Psalm 50:14 (ESV)

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High,

The Hebrew word “tôdâ” (הּדּוּתּ) is striking here. It can mean both thanksgiving offering and song of thanks. This is immediately telling. God the Most High (Psalm 47:2) is not so much concerned with the peace offering, but above all with a grateful heart. Especially from here, the song of thanks is born naturally.

Thus, already in the Old Testament, for example, in Isaiah 1:11–15, there is a certain reserve toward the offering of sacrifices. This also connects with what Jesus once said to a Samaritan woman in a discussion about the proper place to worship God. Jesus answered, But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him (John 4:23). This implied that the temple service with all the offerings would someday be over. It is not the sacrifice before God that is the decider but the attitude with which that offering is made.

A person must keep the vows that he or she has made to God. If a vow has been made to God in the distress of life, that vow must also be redeemed after deliverance (cf. Deuteronomy 23:22). Psalm 103:1–22 shows this in a touching way (see also the conclusion of Isaiah 51:3).