Giving God the Glory: Ascribe to the LORD the Glory Due His Name

“Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” (Psalm 96:7-9 NKJV) 

    When my daughters were small I would ask them to think about all the things they could thank God for before they prayed at night. My youngest daughter started listing off her toys and was soon told by her older sister that “those were made by people” but after a moment’s thought I encouraged them both to thank God for their dolls and toys because God had given the people who made them the creativity to think them up, the ability to make the materials, and the skills to put them together. After that, we began to think up all sorts of things, and for every one we, with this new perspective, were able to trace them all back to God, give Him thanks, and happily talk about how awesome He is!

     Do we, as adults, pause long enough to consider God’s involvement in all that we have? We need to offer God the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 116:17, 107:21-22), we need to think on His works so we can offer Him the sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15), and glorify Him as God and Creator of all; giving Him the all the glory due His name!!

Your job(s)/source(s) of income: Remember it is God who gives you the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). He granted you your talent, your ability to do the work and to gain knowledge, your health and function to accomplish what is needed.

Your transportation: If it is your own feet and legs – God blessed you with health, strength, and mobility to use them – or maybe it’s a bicycle or a type of motorized vehicle, so, like my daughter’s toys, these can be traced back to God because He granted people the ability to create these mechanisms and to source the materials needed to make them work safely and efficiently to transport us through varied weather and road conditions.  

Your talents: Maybe you were born with an ability or were quick to learn and master a skill that people now describe as ‘your talent, ’ whatever it may be, you were blessed with your talent by God, who gave you function and mobility to do it, and time to hone it.

Your house and belongings: See the first point. It is either from your job/income (that God granted you the ability to accomplish/gain) or from your inheritance/birthright (God granted you life) that you have a place to call home filled with things that mean something to you. Your house and everything in your house can be traced back to blessings God has bestowed on people at some point in time. The fact that we have them; that we can see, touch, hear, and smell the things around us proves that He continues to bless us abundantly as well!

Your daily “bread”: Most of us are in the habit of bowing in prayer before we eat our daily meals, but have we become so habitual in those prayers that we say them by rote. Hopefully we have grown beyond, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food,” but do we race through a familiar prayer of our own making that has come to require little thought? I have tried to take a bit longer in my prayers for my food by considering all that goes into what is before me: God provided us with this earth where soil and atmosphere are good for growing crops, sustaining livestock, and supplying fresh water. He granted people the ability to make use of these conditions, to grow and sell their produce so we, who work at other things, can enjoy them as well. Within these food sources are natural vitamins and minerals, put there by God when He created them, that provide us with nutrition. He has granted us ability to gain wealth that allows us to have electricity and therefore a way to preserve and prepare the food we bring into our houses (heating/cooling, refrigerators, freezers, ovens, etc.), He also grants us health and wellness to prepare our meals and to eat them.     

    These are just a few things that we can so easily take for granted, or worse, think they are from our own doing! We can puff ourselves up and say, “It was my talent and skill that got me the job; I have all these things because I work hard for them!” or “I slaved all day over this meal, if you’re gonna thank anyone, it better be me, I did all the hard work!” or “I know right? I am pretty talented!” – remember Nebuchadezzar’s downfall when he looked over Babylon and declared, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for my royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honour of my majesty?”  (Daniel 4:30).

    Stop for a moment and look around you, really study all that surrounds you. You.are.blessed. Do you enjoy all these things but forget to thank God for the blessing of life, breath, and all things? Do you praise Him for all He has provided and continues to provide (Psalm 68:19); do you give God the glory due His name?

“…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20 NKJV)

    God is worthy of all the glory we can ascribe to His holy name!! Let’s open our eyes to the blessings and benefits He has given us to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17), and open our lips to give Him the credit, the praise, and the thanksgiving He deserves!!

You can do it! So can I!!