Here is a list of 33 things for which people in Scripture are thankful.
Jesus gave thanks for –
Food regularly – John 6:11, when he fed the multitude, Last supper, us as well – 1 Tim 4:3-4, Rom 14:6
That the Father hears him – John 11:41-2, even though he always does
“Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.”
Jesus – “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” – Matt 11:25
2 Chr 5:13, The most common specific cause for thanks in the Old Testament is that the He is good; His mercy endureth forever
In Psalm 30:4, David calls upon the saints to thank God as they remember that He is holy
All God’s wondrous works – Psalm 26:6-7. David says “I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord: that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”
This includes the wondrous work of creation. In Rev 4:9, 11, God receives thanks because He has created all things, and so because it pleased Him.
Turning sadness into joy – Psalm 30:11-12
David at the dedication of his palace “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.”
Hearing the oppressed and rendering those who reproach God upon themselves – Psalm 79:11-13
David asks the Lord, “Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power
preserve thou those that are appointed to die; and render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever:
we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.”
In 2 Sam 14:22, Joab is thankful to David for fulfilling his request to let him bring Absalom back from exile
Gladness His works bring – Psalm 92:1-4
David speaks of thanking God in song for the gladness God’s works bring, for the joy he experiences in seeing God’s works
In Psalm 119, which is focused on the word of God, David thanks God in part for “His righteous judgments,” by which he means his teaching and word to us.
God delivered David from Saul and his other enemies – 2 Sam 22:47-50, Psalm 18:47-50
“Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen”
In Psalm 75:1, the Psalmist says we should give thanks because God’s works show that his name, his presence, is near
Daniel thanks God for wisdom and might to understand Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, which allowed him to save the wise men from Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath – Dan 2:23
In the NT, much of thanksgiving focuses on what God has done for us in Christ
We should be thankful for the coming of Jesus. In Luke 2:38, Simeon identifies the infant Jesus as the light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. The prophetess Anna, “Coming in that instant gave thanks likewise.”
In Col 1:3 Paul thanks God for the salvation of others, the Colossians, and goes on in v. 12 to thank the Father for making all believers, himself included, fit “to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” and for delivering “us from the power of darkness” and translating us “into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
Triumph in Christ, showing the gospel in us – 2 Cor 2:14
“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”
Victory over death – 1 Cor 15:56-57
“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Deliverance from this dying body in resurrection Rom 7:24-25
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In Luke 17:16, a Samaritan healed by Jesus comes back to thank him, and Jesus wonders where others whom he had healed have gone.
When we see people enduring mistreatment for the sake of a godly conscience – 1 Peter 2:19 – Covid churches
In 2 Cor 8:16, Paul notes we should be thankful to God for the love Christians show us, because it is God who has put care into their hearts
According to 2 Cor 9:11-12, the bounty we experience in Christian ministry, whether it is plenty of work to put in or plenty of results to see, is something for which we should be thankful
Paul is thankful to the faithful and self-sacrificial Christian ministers, Priscilla and Aquila, in Romans 16:4.
In 1 Thess 2:13, Paul thanks God that the people who heard the gospel from him understood it to be the word of God, and not just a human message
In Rom 1:8, Paul mentions that he is thankful that the faith of the believers in Rome is so well known that he hears about it around the known world.
Paul thanks God always for them, because their faith grows exceedingly and they have abounding love towards one another 2 Thess 1:3
In 1 Tim 1:12, Paul thanks Christ for including him in Christ’s ministry and enabling him to do it
In 1 Cor 1:14, Paul is thankful that he is not caught up in their local controversy over baptism because he only baptized a few of the Corinthians
We can thank God that we remember things. In 2 Tim 1:3, Paul thanks God that he remembers to pray for Timothy
In Acts 28:15, when Paul is on his journey to Rome, he thanks God that other believers come to meet him and fellowship with him on his way.
In Rev 11:17, the 24 elders thank God for taking great power and reigning

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