Give thanks! [updated repost]

by Dan Phillips

First posted in 2010, this features a new hymn and extended notes.

Psalm 100

A Psalm for giving thanks.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

2 Serve the LORD with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the LORD, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the LORD is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

Though many psalms feature the giving of thanks, this is the only psalm whose title labels it such. No psalmist could have envisioned our notion of a private inner glow of gratitude; to them, thanking God was characteristically out-loud (vv. 2, 4), loud (v. 1), public (vv. 1, 2, 4), and communal (v. 4).

This psalm is in two movements; or rather, one movement that is then echoed. Though his reasoning parallels Paul's, his order is backwards: first, the call to action (vv. 1-2, 4); then the reason (vv. 3, 5). There's always a why to the what. While Paul characteristically gives the why (Eph. 1—3; Col. 1—2) before the what (Eph. 4—6; Col. 3—4), the psalmist formally does the reverse.

You know, this wouldn't be a bad psalm to memorize.

Or sing.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends, from us to you.

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Every reason to be thankful, regardless

by Dan Phillips

The pastor who started my own pastoral training was a mixed bag, doctrinally. But one of the two best and most memorable principles he ingrained on us stands out to me still, nearly forty years later; and it may be personally very relevant to some of our readers today.

This was the early seventies, and Vietnam still raged. Here's a paraphrase of what my pastor said:

If the Gospel you preach could not equally be preached in the trenches of Vietnam and in the dining rooms of Beverly Hills, it isn't the Gospel.

This simple (and true) principle smashes prosperity "gospel" heresies and "contextualized" perversions, and gets us down to the raw, timeless, transcultural dyamism of what Paul says is God's power resulting in salvation for every believer in every culture at every time.

I'll leap to make application for our day, on this day of Thanksgiving.

It is impossible not to think of Americans (or non's) who view our day of Thanksgiving with bitterness. "Yeah, right; easy to say thanks if you're employed, healthy, young, popular, happily married, in a growing and united church, borne on the shoulders of grateful, godly, loving children. And then there's me."

To that person, I'd just say: if you have Jesus Christ, you have reason to overflow with thanks, regardless of your situation.

I don't say this as a theoretician, though I'll not take you with me into the sloughs I've rented over the years. It's an ongoing lesson. So let me just turn to a better, a familiar friend to us all, Charles Spurgeon. One of the greatest, pithiest, truest, most encouraging little points he ever made was a meditation on Jeremiah 31:33 — "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

Spurgeon wrote this:

Christian! here is all thou canst require. To make thee happy thou wantest something that shall satisfy thee; and is not this enough? If thou canst pour this promise into thy cup, wilt thou not say, with David, “My cup runneth over; I have more than heart can wish”? When this is fulfilled, “I am thy God”, art thou not possessor of all things? Desire is insatiable as death, but he who filleth all in all can fill it. The capacity of our wishes who can measure? But the immeasurable wealth of God can more than overflow it. I ask thee if thou art not complete when God is thine? Dost thou want anything but God? Is not his all-sufficiency enough to satisfy thee if all else should fail? But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction; thou desirest rapturous delight. Come, soul, here is music fit for heaven in this thy portion, for God is the Maker of Heaven. Not all the music blown from sweet instruments, or drawn from living strings, can yield such melody as this sweet promise, “I will be their God.” Here is a deep sea of bliss, a shoreless ocean of delight; come, bathe thy spirit in it; swim an age, and thou shalt find no shore; dive throughout eternity, and thou shalt find no bottom. “I will be their God.” If this do not make thine eyes sparkle, and thy heart beat high with bliss, then assuredly thy soul is not in a healthy state. But thou wantest more than present delights—thou cravest something concerning which thou mayest exercise hope; and what more canst thou hope for than the fulfilment of this great promise, “I will be their God”? This is the masterpiece of all the promises; its enjoyment makes a heaven below, and will make a heaven above. Dwell in the light of thy Lord, and let thy soul be always ravished with his love. Get out the marrow and fatness which this portion yields thee. Live up to thy privileges, and rejoice with unspeakable joy.

There it is: "I will be their God" is "the masterpiece of all the promises; its enjoyment makes a heaven below, and will make a heaven above."

Think about it, Biblically. Make yourself, if your feelings aren't "there." Pray for God to help you think about it. What is the lot — the long-term lot — of the person who has everything but that promise to call his own? Family, friends, health, wealth... but God is not his God?

Then think: What is the lot — the long-term lot — of the person who has nothing but that promise to call his own? Little material good... God is his God?

We've worked at unfolding the treasures in that depository over the course of many posts; and we will do so, Lord willing, in many more. But that is it: if you have God as your God, through saving faith in Jesus Christ, then you have reason today for joy and gratitude. Though they matter, this central truth is true no matter how hard, happy, or non-existent your marriage; how thriving or struggling your church; how grateful or treacherous your children; how abundant or feeble your health; how many or few the candles on your birthday-cake.

Wherever you are, whatever your lot, look to Christ your Savior, Christ your Lord, and thank Him today.

You have reason, Christian friend.

I know this for a fact.

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Thanks with a Grateful Heart

by Phil Johnson



hanksgiving (the constant kind, not the once-a-year variety) is a good exercise for the out-of-control tongue. Ephesians 5:4: " Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving."

Thanksgiving for what? "In everything give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). And especially be thankful that "God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32). That's plenty to be thankful for.

As a matter of fact, thankfulness to God is more than just a tongue-taming exercise. It is a remedy for any kind of temptation to idolatry, uncleanness, or immorality (Ephesians 5:3)—because it focuses our hearts properly away from self and sin, and it fixes our minds on God. Just as covetousness, filthy talk, and bad morals act like a leaven to spread evil into every aspect of our lives, gratefulness and gracious speech arrest that leaven and season our hearts and minds with grace.

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Give thanks!

by Dan Phillips

Psalm 100

A Psalm for giving thanks.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

2 Serve the LORD with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the LORD, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the LORD is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

You know, that wouldn't be a bad psalm to memorize.

Or sing.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends, from us to you.

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Grateful for the goodness of creation (Thanks from Genesis 1:1, part four)

by Dan Phillips

[Sorry, the RefTagger program messes up the title. In this fourth and final post in the Valerie-inspired series on thankfulness, we glean yet a bit more from Genesis 1:1.]
Genesis 1:1 has shown us that God first produced the universe out of nothing.  Next we focused on the Creator/creature distinction; and then the fundamental revelation of this one Creator-God.

Finally we step back and look at the whole. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" means the universe, including all things "in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities" (Colossians 1:16). Matter was a direct and immediate creation of God.

If that simple statement itself is not plain and emphatic enough, we have the additional repetition of the narrative, to this effect: "And God saw that [the material arrangement He had just made] was good." This occurs every day (—except Monday!), and the whole is crowned in 1:32 by "very good!" Matter mattered, and the matter God created was good.

Many of us read this without raising an eyebrow, but (A) it was not always thus, and (B) it is not everywhere thus, even now. Philosophies and religions have always existed that get quivery when it comes to matter, as if material universe per se were either evil or inconsequential. "Matter doesn't matter," or "Matter is badder," would be their bumper-stickers.

Whether it is the Platonist jawing on about the Ideal, or the Christian Scientist insisting that matter is an illusion of mortal mind (even as she munches her cookie and tugs at her sweater), or whether it is the Gnostic straining with all his might to distance the Deity from creation, it is all shattered by this simple revelation: "God created the heavens and the earth."

God did not simply create a study or a La-Z-Boy, and bid Adam sit down and contemplate. He made a glorious and endlessly multiform creation, bid Adam subdue and rule it (Genesis 1:26-28), and urged him to eat to his heart's content of its fruits (2:16) — with only one exception (2:17). However, Adam ate of that one exception (3:6), which in turn changed creation. Adam's turf was tarnished by Adam's turpitude (3:17-19), and subjected to futility and the bondage of corruption (Romans 8:20-21), from which it will one day be rescued.

So, you see, how Adam interacted with matter, with created things, mattered. It mattered immediately, and it mattered eternally. His interaction with creation was a thing for the courtroom. He was to subdue it; he was to rule it; he was to enjoy it — and he was to keep his paws off of one part of it. These were God's words, and that fact gave moral and spiritual significance to the whole. His sin, committed by violating God's law as it touched on one created item, brought corruption and decay and chaos into the whole created theater.

In the meanwhile, man does not live by bread alone (Deuteronomy 8:3) — but he does live by bread, and can ask God to keep it coming (Matthew 6:11), and thank Him for all of His good gifts, material as well as spiritual (cf. Deuteronomy 26:10-11; Ephesians 1:3ff.).

So don't feel bad about thanking God for delicious turkey, bread, family, or whichever of His good created gifts you enjoy today. In fact, feel bad if you don't (cf. Romans 1:21).

Just make very sure that you heartily value yet more the bread of life, who is our Lord Jesus (John 6:35ff.). Through Him "let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13:15 NAS), and let us look with thankfulness to that kingdom which cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:26-29).

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him;
bless his name!
(Psalm 100:4)

Thank God!

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Grateful for the revelation of the one Creator God (Thanks from Genesis 1:1, part three)

by Dan Phillips

[Sorry, the RefTagger program messes up the title. In this third Valerie-inspired series on thankfulness, we dig further in Genesis 1:1.]

In our first reflection on Genesis 1:1, we saw that the words "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" teach us that God first produced the universe out of nothing.

Then we focused on the impact of the revealed truth of the Creator/creature distinction, the fact that God is other than and apart from His creation.

Now we pause to focus on what is perhaps a more fundamental fact, as expressed in the second and third words of the (Hebrew) Bible: "God created." Though the word translated "God" in Hebrew (^'elōhîm) is plural in form, the verb (bārā') is not. One God created.

This was nothing to be taken for granted in Moses' day. Polytheism was the rule, and creation-myths were very different from Moses' account in every important way. The earlier Babylonian Enuma Elish depicted a great battle, with Marduk killing the evil Tiamat, and forming earth and heavens from her corpse.

None of that can be found in Genesis 1:1ff. One lone God creates everything out of nothing by mere fiat. The Bible stresses this fact over and over. Job speaks of God "who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea" (Job 9:8).

Again, Isaiah 44:24 declares, "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: 'I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.'" God creates unaided, and unopposed.

Thus Paul can cry out without exaggeration, "For from him and through him and to him are all things" (Romans 11:36a).

We would not know these truths from musing on creation itself alone. Creation attests that there is a Creator, and that the Creator is powerful (Romans 1:19-20), but not a lot more. It falls to Scripture to tell us of the nature, essence, character, attributes, and will of this Creator God.

So it does. We must recognize that Genesis 1:1 is but the beginning of one long, long revelatory sentence that goes on and on and on, not finishing until the final words of Revelation 22:21.

When we read Genesis 1:1 in that light, we know that behind the mysterious ^'elōhîm indeed lies a plurality-in-unity, as the Father created all things through the Son (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). We know that this one God already had made a plan for the ages in Christ (Ephesians 3:11), an eternal plan providing for the redemption (Genesis 3:15; Galatians 4:4-5) of those whom He had already selected and predestined (Ephesians 1:3-5).

We creatures need not wander in trackless darkness, wondering what we are, and what or who made us. This God made us; He defined us; He defines our universe. In the end, we shall give account to this one God, and face His judgment. Our great need — every one of us — is to know God our Creator, on His terms.

Nothing that we need to know has been held back. All has been revealed, including the mind and heart of this one infinite, personal Creator. By that revelation, we can know who He is, and we can know Him.

Thank God!

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Grateful for the revealed Creator/creation distinction (Thanks from Genesis 1:1, part two)

by Dan Phillips

[Sorry, the RefTagger program messes up the title. In this second Valerie-inspired series on thankfulness, we stay with Genesis 1:1.]

As I observed last time, when Moses writes "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," he is asserting that God's first creative act was producing the universe out of nothing. This truth is jam-packed with meaning. We shouldn't rush past it too hastily.

We know for a fact, then, that everything was created from nothing by Someone. That Someone — the infinite-personal God revealed in Scripture — thus stands apart from, above and beyond every created thing. Genesis 1:1 is Genesis 1:1; it is not 1:1b. It is not preceded by a verse detailing the origin of God.

Why not? Because it is the nature of God to be without origin. God alone is the Uncaused Cause. Think of it this way: there are two orders of things in the universe — caused, and uncaused. In the former column stretches a vast, almost endless list detailing every created thing. In the latter column, one entry alone: God.  As Moses himself would later sing,

Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God (Psalm 90:2)

That teaches us something vital, then, about all creation. It is all contingent. It all depends on something else for its origin. Nor is it surprising that it all continues to be contingent, depending on something else for its continued existence (cf. Colossians 1:17; I develop this theme more in this conference session). It is temporal, passing, evanescent (Psalm 102:25-26; Isaiah 34:4; 40:6-8).

But all those facts teach us corollary truths about the Creator. Unlike creation, He is unconditioned and non-contingent, depending on nothing for His being nor continuance (Exodus 3:14; Psalm 90:2; 102:27; John 8:58; Hebrews 13:8). He is supreme above all, in every sense.

All these "theological" truths bear very practical fruit. They tell me verities I desperately need to know, or I literally do not know the first thing necessary to make sense of Life, the Universe, much less All That.

1. I should not live for any created thing. All things are on the same plane, with a few variations: money, pleasure-in-things/experiences, fame, influence. All things are just things, and all things are temporary, contingent, secondary (at best). No created thing is sufficiently weighty, stable, significant, nor worthy to give ultimate meaning nor purpose. All will pass away, as will all who live for them (1 John 2:16-17a).
2. I should live for the Creator. Meaning and significance are not to be located in the effects, but in the Cause; not in the tributaries, but in the fountainhead. I should hold Him chief in my mind from my youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1), because I will only learn my design from my Designer. Neglect that, and I will live a meaningless, trivial, wasted life, no matter what I do.
   
3. I should not live in fear of any created thing. None is ultimate. No matter how fierce, powerful, nor forceful, there is One who transcends them. Like me, they are contingent. Like me, they are limited. Like me, they can be bested. What's more, the worst they can do to me is kill me.
4. I should live in fear of the Creator. The worst a creature can do is kill me, but the Creator can do far worse to me (Matthew 10:28). Unlike creatures, the Creator is unconditioned, relentless, unlimited, incapable of being bested. The buck always stops with Him. (Besides, whether a creature kills me or not is the Creator's call, anyway.)
5. In sum, the center of my life must be the knowledge, worship and service of the Creator, not the creature. Miss that, and I miss life, period: I am fatally off-target as to the meaning of myself, of my world, and of others. I'm like someone who thinks The Lord of the Rings is all about this forgetful innkeeper named Butterbur, or that A Christmas Carol centers around the tale of a woman named Fezziwig, married to a generous business owner. These are minor, peripheral characters — focus on them, and I've missed the whole story. Focus on creation rather than Creator, and I've missed the whole story, and far more beside.

To this day, vast millions and even billions have "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever" (Romans 1:25). Of course I mean the animists, of course I mean the polytheists and the idolaters — but no less do I mean the youth-worshipers, the health-worshipers, the trend-worshipers, the image-worshipers, and the sex-worshipers; the Greens, the Reds; the eco-fascists and the evo-fascists.

And so, from Genesis 1:1, I thank God for the stark and clear revelation of the Creator/creature distinction. In that light alone can I make sense of life, and find my place by finding His face.

Thus we can —

Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:3)

Thank God!

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A Glutton's gratitude

by Frank Turk



I think I'm ashamed to tell you that I am grateful that I struggle with my weight problem rather than whether or not my children will eat well each day. [Deu 6:10-12] I'm grateful for my moral dilemmas rather than the fundamental dilemma of subsistance.

Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we receive from thy Bounty, in Christ's name. Amen.

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Thanks for the universe (Thanks from Genesis 1:1, part one)

by Dan Phillips

[Not sure why the title reformatted itself; nothing I did. I think it's the RefTagger program, that automatically identifies all Bible references - even in titles, evidently.]

Preface. It seems as if, with each passing year, I see more significance in Genesis 1—3 generally, and Genesis 1:1 specifically. It has been well said that anyone who accepts Genesis 1:1 as true is prepared to understand and believe the rest of the Bible. Deny it, and all falls apart.


So when I introduced this Valerie-inspired series on thankfulness, my mind turned first to Genesis 1:1. I just may not have to go anywhere else, by Thursday the 26th (Thanksgiving Day in America).

Basic assumptions. Genesis 1:1 is probably the best-known verse in the Bible: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. For this series, I am going to assume without debate that this is the sense of the verse:

• Genesis 1:1 points to the first and only beginning of all things
• Genesis 1:1 is not a summary-statement nor a title
  
• Genesis 1:1 relates God's first act, followed immediately by the seven days narrated in 1:2—2:4
  
• Genesis 1:1 describes ex nihilo creation
  

Today's item for thanks. The Hebrew phrase "the heavens and the earth" form a merism. In a merism, one names two poles, thereby including everything in-between. For instance "young and old" means all ages. Other merisms might include "root and branch," "here and there," and "night and day."

Thus in Genesis 1:1, "the heavens and the earth" means the universe (cf. Genesis 2:4; 14:19; Psalm 69:34; 148:13, etc.). In the beginning, this one true and living God created the universe in an unformed and undeveloped state, then set about to order and define it.

This verse, then, asserts that one God is responsible for the creation of all things. There is no created thing that did not come from His hand; all created things trace their origin to that one, original burst of command. The infinite-personal God of Scripture had conceived of a "plan of the ages," which He made in Christ (Ephesians 3:11, Greek), and now He began its execution with the creation of everything from nothing.

What this means, then, is that we live in a universe, not a multiverse. There are not many realities competing with each other, vying for dominance. It is one universe, from the hand of one God. It is all defined and ruled over by Him.

Ironically, atheists — who have made "doing Science" their sacrament — depend on this truth, even as they deny it. Repetition only has meaning in a universe. Generalization from particulars only has meaning in a universe. If we can't proceed from the premise that everything is united by a common origin, we can neither predict nor generalize. In that existence, even if a series played out identically a hundred times, a thousand times, a million times, we would have no basis for predicting that it would proceed the same the next time. And even if it proceeded identically with our test subjects, no matter how large the sample, we could never justifiably assert that it would proceed the same with any untested subject.

Put it another way. Last Thanksgiving, you fed your family untainted, normal turkey (or pizza). They lived and thrived. How do you know that, if you feed them untainted, normal turkey this year, they won't die, or explode, or burst into flames because of it? How do you know that, when you poke your fork into some pumpkin pie, your house won't fly out into space as a result? How do you know that, when you click in the "Leave your comment" box, so that you can argue with me, your face won't be torn off and your veins filled with acid as a result? In fact, how could you even form an argument, attempting to arrange reasons in any logical or compelling form, with any thought that shapes on a page would even appear the same to each viewer, and convey meaning to rational readers?

Because of Genesis 1:1.


So there's the irony of the atheist. If Genesis 1:1 were not true, he could never deny that Genesis 1:1 is true.

So back to us. As you live your life in this one universe, with its designed predictability and order; and as you pursue your life confident that it is even possible to find meaning and live meaningfully — thank God for it. Thank Him for making a universe for you to live in. Thank Him that, because of Him, even the bare concepts of meaning and purpose and cohesion are not only intelligible and possible, but discoverable.

Discoverable, that is, if we proceed on the premise that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Which, thank God, we can.

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Thanks a lot

by Frank Turk

So in light of Dan's suggestion, here's my first post on being thankful, which is really written by my wife, who is the greatest blogger never once to blog. I'll take the "as told to" credit.

For those who don't follow me on Twitter or FB, my kids have been sick all week -- the big one since Saturday, and the little one since about Wednesday after AWANA. Same stuff. Blech. And of course Mrs. Cent and I are now not feeling so hot ourselves, but I'm optmistic it's just the lack of sleep and not the other stuff.

But last night my wife said to me, "I'm grateful that our kids are sick." And since I am the Drunken Master®, she can't trick me like that, so I said, "Tell me more."

"I'm in there, cleaning [graphic detail omitted], and every time there's a [graphic detail omitted], I know that the child is alive, and that God has given this child to me as a gift, and that He knows what's best for both of us. And I'm glad I can do something about this which the child understands. So I'm grateful."

Many of you do not have a spouse like this (she does not have a spouse like this), so you may admire her from a distance.

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Thinking about thanking

by Dan Phillips

When I told my dear wife I lacked specific inspiration for today's post, Valerie suggested I write about reasons to be thankful. Since "a wise man listens to advice" (Proverbs 12:15), and since I do want to be a wise man, and since some of the best advice I ever get comes from Valerie....

Lord knows we have enough reasons for being unhappy, on the horizontal plane. Whether we're talking about American politics (don't get me started), or evangelicalism in general, or even some trends within the Reformed community... there are solid reasons for concern, grief, even anger.

However, I don't think it's being-in-denial to remind ourselves that believers, on the worst days of our lives, have more to be thankful for than the richest lost soul has on the best day of his life.

Plus, as I once developed at some length, ingratitude and discontentment create massive spiritual vulnerability.

What is the best antidote? Surely it is knowledge and understanding of, and robust thankfulness for, all God is in Himself, and all God is to us through Christ, as brought home by  His Spirit applying His word.

So I mean to start a little series of posts along those themes, at least leading up to Thanksgiving. I'll even be corny enough to invite Phil and Frank to throw in, if they're so moved.

Just to prime the pump, I'll let you know where I'm thinking of starting, next time: Genesis 1:1.

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