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Context No. 1995 of 4322 · Nehemiah

Context · Reflection

Nehemiah 12:8-21: in context

8Moreover the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving songs, he and his brothers. 9Also Bakbukiah and Unno, their brothers, were close to them according to their offices. 10Jeshua became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada, 11and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan became the father of Jaddua. 12In the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ households: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; 15of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 16of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; 18of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

Among the lists of Levites and priests who served in Jerusalem after the return from exile, a small detail stands out: Mattaniah, it notes, was over the songs of thanksgiving, he and his brothers. Amid the roster of those who served in God's house, some were specifically appointed to lead the thanksgiving, to see that the giving of thanks to God was carried out, ordered, and led among the people.

The small note that certain Levites were appointed over the songs of thanksgiving reveals something worth pondering: that God's people made the giving of thanks intentional and ordered, not left to chance. They did not simply hope thanksgiving would happen; they appointed people to lead it, to see that thanks was given, to make it a regular, cultivated part of their common life. Thanksgiving was organized, led, intentional. There is wisdom here that our own gratitude often lacks. We are prone to let thanksgiving happen only sporadically, when we happen to feel grateful, rather than cultivating it deliberately as a regular practice. And gratitude left to chance, dependent on feeling, tends to fade; we forget to give thanks, our thanksgiving grows thin, and we take God's mercies for granted. The people of Nehemiah's day did better: they appointed leaders of thanksgiving, made it intentional and ordered, cultivated it deliberately as part of their life together. This suggests that thanksgiving is not merely a matter of feeling but of practice, something to be intentionally cultivated, ordered into our lives, made regular rather than left to chance. It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, the psalm says; and the good thing is worth doing deliberately, not sporadically. We might learn from this to make our own thanksgiving intentional: to cultivate the practice of giving thanks regularly, to order gratitude into our lives, perhaps by set times, perhaps by deliberate reflection on God's mercies, rather than leaving it to happen only when we feel like it. Whatever you do, Paul says, do all in the name of the Lord, giving thanks; and giving thanks, made intentional and regular, keeps alive a gratitude that sporadic feeling would let fade. The people appointed Levites over the songs of thanksgiving, making the giving of thanks intentional and led; and our own gratitude, likewise, is best cultivated deliberately, ordered into the regular practice of our lives, rather than left to the chance of feeling.

Do I let thanksgiving happen only sporadically, when I happen to feel grateful, so that my gratitude fades and I take God's mercies for granted, or can I learn from the people who appointed leaders over the songs of thanksgiving to make my own gratitude intentional and ordered, cultivating the regular practice of giving thanks rather than leaving it to chance?

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