What shall I render to the LORD
For all His benefits toward me?
— Psalm 116:12
We live in a world where almost everything is transactional — where every exchange involves giving and receiving in roughly equal measure. And that transactional mindset can quietly seep into how we think about our relationship with God. Some of us genuinely believe that if we go to church enough, pray enough, do enough good works, help the poor, or try hard enough to be good people, we might somehow begin to square our debt to God — to render back something close to what He has given us.
The problem with this thinking is that we have badly underestimated the magnitude of what the Lord has actually done.
We Cannot Repay Our Creation
Before we even had consciousness, God existed — and He chose to create us. Our very existence is owed entirely to Him. There is nothing we did to prompt our creation, and there is nothing we can do to repay it. No amount of good works, prayer, or religious service can return to God what He gave when He simply brought us into being.
We Cannot Repay Common Grace
As we move through life in this world, we enjoy what theologians call common grace — blessings shared across all of creation. The beauty of a sunrise. The wonder of a star-filled night. The fresh air circulating in an atmosphere perfectly calibrated for human life. The fact that we exist on a planet that sustains us rather than crushes us — shielded from radiation, from the crushing conditions of other planets, from the overwhelming hostility of space.
Jesus speaks of this in the Sermon on the Mount — that our Father in heaven causes the sun to shine on both the righteous and the unrighteous, and the rain to fall on both. This too is something we owe entirely to God’s providence and goodness, and it is beyond our ability to repay.
We Cannot Repay the Gift of Relationship
Then there is the grace of human fellowship — the fact that we are not alone. We have friends, family, brothers, sisters, partners, and companions. We enjoy the gift of marriage and the joy of children. Paul acknowledges in 1 Corinthians 7 that even the grace of having a believing spouse is a gift from God. All of this comes from His hand — and none of it can be returned in kind.
We Cannot Repay His Provision
And then there is the daily provision He supplies — food, health, the energy to work, and the capacity to generate wealth. Moses reminds Israel plainly in Deuteronomy 8 that when they acquire wealth, they must not forget that it is the Lord their God who gave them the power to produce it. Every resource we have has its origin in Him.
We Cannot Repay Our Salvation
And then we arrive at the grace above all graces — the grace of salvation. While we were still sinners — helpless, ungodly, enemies of God — Christ died for us:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
— Romans 5:8
In the fullness of time, God sent His own Son to live a perfect life, die a sinner’s death, and rise on the third day. And this salvation comes to us entirely as a gift:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
— Ephesians 2:8-9
Paul reminds the Corinthians that we were purchased — we are not our own:
For you have been bought with a price.
— 1 Corinthians 6:20
And beyond salvation, there is the ongoing grace of sanctification and preservation. Paul writes to Timothy that he is persuaded that God is able to keep what has been entrusted to Him until that day. And John tells us that no one born of God continues in sin, because the one born of God keeps him.
The Only Honest Answer
And so we return to the psalmist’s question — what shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? When we think through the full sweep of what God has given — creation, common grace, relationship, provision, salvation, sanctification, and final preservation — the only honest answer is: nothing at all.
There is nothing we can offer that could begin to square our account with God. The old hymn Rock of Ages says it perfectly — nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling.
May we be a people who submits to this wonderful grace — not trying to pay God back, but living our lives as an offering of praise and gratitude, doing all things for His glory alone.
Amen.
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