Thankfulness in Colossians

The book of Colossians reveals that our walk as Christians hinges on our thankfulness to God for what he has done for us in Jesus, what he is doing for us in Jesus, and what he promises to do for us in Jesus. Even so, we might not instinctually connect Colossians to the concept of thankfulness. Rather, Colossians is most well-known, and rightly so, for having some of the most stunning christological language in all of Scripture. I mean, who can keep themselves from being swept up into the mind-boggling wonder of descriptions like this in Colossians 1:15–18,

 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

 

We’re truly breathing the rarefied air of pristine alpine peaks here. But what is Paul’s aim in soaring to these spectacular heights? Well, it is certainly authentic worship on his part, so that would be the ultimate end. But why invite the Colossians into this worship? What gift does Paul seek to impart here? To answer this question, it helps to consider what seemed to be the climate in Colossae.

It seems that some false teaching had recently clouded the Colossians’ view of this christological summit. Given a few of Paul’s commandments, this false teaching was on the order of a strange mix of asceticism, mysticism, and pagan and/or Jewish rituals that all billed themselves as a means to grow in wisdom and knowledge of God. In response, Paul issued instructions such as these:

 

 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath (Colossians 2:16).

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels (Colossians 2:18).

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? (Colossians 2:20–22).

 

But to all these, Paul says “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 1:23–3:1).

In short, false teaching tempted the Colossians to add to the gospel of Jesus some legalistic measures or practices in order to make themselves worthy of God and to increase their knowledge of God. So that was the situation at Colossae. And, that is why Paul’s entire message to the Colossians from the beginning is this:

Jesus the Son of God, who is your life, is supreme; therefore, just as you received Jesus, so walk in him (Colossians 1:18; 2:6).

So, to return to the top, what is Paul’s aim in highlighting Jesus’ supremacy? Well, according to the message I just articulated, Paul aims to spur the Colossians to right obedience. But we might say, how does Jesus being supreme inspire obedience? How are the two connected? We find the connection in the relative clause, who is your life.

See, essential to Jesus’ preeminence is that he is the first born from the dead (Colossians 1:18). It is through supreme Jesus’ cross and resurrection that sinful man has been reconciled to God (Colossians 1:20). It is through supreme Jesus that the Father qualified sinful man to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12), which is their hope laid up in heaven (Colossians 1:5). It is through supreme Jesus that the Father delivered sinful man from the domain of darkness and transferred him to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). It is through supreme Jesus that sinful man has redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14). And, it is through supreme Jesus that sinful man is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his creator (Colossians 3:10). Jesus is supreme. And, his supremacy, his preeminence, goes hand-in-hand with his redemption of sinful man, whom he makes new and to whom he promises eternal, resurrected life. He is the first born from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Paul ascends to such apexes to remind the Colossians that this is their present spiritual condition. Supreme Jesus has made them alive and new, and he is making them alive and new. And because of Supreme Jesus, this is also the Colossians’ future. He will resurrect them alive and new to live with God for all eternity.

What should such a reality inspire in the Colossians? Thankfulness. And here we’ve arrived at the main point of this post. Notably, Paul does something more in Colossians, than he does in any other epistle. What is that? He exhorts his audience to thanksgiving.

 

…we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him…giving thanks to the Father…(Colossians 1:9–12).

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6–7)

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful (Colossians 3:15).

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:17).

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2).

 

Colossians is a short book. The density of exhortations to thankfulness is impressive and noteworthy. What does this reveal to us? It reveals this: Our walk as Christians hinges on our thankfulness to God for what he has done for us in Jesus, what he is doing for us in Jesus, and what he promises to do for us in Jesus.

Colossians reveals to us that we must stoke the flames of thankfulness in our hearts. To do that, let’s follow Paul. Let’s take his invitation to try as we might to summit the peaks of Jesus’ supremacy. We must be fascinated by and stand in wonder at who Jesus is and what he has done for us. We must see Jesus as supreme. And, when we see him thus, we cannot help but be thankful.

Let Us Pray: Help in Prayer from D.A. Carson’s “Praying with Paul”

Praying can often be challenging in many ways. Simply finding time to pray once throughout the day can be elusive, let alone trying to find and establish a rhythm of prayer. We find our time in prayer comes in fits and starts and often looks random as opposed to regular and rhythmic. Then once we do start praying, we find that our mind tends to wonder to-and-fro to the point that we often can’t even remember what it is we’ve already prayed for or haven’t prayed for yet. What is the remedy? One very helpful and encouraging resource for building a regular rhythm of prayer in one’s life is D.A. Carson’s Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation.

The Introduction and first two chapters alone are a treasure trove of practical and biblical wisdom. First, Carson identifies the immense value of prayer. Then he offers some practical steps to help us start praying and to help us drown out the noise of everyday. And then he offers insight into building a biblical framework that helps guide our prayers. This practical wisdom helps eliminate distractions and the biblical wisdom informs and streamlines our prayers so that we pray in the Spirit, in accord with the heart of God as revealed by Scripture.

 

The Need for Prayer

We will not ever prioritize prayer or ever establish a rhythm of prayer in our lives if we do not recognize the immeasurable value of prayer. Carson notes, “The most urgent need of the church in the Western world is the need to pray.”[1] Carson acknowledges the swath of other areas the church needs to address and be prepared to respond to (Issues like overwhelming biblical illiteracy, cultural moral decay, the sexual revolution, the rise of cultural intolerance for those disagreeing with majority cultural virtues, unreached and unchurched people groups, etc.). However, he maintains “the one thing we most urgently need is a deeper knowledge of God. We need to know God better.”[2] And what is one of the primary ways in which we grow in our intimate knowledge of God? How do we know God better? We pray.

“One of the foundational steps in knowing God, and one of the basic demonstrations that we do know God is prayer—spiritual, persistent, biblically minded prayer.”[3]

So once we recognize its value, then the next natural step is to engage in the practice of prayer itself.

 

Practical Steps for Prayer

I once had a track coach who offered powerful wisdom for improving one’s running ability and speed. He could often be heard saying to us unfit, ailing, frustrated wannabe track stars, “Do you want to know how you become a better, faster runner? You run.” In chapter one, Carson makes much the same point with prayer. If we want to see improvement in our prayer lives, the first step is to pray. Or, to say it another way, we often struggle in prayer because we don’t pray regularly. Carson addresses this point specifically in this way, “Much praying is not done because we do not plan to pray.”[4] He then offers perhaps one of the simplest yet most profound pieces of wisdom with regard to prayer: “It is better to pray often with brevity than rarely but at length.”[5] The first step to improving our prayer life is to pray.

Carson then offers some simply practical steps to help eliminate distractions. Among these are: vocalizing prayers, praying through Scripture, making prayer lists to follow, journaling prayers, having a prayer partner, etc.[6] The takeaway from these suggestions is that there are practical steps we can plan to take along with good and wise practices that help focus our prayer efforts. Some will find different practices to be more beneficial than others. The key is finding what works for you.

 

Developing a Framework for Prayer

In chapter two, Carson urges us to develop a robust framework for our prayers. And as the title of his book suggests, he models this framework off of Paul’s prayers. Specifically, he models it off of Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 1:3–12. There, Carson points out that two elements make up Paul’s framework for his prayer:

  1. Thankfulness for signs of grace in the Thessalonians
  2. Confidence and hope in God’s coming reign at Christ’s return, and the justice it will bring

So, when we pray, we too should recognize the varying signs of grace that God has granted in us and our church family. And we make it a point to thank God for such gifts of grace. Such gifts could be increased faith, increased love, increased knowledge of God, growing maturity, perseverance in trials and suffering, people using their gifts to build up the body, confession and repentance, etc. When we recognize such graces, our instinct should be to thank God for them. As we develop this framework, we will likely find that we become more proficient at recognizing them. We will begin to identify God’s gifts of grace where before we might of looked right past them. So when we pray, we infuse our prayers with thankfulness for signs of divine grace.

And, when we pray, we pray with a view to and longing for the fullness of God’s kingdom that comes with the return of Jesus. We anticipate not just the joy that comes with his presence but also the justice that comes with the consummation of his kingdom. All wrongs will be made right. God will vindicate all his people, and God will exact retribution on all the enemies of him and his people. Saints have always fit their prayers into the reality that God will deliver vindication and justice for his people, whom he knows intimately. Think of David’s prayers to God in the Psalms (cf. Psalm 139, which we have recently memorized as a congregation). Therefore, when we pray, our prayers take on a tincture of hopefulness because Jesus will return. And so in our prayers we raise up this plea to heaven, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

 

Let Us Pray

We must recognize the value and need for prayer. With Carson’s help, we can find ways to plan for prayer and develop practices to eliminate distraction. And with Carson and Paul’s helps, we too can begin to develop and build a framework for our prayers that infuses them with thanksgiving and hope. When we pray, we commune with God, grow in our knowledge of him, thank him for his varied gifts of grace in our lives, and joyfully anticipate Christ’s return when he will right all wrongs. So the only thing left for us to do is to pray. So let us pray.

[1] D. A. Carson, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation, Second. (Baker Academic, 2015), xi.

[2] Carson, Praying with Paul, xiii.

[3] Carson, Praying with Paul, xiii.

[4] Carson, Praying with Paul, 1.

[5] Carson, Praying with Paul, 2.

[6] Carson, Praying with Paul, 2–20.

Giving Thanks: An Example

[What role does giving thanks have in your life? What role should it have? Over 160 verses in Scripture refer to thanks.  Here is a list of most of them, which I commend for your meditation. Consider these few:

  • Psalm 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.
  • Ephesians 5:18, 20: Be filled with the Spirit . . . giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
  • Colossians 2:6-7   Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (audio of 2022 sermon on this text)

Consider also this quip from G.K. Chesterton: “When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?”

For a period of time, every Monday Beth disciplined herself to record on her former blog items of thanksgiving.  Here is an excerpt from one of those entries from 2010. She reflects on Rachel’s example of a thankful heart, to which we would all do well to pay attention. Consider Beth’s words – and as we celebrate Thanksgiving may we express such thanks! – Coty]

She had major surgery and needed a home in which to recover.  In the beginning, she needed someone to help change incision dressings, prepare healing meals, encourage and comfort through post surgery pain and uncertainty.  She needed an arm to lean on while she slowly climbed the steps and sometimes she needed quiet music, candlelight, and foot rubs.  For three weeks, Rachel stayed here.

While she was in my home, I observed something very special.  Rachel wrote thank you notes. Prodigiously.  From the first week to the last, she wrote them.  In pain and groggy from meds, she wrote them.  In bed, she wrote them.  At the warm, sunny end of the kitchen table, she wrote them.

The EMT’s who arrived in the ambulance and took her to the hospital received notes and cookies.  She was in so much pain when they attended her that night that she had no recollection of who they were, but she called the fire station and got their names from the ambulance log and wrote notes to them.

Her nurses received notes.  She asked at the desk on her hospital floor for all their names and wrote them each a note.

Her doctor and physician’s assistant received notes.  The day of her first follow up appointment, she hand delivered those notes.  The PA smiled broadly, almost dancing upon receiving the envelope, and exclaimed, “This is my first thank you note from a patient!”

When she left our home, everyone here, Coty, Thomas, Joel and I, all received individual handwritten notes.

Her habit of handwritten gratitude puts me to shame and I know I am not alone.  I had a conversation with a friend at church today who admitted that, like me, she often fails to convey her thanks with a handwritten note.

Oh, we mean to do it.  We put “write thank you notes” on our to-do list.  We may even buy thank you cards and stamps.  But we procrastinate, thinking we are too busy at the moment, and time passes.  Finally, so much time passes that we feel embarrassed to write, our failure highlighted by our tardiness.  Perhaps we try to justify our actions by telling ourselves that, well, we said thank you.  They didn’t really expect a note, now, did they?

That EMT certainly didn’t expect a note.  Neither did the PA or the surgeon.  And how often do you think the nurses who measure the urine in the basin or change the colostomy bag get a hand-written note from a grateful patient?

Was that note writing obligatory?  Just the compulsory penning of thanks by a dutiful daughter whose mother taught her well?  Or worse, done because she thought she’d get even better care next time if her care givers got a note this time?  No, no, no!

That note writing was the expression of a heart so filled with thankfulness that it spilled out grateful words across countless little cards.  No detail was forgotten.  No small act of care or kindness done for her was omitted from her written outpouring of thanksgiving.

I am convicted – of my ingratitude, of my procrastination, of the self-centered ways in which I order that aforementioned to-do list to reflect my priorities instead of ordering it according to this admonition….

“in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

To fail to give thanks is to set myself above the giver as though I was fully deserving of every gift, as though it were my due.  This dishonors, by failing to recognize and appreciate, the sacrifice and attention of the giver.  If I don’t take the time to say thank you, I have forgotten the giver and thought only of the gift and of myself.

I do this to God and I to it to people.  So very often.

My dear friend’s illness and the way in which she has responded to it has touched many lives.  It has touched mine by giving me the opportunity to observe at close range one who excels in thankfulness.  Rachel’s is an example to follow.  I start by thanking you, Father God, for bringing her, for three precious weeks, into my home.

And more gifts…

  • deepened friendship
  • observation of the generosity of the body of Christ
  • little victories (for Rachel) over new daily tasks
  • children’s voices singing the names of God
  • Kristi’s skillful directing
  • potluck tables filled with good food
  • laughter and fellowship
  • people who pitch in, dry dishes, mop floors, clean bathrooms . . .
  • a helpful little book
  • quiet moments in a busy month

This practice of listing thanks early in the week, of publicly logging thanksgiving for abundant gifts is a marker in my week.  There is another practice that needs to become just as regular – writing my thanks on paper and sending it to those whose generosity graces my life.  There are so many I need to thank.  It’s time to get started.

The Foundation for a Thankful Heart

What leads to “spontaneous” gratefulness?

The middle of the night. Wakened – barely – by the sound of raindrops, I turn from my back to my side. My hand accidentally touches Beth’s shoulder. Resting it there, I pray, “Thank You, Lord, for this precious woman.”

The prayer was not the result of a logical chain of reasoning. It simply welled up within me in the moment. It was spontaneous in that sense.

However, if the same sequence of events had happened forty years ago, that prayer would not have occurred. So what has changed in me over these decades that leads my heart to thank God spontaneously?

Scripture tells us again and again that we must be grateful:

  • Psalm 52:9: “I will thank you forever.”
  • Psalm 105:1 (and seventeen other verses): “Give thanks to the LORD.”
  • Colossians 3:15: “Be thankful.”
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
  • 2 Timothy 1:3: “I thank God … as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.”

Why are we to be overflowing in thanksgiving to God? Because He is the source of everything good:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17).

In particular:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

Yet I deserve neither good gifts nor everything needed for life and godliness. Rather, I deserve the opposite: punishment from God:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”… All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…. The wages of sin is death (Romans 3:10-12, 3:23, 6:23).

Yet in His mercy He shone the light of the Gospel in my heart, enabling me to see Jesus for Who He is (2 Corinthians 4:6); He laid my iniquity onto Jesus (Isaiah 53:6); and He therefore declared me righteous “by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

A gift! And how should we respond to gifts?

So salvation alone should lead to our giving abundant thanks to God.

Now, I understood the gift of redemption many years ago, and have thanked God for it regularly. That is the base of the foundation of “spontaneous” thanksgiving. But more layers were needed before such thanks would well up within me.

I had to see – and not only see but take to heart – that everything good in this world as well as anything good in me is the result of the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

I had to learn that apart from Him I could do nothing (John 15:5); apart from Him I could not succeed in any business or profession (Deuteronomy 8:17-18); apart from Him there are no beautiful sunsets, no glorious galaxies, no creative people; apart from Him there is no love, no hope, no joy, no peace. For the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1), and when we display any goodness, we are reflecting the remnants of His image in us (Genesis 1:26-27).

When, through daily encounters with the Word of God over decades, the Spirit builds these truths in our hearts on to the foundation of redemption, we then thank God spontaneously when we notice a snapdragon in bloom, a chicken pot pie in the oven, or a loving spouse next to us in the bed. Spontaneously – but not so spontaneously. For the foundation was built up over many years.

So now I remind myself every morning and at every meal: This food, this day, this breath, even the ability to move – all of these are mine only because of Jesus. So I thank You, Lord, in His Name.

Do realize – I am not yet fulfilling Ephesians 5:20, “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I must continue to grow in thankfulness, to God and to others. But I can look back forty years ago and say with John Newton, “Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be– I can truly say that I am not what I once was…. ‘by the grace of God I am what I am!’” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

You too can grow in this grace. Go to the Word. Ask the Spirit to lay this foundation. Remind yourself daily of these truths. And then open your eyes! Notice His gifts! They are all around you.

Hear Instruction!

What did you give thanks for this last week? Many of us gave God thanks for our families and friends. But what about for the counselors and guides He has put into your life? Did you thank Him for them?

Some of us did. Some of us readily acknowledge our need for advisors, our need to hear instruction from those who have experience and wisdom. Others of us balk at that: We’re thankful for friends, but we think we can guide ourselves, we think we can make our own decisions.

The book of Proverbs emphasizes time and again our need for guides. Let’s consider a few verses from Chapter 19.

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. (Proverbs 19:20)

The implication is: You don’t have wisdom now – or at least not sufficient wisdom to guide yourself through the maze of life’s choices. You need help. God provides His grace to us in part through granting us His church; within the church are those who have walked wisely with Him for more years than we have, as well as those older or younger who have walked similar paths to ours.  We learn wisdom by listening to them, and by sharing life with them.

This chapter then warns of the danger facing the stubborn among us, those who are wise in their own eyes:

Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge. (Proverbs 19:27)

Note that this verse is not speaking primarily to those who have never listened to instruction. Such folks have never walked in wisdom and thus can’t stray from the words of knowledge. Rather, Proverbs 19:27 warns those who once listened but no longer do. For we never outgrow our need to gain wisdom from the advice of others. We may have experience and wisdom in one area of life, which is valuable for us personally and helpful to share with others, while simultaneously needing help in other areas of life. God therefore puts us together in the Body of Christ, His Church, so that together we might “spur one another on to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24), so that together we might be built up and “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”  (Ephesians 4:13).

When we quit listening to God’s truth through others, however, we deviate more and more from His path. We may have heard those truths numerous times in the past, but without that regular reminder from His people, we drift away. We close our ears; we are responsible for our wandering.

And yet who do we blame? In such situations, do we take responsibility ourselves?

When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. (Proverbs 19:3)

Do you know people like this? Those who have been blessed with a witness to the Gospel, who have read God’s Word, who have had every opportunity to follow Him – and yet angrily reject the Jesus of the Bible and try to turn others away from Him? This proverb tells us: Expect to encounter such people. They have ceased to hear instruction. They have strayed from the words of knowledge. In their anger against God they are driving themselves further and further from Him.

Pray that our gracious Lord may have mercy on such folks, granting them humility and repentance before Him. But then all the more, examine your own heart: Are you seeking out instruction? Or are you implicitly acting as if you have arrived, you have become wise, you don’t need instruction?

God has provided us with all that we need to know Him, to follow Him, to grow in Him, to take on His character, and to play our role in helping others to grow in Christ. May we therefore feed on His Word; may we seek out instruction and guidance from those wise in Him; and may He thereby conform us to His likeness more and more through these means, day by day, month by month – so that on Thanksgiving Day 2019 we may have many counselors, advisors, and guides to praise Him for.

At Last! The Psalms!

This Sunday we begin a multi-year sermon series on the book of Psalms. If our Lord is willing, over something like 75 sermons, we’ll cover the entire book from “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalm 1:1) to “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:5). Most weeks, as on October 9, we’ll consider more than one psalm. We’ll also break up the series into groups of about 15 sermons, returning to Romans to complete that series after the first set of psalms, and interspersing other New Testament series with the remaining psalms.

Why the book of Psalms?

At one level, it’s about time to consider it! While we read Scripture from this book almost every Sunday, only a handful sermons at DGCC have taken any of the psalms as their text.

At another level, the book of Psalms fits well with where we are in our preaching. Both Fred and I have focused in the past several months on key doctrines of the faith – who is God, what is man? How are we not condemned before Him? Where is the world headed? The psalms help us to see and to live out what must follow from such doctrines – the emotions, the affections, the praise, the crying out – as we live life in a sinful, fallen world.

Furthermore, when you read the psalms – personally, in your family, or in corporate worship – you are linking yourself with followers of God over the last three thousand years. Over centuries and millennia, these psalms have expressed and shaped the affections and emotions of God’s people. We pray that God will do the same with us – that our prayers might be shaped by these psalms and our attitudes might become more consistent with biblical doctrine as we hear and speak and live out these psalms.

Let’s look at seven forms that this expressing and shaping of emotions takes (modified from Mark Dever’s similar list in The Message of the Old Testament):

Praise: We proclaim the greatness of our God to all peoples and, indeed, to all creation, citing who He has proclaimed Himself to be:

Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! 
Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!  
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. 
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
Psalm 96:1-7

Remembering: We remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness to His covenant, especially as shown in the history of His people:

When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 77:16-20

Thanksgiving: Giving thanks in the psalms is not private, between an individual and God. Rather, thanksgiving in the psalms is always a form of public praise. Whether the psalmist is thanking God for assisting him personally or for helping the people, the thanksgiving praises God for such acts:

Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; 
they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. 
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 
He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. 
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! 
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
Psalm 107:17-22

Trust: Praising God for who He is, remembering His covenant love and faithful deeds, and thanking Him for His work on our behalf all serve to deepen our trust in Him. So the psalms call upon us to trust Him always, especially in the midst of trials and difficulties:

Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. 
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 
They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.
Psalm 20:6-8

Honest Lament:  Yet while we are in such trials and difficulties, God often seems distant and confusing. We cry out and don’t see an answer; we ask God to intervene, and don’t understand how He is at work. Many psalms reflect this confusion, this darkness; indeed, more than one-third of the psalms contain a lament. One author says there is so much lament in the psalms to “show that the experience of anguish and puzzlement in the life of faith is not a sign of deficient faith, something to be outgrown or put behind one, but rather is intrinsic to the very nature of faith” (R.W.L. Moberly, as quoted by B Waltke et al, The Psalms as Christian Lament, p. 1). Often these laments sound similar to Job’s cries:

O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me? 
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. 
Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me. 
They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. 
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.
Psalm 88:14-18

Love for and Obedience to God’s Law:  We delight in God’s revelation of His character in His Law, and strive to follow it by His grace, knowing that in following Him we find true life, true joy.

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. 
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. 
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. 
I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. 
I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. 
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 
Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:97-104

Repentance: Though we love His Law and strive to follow it, we often fall short. So we turn from our sin, confessing that God rightly condemns us and seeking forgiveness by His grace and mercy.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Psalm 51:1-4

May God be pleased to express and shape our affections and emotions through this great book, and so continue to transform us into His people who live to His glory among all the nations.

 

Thankful for the Word

In this Thanksgiving season, I am especially thankful for the Word of God.

Consider: Why don’t you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?

Here are three barriers that hinder such love:

  • The bad things in this world – including natural disasters, oppression, torture, and slavery. These can lead to doubts about the existence or power or love of God.
  • The good things in this world – God’s good gifts that we love more than the One who gives them. These lead us to take our eyes off of God. Even a wonderful spouse can lead us away from having an all-encompassing love for God, as we love that husband or wife more than we love Him. But temptations fit into this category also. Most temptations are for good things that we want in the wrong context: Sexual expression outside of marriage, more money or possessions than what God has granted us. So, often we respond in two wrong ways to the good things in this world: We either have them, and let our enjoyment and love for them become greater than our love for God; or we don’t have them, and spend our lives coveting them, thus failing to love God above all else.
  • The busy-ness of this world. Third, a lack of love for God may result not from some other desire or from tragedy – but just because we never even think of Him. We are so busy! We get up, get to work, get home, get dinner, watch our regular TV programs, exercise, call our parents, help the kids with the homework, take care of the dog. And, suddenly, it’s bedtime. The day’s over. Oops, no time with God today. So we say, “Well, tomorrow I’ll do that.” But then tomorrow zips by in the same manner.

How can we overcome these barriers and truly love God?

At the heart of all these barriers is ignorance of God – a practical ignorance if not an intellectual ignorance. If we let these barriers interfere with our love for God, then we are ignorant of God’s ways, of God’s delights, of what is most important.

How do we combat this ignorance? How do we tear down these barriers to loving God?

God’s Word is the key. God’s Word is the revelation of Who He is. God’s Word is the revelation of the only way to know Him, the only way to be acceptable to Him – through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. God’s Word shows us the way to true life, giving us the right perspective on all the rest of life.

So the key way, the only way to deal with those impediments to loving God is knowledge of His Word.

Note this carefully: Knowledge is necessary for love.

This is very different from the way many people think. Even some churches say, “Let’s not emphasize teaching. Let’s not emphasize doctrine. Let’s just give everyone enough teaching so that they are saved, but then forget the rest. Doctrine divides. Let’s just all love God, and love our fellow man.”

But the Bible tells us that we must know His Word if we are to love Him, and through His Word we are enabled to love our fellow man. Correct doctrine, rightly taught and rightly prompting love, is key for the Christian life.

Consider Philippians 1:7-11. Paul says he holds the Philippians in his heart. He yearns for them with the affection of Christ Jesus. So what does he pray for them? He prays that their love may become like His love: that is, coupled with or abounding with knowledge:

[I pray] that your love still more and more might abound in knowledge and all discernment, so that you might test and approve the things that really matter, in order that you might be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, being filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11, own translation)

Do you see what he is saying? He starts by acknowledging their love for God. He then prays that that love might be coupled with more and more knowledge, so that they can know the difference between what is important and what is not. Then they will take on character of Jesus Christ – thus fulfilling their purpose of glorifying Him, and loving Him that much more. So for Paul, love and knowledge are intimately related.

We must think in these categories! Love and knowledge are not antithetical. To say ‘I love God” and

  • not to be in His Word,
  • not to hear Him proclaimed through preaching,
  • not to listen to the public reading of the Scripture,
  • not to read good books about Him –

is to be stating a falsehood. You do not love God if you are not trying to know Him better. Truly to love God is to have the desire to know Him. And we know Him first and foremost through His Word.

Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:28-30). But these are not four independent ways of loving God! We cannot love God with all our heart unless we are also loving God with our mind. And vice versa.

Rather, loving God with all our mind is the way to love God with all our heart. So as we love God, we desire to know Him better. We thus will prayerfully fill our mind with His Word, and ask that God would open up His Word to us all the more. We therefore will know Him better, and love Him more – prompting us to seek Him through His Word all the more.

This is a type of virtuous circle, or positive feedback loop. Consider John 15:7:

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

Loving God prompts us to pray, and prayer leads us to love God more. So our primary request is that the first part of the verse be true for us: We pray that we might abide in Him, and that His Words might abide in us. Note that Jesus chooses to say, “If My words abide in you” and not simply “If I abide in you.” He is thereby making the point that abiding in Jesus is not a state of higher consciousness that we somehow attain. Knowledge of Jesus does not come in some mystical way, but from His revelation of Himself. Jesus became incarnate, and those who saw Him, wrote of Him, and the prophets who lived prior to Him were carried along by the Holy Spirit to write of Him. God superintended all that, so that we might come to know Him through the way He ordained.

So our love for God – as well as our love for each other – must be based on the truths presented in God’s Word. Our love for each other is not based on some general idea of human worth. Nor is it based on feelings of human oneness. Our love for God is not based on whatever conception of God and Jesus I come up with in my head. Our love for God – if it is a love that fulfills the Great Commandment – must be a love that is based on the revelation of God in His Word.

Therefore, a genuine love for God must prompt us to know more of His Word. If it does not, it is not a true love for God.

So be thankful for God’s Word! And may we be devoted to that Word in our churches, in our homes, and in our private lives. May we know His revelation better and better – and so love Him and love our neighbor more and more.

[This devotion is an edited version of the introduction to a sermon on Psalm 119 from 2005.]

Giving and Thanksgiving

I am not an auto mechanic. Indeed, that is an understatement. I know almost nothing about cars.

But I do know one thing about timing belts. That is: When the timing belt breaks, bad things happen.

So last week, when we decided to drive our 1999 Honda Odyssey to Michigan for my oldest son’s wedding this coming weekend, I checked in my records to see when we last changed the timing belt. Answer: 113,000 miles ago. Not wanting bad things to happen during this 1600 mile round trip, we took the van to C & S Auto.

This was a major expenditure by our standards. Now, we know that cars cost money to maintain, and had budgeted an amount for the year. This expenditure would have pushed us a few hundred dollars above budget through the end of May. We basically would have to spend money for car maintenance for June and July in May, and hope that we would not have to pay anything in this budget category for the next two months.

But it had to be done. We certainly were driving to the wedding, and taking the van made the most sense. So I dropped off the car at C & S.

Beth went to pick it up that evening. She gave the manager, Jeff, the credit card – using the card whose cycle had just ended, so the money wouldn’t actually have to come out of our checking account until mid-July.

Jeff said, “There’s no balance. It’s already been paid.”

“Oh! Did Coty pay this morning?”

“No. I can’t say who paid. But someone loves you very much.”

We do not know who paid this bill – Jeff kept his promise. But we thank you. This is “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18). For this gift is ultimately both from God and to God. It is God Himself who provides for every need of ours, using others as His agents (Philippians 4:19); and He provides to the glory of His Name (Philippians 4:20).

So we thank our provider God, who “supplies seed to the sower and bread for food,” who we trust

will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be enriched in every way for every expression of sincere concern, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9:10-11, own translation)

What are we trusting God to do? That is: What do these verses mean?

The main form of economic production in ancient Israel was agriculture. So seed and bread represent the inputs and the outputs of the nation’s most important economic production process. So Paul is saying that God is the provider of both the inputs and the outputs of production. We could say today, God is the one who provides steel to General Motors and the cars for us to drive.

But the expression “seed to the sower and bread for food” is a quotation from Isaiah 55:10-11, where it refers to God’s Word going out and being productive. It is not referring to the provision of material blessings, but to the provision of spiritual blessings.

So, in 2 Corinthians 9, Paul’s argues in this way: If God provides both the inputs and the outputs even in secular production, surely He will give you the inputs and the outputs of spiritual production – He will give the inputs and outputs of your righteousness. He will give you what you need to become righteous, and He will ensure that they produce that righteousness. So Paul says in verse 11, “You will be enriched in every way for every expression of sincere concern.” That is: He will give you all you need to show sincere concern to others – that is, to love your neighbor as yourself.

So clearly, “you will be enriched in every way” refers in this context to much more than money. Indeed, “the harvest of your righteousness,” the output of your having the righteousness of Christ, refers primarily to spiritual riches – becoming like Christ.

Nevertheless, God can and often does provide us with material blessings. Why does He do this? So that we can produce thanksgiving to Him through exhibiting sincere concern to others materially.  Thus, Randy Alcorn says, “When God provides more money, we often think, This is a blessing. Well, yes, but it would be just as scriptural to think, This is a test.” God has enriched you so that you might show sincere concern to others. Is that how you will use your riches?

So in verses 10 and 11, Paul in effect is saying, “Remember, God is the one who provides both the means to create wealth and all wealth itself. So when you are acting out of obedience to Him, when you are giving yourself first to God, when you are resting on His righteousness, He will provide all you need to become what He intends you to be. He will give you an abundance of Himself – the harvest of your righteousness – so that you might show what He is like to others.”

This is what some of you have done through this gift of a new Odyssey timing belt. And this is what many others of you are doing regularly through offerings to DGCC, through assistance to the needy, through support for missions work, through pouring your lives into international students, and a thousand other ways.

May God continue to give us more of Himself as we give ourselves wholeheartedly to Him – and thus may His Name be magnified as we express His sincere concern for those around us.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

Why Give Thanks?

(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)

What does the Bible tell us about thanksgiving?

Not about the American holiday. Not about pumpkins and Indian corn and turkeys. But about the giving of thanks to God. How does the Bible emphasize the importance of giving thanks? When are we to give thanks? To what end? For what reasons? In what manner should we give thanks?

In preparation for the holiday, I read all the verses of Scripture that contain the words “thank,” “thanks,” or “thanksgiving.” I encourage you to read a subset of these verses, available online at this link. Here are a few key verses to answer these questions: (more…)

Forget Not All His Benefits

(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)

David writes in Psalm 103:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits

Pray with me as I recount some of those benefits:

  • I praise You, Lord, for though I deserve your wrath and judgment, instead in Christ I have forgiveness for all my iniquities.
  • I praise You that Your love and mercy follow me all the days of my life.
  • I praise You for giving me health and energy – all the health and energy I need to fulfill Your plans for me. In particular, I thank You for the physical ability to go out for a run on this brilliant autumn day.
  • I praise You that You work justice for all the oppressed – that You will eventually right all wrongs, that You will eventually see that perfect justice is done. In the present, Lord, I thank You that it is possible today for a man to be elected President of this country who only a few decades ago would not have been allowed to sit next to me at a lunch counter in this city. (more…)