Psalm 50:14-15; 23 (NASB)
14 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High;
15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
23 “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”

A psalm of Asaph, Psalm 50 primarily focuses on God as the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked. In the last half of the psalm, you see the term “sacrifice of thanksgiving” used twice.

I had not thought about my prayers of thanksgiving as being a sacrifice to God, but it does turn prayers of thanks into something that may be much more important than I had even considered. The ultimate thanks we can give to God is thanking Him for His Son, whose sacrifice for us is the only way to salvation. Not only do we honor God when we give thanks, as is described in the verses, but there seems to be a connection to our salvation.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we naturally want to thank God for His amazing mercy and grace. As we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, He conforms us to the image of Jesus and our way will be set right. Giving God that sacrifice of thanksgiving each day would seem to reinforce establishing God in the right position in our lives – keeping Him first. It also acknowledges that He did everything to give us salvation and that our sacrifice is only a response to that wonderful gift. That sacrifice honors God, but it is not the source of our salvation.

Heavenly Father, I offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to you today and every day for Jesus. He is Lord over my life; He has saved me. There can be no other sacrifice that is greater. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,