The song that counts

We all know the phrase, ‘It’s the thought that counts’. And often we use that in the negative sense. Someone tried to do something nice. It didn’t go that well. But hey, it’s the thought that counts! I’m sure we’ll all know what that means. Interestingly, Scripture teaches us that God also weighs up our thoughts, saying, ‘Your thoughts do count’. In this month’s On That Note, we’ll consider that it’s not only our thoughts that count to the Lord, but it’s also the song that counts. We must have a song of thanksgiving.

The apostle Paul wrote, ‘Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift’. 2Cor 9:15. So, how can we possibly thank God for His goodness? What can we give the Lord that He hasn’t already given to us? ‘What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits towards me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation … To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord.’ Psa 116: 12-19. We read that God asked the Israelites to offer up a burnt sacrifice as the morning and evening sacrifice. And then King David said, ‘May my prayer be counted as incense before You; the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering’. Psa 141:2. Remarkably, David introduced a new mode of worship and offering, and it was the song. The Lord says, ‘He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honours Me’. Psa 50:23. David discovered that the song is the voice of thanksgiving.

We read in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, ‘Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that gives thanks to His name’. Heb 13:15. Paul well and truly understood David’s heart for singing a song of thanksgiving. He knew that the Lord wants us to be thankful in our hearts. There are no words that sum up the gift of God for us, for it’s truly ‘joy unspeakable’. 1Pet 1:8. It is only our song that properly expresses our thanksgiving. We’re accepted by the Lord as we enter His gates with praise. In that sense, it is our thoughts and song that count.

The Scripture teaches us that our sacrifice of thanksgiving is a ‘peace offering’ so that we might be accepted by God. Lev 7:19. The peace offerings were brought in a spirit of thanksgiving at the completion of each harvest. In every season of our lives the Lord desires to increase the harvest of our righteousness, which is who we are in Him. 2Cor 9:7-12. What else can we do but be thankful? What can we render to God other than our thanksgiving? We offer a heart of thanksgiving as our lives move from one season to another. Every time the Lord brings us to the culmination of one phase, and the beginning of another, we must bring a song that counts, a song of our thanksgiving to Him.

Lachlan Perrin

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Feature Articles
November 2008

Understanding your way

The words of eternal life

Every good gift

The song that counts

Be fruitful and multiply

A man who prays

Amazing grace

The secret place

Perspective on tribulation

Bearing the yoke

The problem of evil