Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

"Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart" was written in 1978 by Henry Smith. The song was his only published worship song out of 300 unpublished compositions.[1] It was written after Smith had trouble finding work after graduating from university. He also suffered from a degenerative condition that eventually left him legally blind.[2] While at his church in Williamsburg, Virginia, his pastor inspired him with a reference to how Jesus made himself poor to make others rich through him. When Smith started performing the song in church, a visiting United States Military officer took the song to Europe, from where its popularity spread.[1] In 1986, Integrity Music published the song on their Hosanna! Music audio cassette but credited it as "author unknown". Later that year, Don Moen released the song on his Give Thanks album.[3] Smith contacted Integrity to inform them of his authorship and they said that they had been attempting to track him down. As a result, Smith signed a writer-publisher agreement with Integrity for distribution rights to the song.[1]

The lyrics have been erroneously credited to Moen rather than Smith in some media reports.[4] In the United States, the song was used by a Catholic news website to focus on returning a Christian focus to Thanksgiving celebrations.[5] The song has also been cited by Christian authors to be used for thanksgiving[6] and giving thanks to God.[7]