Give Thanks with Singing – The Power of Giving Thanks
Give Thanks with Singing!
Together Church | November 23, 2025
Pastor Brandon & Pastor Jerry | Series: The Power of Giving Thanks
Introduction
Brandon
In last week’s message, we laid the biblical foundation for gratitude and saw why children of God can and should give thanks in everything.
Jerry
In that message, we were challenged by Paul’s admonition in…
1 Thessalonians 5:18
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Brandon
That’s a difficult saying. We reasoned together in the Word of the Lord and saw seven spiritual truths we must believe to give thanks in everything.
To give thanks in everything, we must believe God chose ut to be His children…
- Even though we were sinners.
- Because He is merciful toward us.
- By paying for our sins.
- And He is good to us all the time.
- And He never leaves his children or forsakes us.
- And He delights in us.
- To give us eternal spiritual blessings.
All of these spiritual truths are difficult to believe. They are contrary to our natural minds.
The one that is most difficult to believe when we are suffering is truth number four.
God chose us to be His children, and He is good to us all the time.
Jerry
This truth about God is revealed in many scriptures but it is this one that we are most familiar with.
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Brandon
Have you had this experience as a disciple of Jesus: where your emotional pain is so great from what you have lost that you just cannot see any way that anything good could come out of your experience?
This is a dark place to be in.
Jerry
I have had a lot of difficult experiences since I became a disciple of Jesus, but I have only had this experience one time since I became a disciple of Jesus. And that was when my wife died. I had difficulty seeing anything good that could come from her death for me or our children. And anything good did not seem worth her death.
All I had as a lifeline was the promise of Romans 8:28. If it were not for that promise and my love for my children, I was in so much pain, I would have seriously considered taking my own life.
It was so difficult giving thanks to God during that season. I was blessed by listening to others singing to God, but every time I would try I would just be overwhelmed with grief. It took about two months before I finally was able to sing songs of thanksgiving to God. I remember when it finally happened. It happened during a walk I was taking one morning in Harlingen, Texas.
Brandon
The good news is that God understands our pain and how difficult it is for us to hang on to that lifeline during these dark times.
Jesus experienced this kind of emotional pain and expressed it when he said this while he was hanging on the cross.
Matthew 27:46
46 …”My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
It wasn’t just physical pain He suffered for us. He bore our shame; He bore our sorrows…
Isaiah 53:4
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
He is patient with us when we are going through these dark times because He understands our pain and our sorrows.
Jerry
I was so grateful when I finally was able to give thanks to God through singing again.
Giving thanks to God through singing is so important to our spiritual connection to God.
Brandon
So important that God commands His people to worship Him with singing. In the Psalms, the scripture says…
Psalm 95:1-2
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
Jerry
And in the New Testament, the scriptures also say this in…
Ephesians 5:18-21
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Brandon
This is not just descriptive; it’s imperative—
When something in scripture is imperative, it means God’s prescribes it and commands it with authority.
God’s people are told to praise Him with singing.
It is not imperative because God needs it.
God does not need anything outside of Himself.
And He is surrounded by a myriad of angels that are continuously praising Him.
It’s imperative because…
- God deserves it.
- We need it.
Jerry
Lets read Ephesians 5:18-21 again.
Ephesians 5:18-21
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Brandon
Because we were created in the image of God, within the soul of every human being is a need and a desire for a personal relationship with God.
That need and desire can only be satisfied by God Himself:
David, a man after God’s own heart, was so aware that the longings of his soul could only be satisfied in God. He expressed that deep conviction when he wrote this Psalm to the Lord…
Psalm 73:25
25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
Jerry
Because of this need and desire for a personal relationship with God, since the beginning of time, people have been searching for it. This is why there are so many different religions in the world.
The truth is this need and desire for a personal relationship with God can only be satisfied in us through Jesus Christ.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus was the Son of God who accomplished what needed to be done to satisfy this need and desire in us.
Brandon
Jesus is the Son of God who became the Son of Man; He lived a perfect life without sin; He performed signs and wonders; He offered His life to God as a sacrifice to pay for our sins; He was raised from the dead; He ascended into heaven; He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in His disciples.
It is only through a relationship with Jesus and a transformation of the Holy Spirit that the deepest longings of our soul can be truly satisfied.
Jerry
Jesus promised the woman from Samaria that if she believed in Him, she would receive a fountain of living water within her that would satisfy her desire and need for a personal relationship with God.
John 4:13-14
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Brandon
The water that Jesus was speaking about was the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist said…
Mark 1:8
8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
And we have this record from the lips of Jesus in…
John 7:38-39, Jesus said…
38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jerry
Now back to Ephesians 5:18 where Paul said do not be drunk with wine. When people do not have the Holy Spirit to satisfy their need and desire for a personal relationship with God, they turn to all kinds of things to try and satisfy their need and desire for a personal relationship with God. Those things include various false religions and a variety of idols that can include drunkenness.
People get drunk to change how they feel. Paul said it is dissipation. Dissipation literally means “to not heal” or “not give life.”
Drunkenness is a fraudulent way to make yourself feel whole or alive instead of experiencing a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Brandon
Instead of turning to drunkenness to change how you feel, Paul admonishes disciples of Jesus to use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord.
Now that’s different!
But if you will follow this imperative from God, it will change your life, change your thoughts, and even change how you feel.
God wants His people to let the truth in through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs that guide you to give thanks to God.
Giving thanks for all things does not mean to give thanks for bad or evil things. Paul is saying giving thanks for all things that the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs reveal to us about God. This includes giving thanks for His attributes, His character, and His mighty works.
Jerry
According to Paul, the result of giving thanks to God through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is that you are filled with the new wine of the Spirit of God. This means the Holy Spirit intoxicates you and changes how you feel. He enlightens your mind to things about God and about your life that you need to see. Instead of impairing our mind like wine does, it enlightens and expands our heart and our mind’s sensitivity to God’s Spirit. Now that is powerful!
Brandon
Paul is saying in Ephesians 5:18-20 that giving thanks to God through singing godly songs to God plays a vital role in our personal spiritual connection to God because it causes us to be intoxicated in the Spirit.
Jerry
So, in 2007, after a two-month struggle in my soul, I was so grateful when I finally was able to give thanks to God again through singing. And I have been singing ever since.
Five days from today on November 28th, Saundra and I will be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary. In 2007, when we both lost the love of our lives, it would have been so easy for us to have given up all hope that all things were working together for the good for us. But God was faithful. He worked in us and kept us singing! And now we can see all kinds of good things that the Lord has done both in us and through us.
Giving thanks to God through singing has been so important to both of us in our spiritual connection to God. Years ago, before we ever really knew each other, we were both saved in the same church that loved to sing. We did not know then what we know now about the importance of giving thanks to God through singing. Now you know!
In just a few moments, Pastor Brandon is going to lead us in singing our thanksgiving to God. Before He begins, let’s consider the words of these Psalms.
Brandon
Psalm 150:1-6
1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!
4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 33:1-4
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth.
Psalm 47:1-2
1 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth.
Psalm 95:1-2
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
Psalm 134:1-2
1 Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord!
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.
Jerry
Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are gifts from God to be sung by the people of God for the glory of God. And when we sing, we are filled with His Spirit! Let us be filled with His Spirit as we sing to God this morning.
Are you ready to give thanks to the Lord through singing?
It is imperative that we sing and give thanks! Let the truths of who God is, who you are in Christ, and what He has done wash over you as we lift up our voices and sing together!
(After singing, Jerry comes back to give final charge and close.)