despite his condition, and perhaps because of it, he thanks God and asks for his mercy. David still maintains optimism and trusts God to help him in such a time of great distress.
What does this come to teach us? Do not give up. Even in the greatest distress, optimism must be maintained. Saying gratitude in a state of distress gives great power to the giver because, in fact, even in a state of distress, saying thankfulness manages to find in itself the power to see the positivity in others’ actions.
“Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
The Psalm reflects the tone of Hallelujah in the beginning and the end. The theme of sins and grace is brought upon due to the Israelites’ past deeds, and it is stated that all these sufferings end with the meditation of God.
The sins of Israelites here bring to the notice the sins of humankind. Right from the confession of sins to be thankful to God for forgiveness is the right time.
The Hy Spirit is beyond our control, and it is us who can magnify His divinity. There is a constant echoing of “His love endures forever,” reflecting the forgiving and loving nature of God.
King David does open his remarks by saying thank you to God and the great grace he always does but immediately goes on to enumerate a long list of sins the Israelites have committed since being redeemed from Egypt.
This chapter is a chapter of rebuke for the inability of the Israelites to recognize the good that God has done for them, for being ungrateful towards God, and this is the learning of this chapter for us. Do not be ungrateful towards God or anyone else in your life.
"21. Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men! 22. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing."
In the previous chapter, King David listed the Israelites’ bad deeds since they were redeemed from Egypt, the lack of gratitude to God. However, in this chapter (which comes right after the previous chapter), he goes in the opposite direction. Here too, of course, King David seeks to thank God, but this time he enumerates Israel’s people’s troubles and how God turned the troubles into redemption.
