Forget Not His Faithfulness: Thanksgiving Begins with Remembering

Every Sunday morning, the same thing happens: I walk into church, find a seat in the worship center, a friend asks how my week was—and it’s like my memory is wiped clean. I sit there, trying to remember, and all that comes to mind is a single thought: Surely something happened last week.

Have you experienced this phenomenon? If it doesn’t happen for you on a weekly basis, maybe it happens around the holidays. You’re sitting on the couch, catching up with a family member you only see once or twice a year, and the conversation pauses as they wait for you to share highlights from your year. 

You may have some obvious milestones to discuss: marriages, babies, moves, or career changes. But what about the rest? Your life is so busy, your calendar always full, yet the moments blur together until none feel distinct enough to name. 

Our days flip by like the pages of a book, turning too quickly to read. Meaningful details begin to slip between the pages unnoticed. When we finally pause long enough to pay attention, it feels like we’re staring at a year of blank pages, even though we know they were anything but empty. 

The danger of a hurried life is that when we don’t pause and reflect, we don’t remember. And when we don’t remember, gratitude struggles to make its way to the surface. But when we take time to look back, we begin to see what hurry had hidden all along: the grace of God, His unexpected provision and answered prayers, and His steady faithfulness woven through every ordinary day.

Thanksgiving Begins with Remembering

This time of year invites us to slow down and notice the goodness God has placed around us. The scent of cinnamon and coffee drifts through the kitchen. Evening light fades a little earlier. The warmth of shared gatherings fills our home. As we look at loved ones enjoying one another’s company, something in our hearts seems to whisper, Remember this. 

Moments like these offer a small snapshot of a greater reality. They remind us of God’s ongoing faithfulness in our lives—that even the smallest joys and quiet mercies point to His love and care. And they’re intended to be communal—because God’s faithfulness is meant to be seen, celebrated, and remembered together. 

In this season, an often quoted passage is Psalm 103. If you’re familiar with it, you may think of it, as I have, as a moment between David and God alone:

My soul, bless the LORD,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
My soul, bless the LORD,
and do not forget all his benefits. (Psalm 103:1–2)

But Psalm 103 is considered a “thanksgiving hymn, a hymn composed for use at the communal stage of the thanksgiving service, before individuals thanked God for personal deliverance and brought their thank offerings.”¹ Picture one singer giving voice to the many gathered at the temple, offering thanks for how the Lord had provided for each of them: 

He forgives all your iniquity;
he heals all your diseases.
He redeems your life from the Pit;
he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.
He satisfies you with good things;
your youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:3–5)

Imagine a room filled with people and the acknowledgment that God had been the answer to all their needs. “Yahweh had proved their champion, rescuing them . . . God had lavished upon the worshipers gifts fit for a king, blessings grounded in loyal, pardoning love. Their lives had been enriched and revitalized.”²

The singer’s self-exhortation is a message to each worshiper to lift up his or her own heart in earnest praise. Yahweh is worthy of a total response of grateful worship for the totality of divine blessing. On the congregation’s behalf the soloist enthusiastically counts the personal blessings of all those present.³

The Lord had forgiven sins, healed sicknesses, renewed lives, and poured out His tender compassion on His people. These were lived realities for the people gathered—real stories reflected throughout the congregation that fed the faith of all in attendance. 

Remembering what the Lord has done isn’t a discipline only for our own hearts. God’s faithfulness invites both personal reflection and shared gratitude. Just as the singer of this psalm gave communal expression to the people’s stories, our own memories of God’s mercy are meant to become testimonies that strengthen the faith of those around us.

A Thanksgiving Prayer for a Forgetful Heart 

So before you open the door to greet your guests this holiday week, spend some time reflecting. Set your journal or a piece of paper next to your calendar from the last year, and as you rustle through old pages, remind yourself of the events and conversations that marked each month. Make a list of what you remember—both big and small, taking note of where you saw God’s hand in your life: the ways He provided, healed, guided, and encouraged you. 

Scroll back through the photos on your phone or social media posts from the last year, and let them stir up memories of God’s mercy that you don’t want to forget. Let your heart linger on these reminders of His faithfulness, and let your reflections become a quiet prayer of gratitude offered back to Him: 

My soul, bless the LORD,
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
My soul, bless the LORD,
and do not forget all His benefits. 

Thank You for the forgiveness You showed me when ______. 
Thank You for the ways You have healed ________.
Thank You for the redemption You offered from _______.
Thank You for the faithful love and compassion You showed me in the midst of ______.
Thank You for satisfying me with good gifts such as _______ .
Thank You for renewing and reviving my heart through __________.

My soul, bless the LORD!

Amen. 

Carry these memories into the conversations you have with loved ones this week. When someone asks what has happened since you last saw them, you’ll have tangible evidence that your year has been marked by God’s grace. What once looked like blank pages becomes a story worth telling—rich with gratitude and recognition of His faithfulness.

This holiday season, bless the Lord, and do not forget all His benefits. As you remember His great works, you’ll not only deepen gratitude in your own heart but also naturally invite those around you to see what God has done for them. May the casual conversations around your dinner table become a beautiful offering of thanksgiving. 

¹ Leslie C. Allen, Psalms 101–150, rev. ed., vol. 21 of Word Biblical Commentary(Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 30.

² Leslie C. Allen, Psalms 101–150, rev. ed., vol. 21 of Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 28.

³ Leslie C. Allen, Psalms 101–150, rev. ed., vol. 21 of Word Biblical Commentary(Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 30.