In reviewing scriptures on joy, I was struck by these words, “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” My thanksgiving magnifies God. It is more than an expression of gratitude; it honors God for who he is and what he has done. In John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life, he says, “Magnify has two distinct meanings…When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is…But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is.” Thanksgiving lets me see God through a telescope. In giving thanks, I can glory in his care for me, expressed through favors, large or small. I can be reminded of his sovereignty in the way he has worked in circumstances or the lives of people. I can relish the goodness of a God who works all things for my good (Romans 8:28). This verse is an invitation to focus on who God is when giving him thanks for what he has done.