A Recipe for Thanksgiving Joy
John R. Petrilli
Don’t you just love the harvest season? So do I! There’s nothing quite like the foliage flurry of a thousand hues. Add to this the growing anticipation of the holidays when we revisit the annual tradition of gathering together with family and friends. A large part of that tradition is the delicious and plentiful foods that tantalize and delight our palates. Attentive household gourmets search high and low for just the right new recipe that will add a flavorful and festive tone to their celebrations. There are recipes for mouth-watering roasts, nutritious vegetable dishes, healthy salads, and, of course, we can’t leave out those scrumptious holiday pies!
While enjoying a bountiful meal with loved ones is a wonderful centuries-old holiday tradition, true and lasting joy is found at a much deeper level. The level of the spirit. Hard economic times notwithstanding, the believer in Jesus Christ doesn’t have to look far for ways to count their many blessings. The apostle Paul’s writings are chock-full of thanksgiving for the people he knew and the profound spiritual blessings he enjoyed as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Surprisingly, most of his blessings were non-material in nature. I really think it will do us a world of good to reflect on some of these oft-overlooked ingredients of life that will make every day a ‘Thanksgiving Day.’
GOD’S RECIPE FOR THANKSGIVING JOY INCLUDES THE INGREDIENT OF FAITHFUL FRIENDS. Phil. 1:3-5
“Every time I think of you, I THANK my God. And whenever I mention you in my prayers it makes me very happy.” (CEV)
Some people have mistakenly characterized Paul as a spiritual “Lone Ranger”. But if you look closely at his correspondence, it becomes very clear that Paul highly valued and greatly appreciated the people God brought
into his life. One church in particular stands out in this regard, the believers in the city of Philippi. Every time Paul thought of them, his heart warmed with thanksgiving for their exemplary faith and shining witness for Christ. So deep was his gratitude to God for these co-laborers that he included a personal thank you note to them at the close of his letter. He appreciated the ongoing support they gave him in prayer as well as practical assistance. They didn’t forget Paul after he left their midst, but stayed abreast and informed of his whereabouts and needs. Then, as true friends, they took steps to meet those needs in a generous and consistent manner. Who wouldn’t be thankful for such friends? Who has God brought into your life as a supporting, caring friend? Be thankful for them!
GOD’S RECIPE FOR THANKSGIVING JOY CALLS FOR THE INGREDIENT OF GOD’S DAILY PROVISION. 1 Tim. 4:3-4
“God created these foods to be eaten with THANKFUL hearts by His followers who know the truth. Everything God created is good. And if you give THANKS, you may eat anything. What God has said and your prayer make it fit to eat.” (CEV)
I fear that we who have little to do with the raising of crops and the milking of cows often take them for granted. It’s hard for us to see the connection between the product and the great efforts that were expended to get it to our tables. We just cruise through the grocery store aisles nearly oblivious to all that was involved in getting everything on the shelves to market. We simply buy them, bag them, and then consume them. I wonder how different our gratitude level might be if we spent a month or two investing sweat and toil into a farm. I’d venture to guess that we’d see things a whole lot differently. The grain farmer KNOWS that God sent the rain he prayed for. The dairy farmer understands that all his efforts are in vain apart from God keeping his herd healthy. We can and should be genuinely grateful for something as simple as food because, at the end of the day, it is a gift from the hand of our loving and generous Creator. Paul appreciated his daily meals, thanked God for them, and encouraged all believers to adopt an attitude of gratitude for their daily bread. In so doing he was only practicing what His Lord did as He broke bread with is disciples (1 Cor. 11:24). And somehow, in some way, such a prayer sanctifies, blesses, and makes special the meal that we partake of.
GOD’S RECIPE FOR THANKSGIVING JOY REQUIRES THE INGREDIENT OF SALVATION. 2 Cor. 9:15
“THANK God for His gift that is too wonderful for words!” (CEV)
A list of blessings that doesn’t include our salvation needs to be rewritten. Gratitude to God for His saving grace through the cross and blood of Jesus Christ merits a song of everlasting thanksgiving. We should be engaged in this hymn of joyful gratitude THIS side of heaven because, it’s for certain, we’ll be doing so on the OTHER side for all eternity (Rev. 7:9-12 ; 5:9,12). Here’s an ingredient of thanksgiving that knows no boundaries. If the stock market crashes, we still have our salvation. If a pink slip comes across our desk, we still have our salvation. When sickness saps our health and strength, we can still rejoice in our salvation. When death takes one of our loved ones, we still have our salvation. No degree of adversity or loss can ever rob us of this supreme joy of salvation. Habakkuk knew this secret (Habakkuk 3:17-18). Paul describes the precious gift of our salvation as “unspeakable”, “indescribable”, “and inexpressible”. Its value escapes mere words, it defies description, its inestimable treasure can never be adequately verbalized.
GOD’S RECIPE FOR THANKSGIVING JOY LISTS THE INGREDIENT OF USEFULNESS TO GOD. 2 Cor. 2:14
“But THANKS be to God, Who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread His knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume.” (Everyday Bible)
Nothing aggravates us more than when we’ve discovered that someone has used us. We feel cheated, devalued, taken for granted. But what a different result when we’ve been used by God! Instead of anger we experience supreme joy! Paul uses powerful imagery to describe what being used by God looks and feels like. He says it’s a lot like a perfumed fragrance that permeates a room with its refreshing, delightful aromatic bouquet (cf. John 12:3). Paul borrows an illustration from a Roman victory parade where incense was burned profusely to celebrate a successful military campaign against enemy armies. The smell of that incense signaled to all viewing the parade that a great victory had been won on the battlefield. Paul transfers that image to the spiritual victory over death which Christ won at the cross. He thanked God for the privilege he had to further spread the fragrance of that monster victory to the whole world. Paul was glad he was being used by God to permeate his generation and culture with the gospel. How has God used you this past year? Count the ways, and thank Him for each and every privilege He’s granted you!
GOD’S RECIPE FOR THANKSGIVING JOY ADDS A TOUCH OF HEAVEN-SENT TRIALS. James 1:2-4
“When all kinds of trials crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but WELCOME them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is filly developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence.” (Phillips)
Thank God for difficulties? This must be some kind of typo, right? Not at all! Like a book, we must be careful not to judge a trial by its cover. On the cover trials appear ugly, painful, miserable, a useless waste of time, something to be avoided at all costs. But they are the very things God uses to build solid character in our lives…if we let Him. J Think for a moment. When have you experienced the greatest spurts of personal and spiritual growth? Was it when everything was rosy and calm? I’ll venture to guess that it was when your life was being turned-inside out and upside-down. It’s usually then that we recognize our complete dependence on God for wisdom and successful resolution. We can’t possibly steer our way through such times. We lack the foresight, ability and patience to pull it off on our own. Yes, we actually can and should be most thankful for the trials that invade our well-ordered lives, because they create the setting for God to move in and do for and in us what we could never do for ourselves. Our gratitude is not some “pie-in-the-sky” reaction, but a response firmly grounded in the incredible truth that God will take that trial and work it out into something that will be a blessing to us and those around us. We’ll exit the tunnel of trial stronger, wiser, and far more mature. Whatever you plunk into your Thanksgiving recipe, don’t leave out this indispensible ingredient. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Good News Paper to all of you! J J
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Gratitude … It’s All About Attitude!
Gratitude … It’s All About Attitude!
John R. Petrilli
It was the spring of 1620. Six months earlier 101 religious refugees fleeing English persecution landed on the Massachusetts coastline. In the ensuing months one-half of the passengers on the Mayflower died, and most of the remaining travelers became sick with pneumonia, tuberculosis, and scurvy. Numbered among the dead was Dorothy May Bradford, wife of governor William Bradford, who tragically drowned in the Cape Cod Bay. Despite a three-month drought that withered the corn and cracked the ground, these hearty souls endured major losses, built houses, and succeeded in planting the first colony in the New World.
What’s even more amazing, they gathered together on November 29, 1620 to hold a colony-wide celebration of thanksgiving to God! How could they do that? They had learned the secret of cultivating an attitude of gratitude. The pilgrims knew their Bibles, and they believed it’s teaching that God desired them to “give thanks in all circumstances”. As Thanksgiving 2005 approaches, we have every reason to possess a grateful heart. To help us experience that blessing, Psalm 103 provides three tips that will help us to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
WE CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE BY ENGAGING IN SPIRITUAL MATHEMATICS. Psalm 103:3-5
The author of this Psalm, David, experienced a lifetime of God’s deliverance, blessing, protection, provision, and prosperity. David begins his poem with a self-exhortation to combat his tendency toward spiritual dementia. As if looking into a mirror, David tells himself not to forget all of God’s blessings on his life. If you’re not feeling all that thankful this season, you may want to check your “forgetfulness” file to find the reason why. Blessings continue to fall all around us, but forgetfulness can easily rob us of the joy of gratitude. While our media-driven culture sows its seeds of greed, materialism, and discontent, we can sit back and take stock of all that we DO have. That’s what is meant by the phrase “spiritual mathematics”. It’s the discipline of counting and savoring each and every blessing in our lives.
The First Calculation in Spiritual Math Involves Spiritual Blessings. As the song “Count Your Many Blessings” encourages, we engage in spiritual mathematics by itemizing one by one the ways God has blessed us. The first blessing David included on his “Thank you” list was forgiveness of sins. While David was indeed a man after God’s own heart, he was also a man with feet of clay just like us. He knew all too well the agonies of spiritual defeat, and the crushing weight of unconfessed sin. But David also knew what it meant to be forgiven by God. He knew what it was to fall, but he also knew what it was to be restored to a place of fellowship and usefulness. In Psalm 32 David describes the total recovery he experienced as he cast himself totally upon the mercy of God. So in writing Psalm 103 he places forgiveness and restoration at the top of his “thanksgiving list”. But there’s more. Also included on his list is deliverance from an eternity of spiritual loss. In verse 4 David cites God’s act of delivering his life from eternal ruin and destruction. The death-wage of sin is comprehensive, including both physical as well as spiritual death. David’s awareness of the awful and endless consequences of sin made him all the more grateful for God’s deliverance. Have you experienced forgiveness of sins and deliverance from a Christless eternity? If not, this could be your first REAL Thanksgiving! For those of us who have, not a single day should go by without pausing to thank God for the saving sacrifice of His dear Son on the Cross. Despite a life of constant trial and intense suffering, the apostle Paul remembered what he was delivered from with these words: “God rescued us from certain doom.” (2 Cor.1:10, Message). David celebrated his salvation, and so did Paul, so the question remains, “Are we celebrating OUR salvation?”
The Second Calculation in Spiritual Math Involves Temporal Blessings. “If you have your health, you have everything!” I think David would have subscribed to that maxim, for we see him thanking the Lord for his health. As David begins to ponder his earthly blessings he realizes that while many around him are sick, he enjoys good health. He also attributes the health we enjoy as a direct or indirect blessing from the Hand of God. Whether it’s through the prayer of faith, or the wisdom of a physician, God alone gets all the glory for restoring and maintaining our bodily health. It is He who “heals all our diseases”. David fell victim to sickness and disease just as we do. Sometimes he just fell ill, while other times he was under divine disciplinary action. In Psalm 32 David gave a detailed description of the latter, as God used orthopedic pain and dehydration to bring him to his spiritual senses. God’s purposes were eventually accomplished as David confessed his sins and was mercifully healed and restored by God. Whether our sickness is incidental or disciplinary, God has included healing in the benefits package we can so heartily thank Him for. But David doesn’t end there, he goes on to add material prosperity to his thank you list. In verses 4 and 5 he paints a picture of a coronation ceremony where God is placing a crown of blessing upon his head. Back in David’s day, blessing was measured in terms of agricultural yield and livestock. Psalm 65:11-13 depicts God crowning the year with goodness in the form of huge flocks and overflowing fields of grain. Proceeds from the sale of these agricultural products provided a significant source of monetary income. According to the apostle Paul, our possession of food, clothing, and a roof over our head is cause enough for thanksgiving! (1 Timothy 6:8). When was the last time you thanked God for the precious gift of your salvation? When was the last time you thanked Him for something so valuable as your health, or something so necessary as your daily provisions?
WE CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE BY ACKNOWLEDGING THE MANIFOLD MERCIES OF GOD. 8, 11, 12, 17
Next time you find yourself singing the song, “I Will Sing Of The Mercies of the Lord Forever”, look up to Heaven because David may be singing right along with you. David gives us a mini-seminar on mercy in this Psalm.
First He Tells Us that God’s Mercies are LIMITLESS! In verse eight David says that the mercies of God abound. When the world dispenses benefits, it measures them out in an exacting, stingy manner. Not so with God. When He extends His mercies to us, they are poured-out in an abundant and overflowing manner, as each new day brings fresh, new mercies.
Second, David Declares God’s Mercies to be FATHOMLESS! In verse 11 we discover that the volume of God’s mercies are as great as the distance
between heaven and earth. In ancient times they didn’t have the benefit of modern scientific instruments. To them the distance between the starry heavens and the earth was incalculable, and thus quite unfathomable. Today we know from radio telescope measurements that the distance from earth to the nearest star is around 25 trillion miles. But even though we know the distance between the earth and the heavens, for all practical purposes, that distance is still unfathomable. That’s how it is with God’s mercies! They are far too vast to comprehend. Remember that the next time you come to God for forgiveness of a repeated failure.
Third, We See That God’s Mercies Are MEASURELESS! “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” In verse 11 we saw David draws an illustration from the field of astronomy, and here in verse 12 he uses an illustration from the field of geography. In the world of geography the terms “east” and “west” are really imaginary designations. There is no actual beginning nor end to either direction. So the distance between them is technically immeasurable. In His mercy, God moves our sins so far away from us that they’ll never have any influence on our standing with or acceptance by God.
The Fourth Quality about God’s Mercies is that They’re TIMELESS! In verse 17 David rejoices over the fact that God’s mercies last “from everlasting to everlasting”. In life we catch a “break” every once in a while. But God’s mercies just don’t stop coming, and unbelievably, they never will. David uses a clever play on words here. Having commented on the brevity of human life, he holds up the chronological length of God’s mercy, and that span works-out to FOREVER. “Everlasting” has no beginning and no end. God’s mercies have been bestowed on us in the past, are being bestowed on us in the present, and will continue being bestowed on us on into eternity! When was the last time you expressed your appreciation to God for the countless tender mercies He has favored you with?
WE CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE BY DEVELOPING THE FINE ART OF PRAISE. 20-22
As David wraps up this Psalm, he closes with a crescendo of praise. He does so by describing the three languages of praise. First, in verses 20-21 he identifies praise as the language of heaven as he exhorts the courts of glory to render their praise to God. Included in this charge are angels as well as the entire heavenly host. Isn’t it interesting how whenever Scripture provides a glimpse of Heaven, we’re often ushered into a scene of thunderous praise? If you don’t enjoy praising God, perhaps you should consider canceling your reservations for Heaven?
In verse 22a we learn that praise is also meant to be the language of the entire universe! David proceeds to “cheer-on” the rest of the created universe to engage in praise. One may wonder just how inanimate objects like stars can actually engage in praise, yet in Psalm 148 we see the sun, moon, stars, fire, hail, snow, wind, mountains, hills, trees, animals, fish, birds, and even insects praising their great Creator. God created everything in the universe for His pleasure, and that pleasure is fully realized as each part honors Him with its praise.
Finally, in verse 22b we find that praise is to be the language of the human heart. “Bless the Lord, O My Soul!” shouts David. And with good cause, for we’ve been redeemed at great cost, and Ephesians 1 reveals that the end result of our salvation is to bring praise to God for His glorious grace! For practical purposes, I’d like to end this article with what I call “Four Pictures of Praise”.
In Psalm 116:12-14 David uses the picture of an offering as he takes up the cup of salvation as a tangible way of saying “thank you” to God. The point here is that our sacrifice of praise should be offered up WILLINGLY. In Hebrews 13:15 the apostle Paul uses the imagery of a harvest offering to parallel the act of giving verbal praise to God. Here we see that our sacrifice of praise is to be offered up on a continual basis. In 1 Peter 2:9 the apostle Peter chooses the sacrificial duties of the Levitical priesthood to provide a parallel to the believer’s calling to offer up the spiritual sacrifice of praise. Now there’s one duty we won’t want to be found derelict in! The concept here is that our sacrifice of praise is to be offered up publicly. And then there’s the exhortation in Psalm 103:1 bless the Lord with everything that’s within us. This implies that we’re to offer our praises wholeheartedly. Here David reached the pinnacle of praise where his entire personality was involved in the act. Wholehearted praise engages every fiber of our being. God didn’t withhold any benefits from David, so David, in turn, doesn’t withhold any part of himself from God.
The Lord pulled-out all the stops with blessings, and David pulled-out all the stops in his response of praise! I can think of no better time than Thanksgiving to pull-out the stops praise the Lord!
John R. Petrilli
It was the spring of 1620. Six months earlier 101 religious refugees fleeing English persecution landed on the Massachusetts coastline. In the ensuing months one-half of the passengers on the Mayflower died, and most of the remaining travelers became sick with pneumonia, tuberculosis, and scurvy. Numbered among the dead was Dorothy May Bradford, wife of governor William Bradford, who tragically drowned in the Cape Cod Bay. Despite a three-month drought that withered the corn and cracked the ground, these hearty souls endured major losses, built houses, and succeeded in planting the first colony in the New World.
What’s even more amazing, they gathered together on November 29, 1620 to hold a colony-wide celebration of thanksgiving to God! How could they do that? They had learned the secret of cultivating an attitude of gratitude. The pilgrims knew their Bibles, and they believed it’s teaching that God desired them to “give thanks in all circumstances”. As Thanksgiving 2005 approaches, we have every reason to possess a grateful heart. To help us experience that blessing, Psalm 103 provides three tips that will help us to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
WE CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE BY ENGAGING IN SPIRITUAL MATHEMATICS. Psalm 103:3-5
The author of this Psalm, David, experienced a lifetime of God’s deliverance, blessing, protection, provision, and prosperity. David begins his poem with a self-exhortation to combat his tendency toward spiritual dementia. As if looking into a mirror, David tells himself not to forget all of God’s blessings on his life. If you’re not feeling all that thankful this season, you may want to check your “forgetfulness” file to find the reason why. Blessings continue to fall all around us, but forgetfulness can easily rob us of the joy of gratitude. While our media-driven culture sows its seeds of greed, materialism, and discontent, we can sit back and take stock of all that we DO have. That’s what is meant by the phrase “spiritual mathematics”. It’s the discipline of counting and savoring each and every blessing in our lives.
The First Calculation in Spiritual Math Involves Spiritual Blessings. As the song “Count Your Many Blessings” encourages, we engage in spiritual mathematics by itemizing one by one the ways God has blessed us. The first blessing David included on his “Thank you” list was forgiveness of sins. While David was indeed a man after God’s own heart, he was also a man with feet of clay just like us. He knew all too well the agonies of spiritual defeat, and the crushing weight of unconfessed sin. But David also knew what it meant to be forgiven by God. He knew what it was to fall, but he also knew what it was to be restored to a place of fellowship and usefulness. In Psalm 32 David describes the total recovery he experienced as he cast himself totally upon the mercy of God. So in writing Psalm 103 he places forgiveness and restoration at the top of his “thanksgiving list”. But there’s more. Also included on his list is deliverance from an eternity of spiritual loss. In verse 4 David cites God’s act of delivering his life from eternal ruin and destruction. The death-wage of sin is comprehensive, including both physical as well as spiritual death. David’s awareness of the awful and endless consequences of sin made him all the more grateful for God’s deliverance. Have you experienced forgiveness of sins and deliverance from a Christless eternity? If not, this could be your first REAL Thanksgiving! For those of us who have, not a single day should go by without pausing to thank God for the saving sacrifice of His dear Son on the Cross. Despite a life of constant trial and intense suffering, the apostle Paul remembered what he was delivered from with these words: “God rescued us from certain doom.” (2 Cor.1:10, Message). David celebrated his salvation, and so did Paul, so the question remains, “Are we celebrating OUR salvation?”
The Second Calculation in Spiritual Math Involves Temporal Blessings. “If you have your health, you have everything!” I think David would have subscribed to that maxim, for we see him thanking the Lord for his health. As David begins to ponder his earthly blessings he realizes that while many around him are sick, he enjoys good health. He also attributes the health we enjoy as a direct or indirect blessing from the Hand of God. Whether it’s through the prayer of faith, or the wisdom of a physician, God alone gets all the glory for restoring and maintaining our bodily health. It is He who “heals all our diseases”. David fell victim to sickness and disease just as we do. Sometimes he just fell ill, while other times he was under divine disciplinary action. In Psalm 32 David gave a detailed description of the latter, as God used orthopedic pain and dehydration to bring him to his spiritual senses. God’s purposes were eventually accomplished as David confessed his sins and was mercifully healed and restored by God. Whether our sickness is incidental or disciplinary, God has included healing in the benefits package we can so heartily thank Him for. But David doesn’t end there, he goes on to add material prosperity to his thank you list. In verses 4 and 5 he paints a picture of a coronation ceremony where God is placing a crown of blessing upon his head. Back in David’s day, blessing was measured in terms of agricultural yield and livestock. Psalm 65:11-13 depicts God crowning the year with goodness in the form of huge flocks and overflowing fields of grain. Proceeds from the sale of these agricultural products provided a significant source of monetary income. According to the apostle Paul, our possession of food, clothing, and a roof over our head is cause enough for thanksgiving! (1 Timothy 6:8). When was the last time you thanked God for the precious gift of your salvation? When was the last time you thanked Him for something so valuable as your health, or something so necessary as your daily provisions?
WE CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE BY ACKNOWLEDGING THE MANIFOLD MERCIES OF GOD. 8, 11, 12, 17
Next time you find yourself singing the song, “I Will Sing Of The Mercies of the Lord Forever”, look up to Heaven because David may be singing right along with you. David gives us a mini-seminar on mercy in this Psalm.
First He Tells Us that God’s Mercies are LIMITLESS! In verse eight David says that the mercies of God abound. When the world dispenses benefits, it measures them out in an exacting, stingy manner. Not so with God. When He extends His mercies to us, they are poured-out in an abundant and overflowing manner, as each new day brings fresh, new mercies.
Second, David Declares God’s Mercies to be FATHOMLESS! In verse 11 we discover that the volume of God’s mercies are as great as the distance
between heaven and earth. In ancient times they didn’t have the benefit of modern scientific instruments. To them the distance between the starry heavens and the earth was incalculable, and thus quite unfathomable. Today we know from radio telescope measurements that the distance from earth to the nearest star is around 25 trillion miles. But even though we know the distance between the earth and the heavens, for all practical purposes, that distance is still unfathomable. That’s how it is with God’s mercies! They are far too vast to comprehend. Remember that the next time you come to God for forgiveness of a repeated failure.
Third, We See That God’s Mercies Are MEASURELESS! “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” In verse 11 we saw David draws an illustration from the field of astronomy, and here in verse 12 he uses an illustration from the field of geography. In the world of geography the terms “east” and “west” are really imaginary designations. There is no actual beginning nor end to either direction. So the distance between them is technically immeasurable. In His mercy, God moves our sins so far away from us that they’ll never have any influence on our standing with or acceptance by God.
The Fourth Quality about God’s Mercies is that They’re TIMELESS! In verse 17 David rejoices over the fact that God’s mercies last “from everlasting to everlasting”. In life we catch a “break” every once in a while. But God’s mercies just don’t stop coming, and unbelievably, they never will. David uses a clever play on words here. Having commented on the brevity of human life, he holds up the chronological length of God’s mercy, and that span works-out to FOREVER. “Everlasting” has no beginning and no end. God’s mercies have been bestowed on us in the past, are being bestowed on us in the present, and will continue being bestowed on us on into eternity! When was the last time you expressed your appreciation to God for the countless tender mercies He has favored you with?
WE CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE BY DEVELOPING THE FINE ART OF PRAISE. 20-22
As David wraps up this Psalm, he closes with a crescendo of praise. He does so by describing the three languages of praise. First, in verses 20-21 he identifies praise as the language of heaven as he exhorts the courts of glory to render their praise to God. Included in this charge are angels as well as the entire heavenly host. Isn’t it interesting how whenever Scripture provides a glimpse of Heaven, we’re often ushered into a scene of thunderous praise? If you don’t enjoy praising God, perhaps you should consider canceling your reservations for Heaven?
In verse 22a we learn that praise is also meant to be the language of the entire universe! David proceeds to “cheer-on” the rest of the created universe to engage in praise. One may wonder just how inanimate objects like stars can actually engage in praise, yet in Psalm 148 we see the sun, moon, stars, fire, hail, snow, wind, mountains, hills, trees, animals, fish, birds, and even insects praising their great Creator. God created everything in the universe for His pleasure, and that pleasure is fully realized as each part honors Him with its praise.
Finally, in verse 22b we find that praise is to be the language of the human heart. “Bless the Lord, O My Soul!” shouts David. And with good cause, for we’ve been redeemed at great cost, and Ephesians 1 reveals that the end result of our salvation is to bring praise to God for His glorious grace! For practical purposes, I’d like to end this article with what I call “Four Pictures of Praise”.
In Psalm 116:12-14 David uses the picture of an offering as he takes up the cup of salvation as a tangible way of saying “thank you” to God. The point here is that our sacrifice of praise should be offered up WILLINGLY. In Hebrews 13:15 the apostle Paul uses the imagery of a harvest offering to parallel the act of giving verbal praise to God. Here we see that our sacrifice of praise is to be offered up on a continual basis. In 1 Peter 2:9 the apostle Peter chooses the sacrificial duties of the Levitical priesthood to provide a parallel to the believer’s calling to offer up the spiritual sacrifice of praise. Now there’s one duty we won’t want to be found derelict in! The concept here is that our sacrifice of praise is to be offered up publicly. And then there’s the exhortation in Psalm 103:1 bless the Lord with everything that’s within us. This implies that we’re to offer our praises wholeheartedly. Here David reached the pinnacle of praise where his entire personality was involved in the act. Wholehearted praise engages every fiber of our being. God didn’t withhold any benefits from David, so David, in turn, doesn’t withhold any part of himself from God.
The Lord pulled-out all the stops with blessings, and David pulled-out all the stops in his response of praise! I can think of no better time than Thanksgiving to pull-out the stops praise the Lord!
A Song of Thanksgiving
A Song of Thanksgiving
John R. Petrilli
Christian hymnody is replete with songs of praise and thanksgiving. One of my fondest Thanksgiving memories is a holiday I shared with the family of a classmate from Bible School. Instead of the customary after-dinner football game, this Christian family gathered around the piano and sang a series of favorite harvest hymns. It was a very enjoyable and uplifting experience. We sang “Harvest Home”, “Now Thank We All Our God” and many other great songs of thanksgiving.
Singing songs of thanksgiving to God by no means originates with the American experience. For centuries, cultures around the world have celebrated as they hauled in the precious, life-sustaining fruits of their crops. In fact, in Psalm 65 we have the record of a harvest hymn that dates back literally thousands of years. A close look at how the people of Israel celebrated their time of harvest provides us with some keys to making our Thanksgiving an unforgettable celebration of the goodness and greatness of our God.
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR PRAYER ANSWERING GOD. 1-2
“Oh You Who hear prayer, to You all men shall come.”
Of the many things David was, he was most prominently a man of prayer. The Psalms he authored reveal a heart that diligently sought God’s face and boldly requested great things from the Lord. David’s life breathed prayer, practicing it at least three times throughout the span of a day (Psa. 55:17). This King of Israel prayed with utmost confidence in God’s ability and willingness to not only hear his request, but to grant it according to His perfect will (Psa. 5:3). That confidence proved to be well-placed as he received answer after answer from his Lord (Psalm 118:5). What instances of answered prayer can you recall this past year? Why not make a list and turn it into a song of thanksgiving to be sung around your Thanksgiving table?
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR SIN FORGIVING GOD. 3
“When we were overwhelmed by sins, You forgave our transgressions!”
Amazing at it may seem, the character quality of forgiveness is glaringly lacking in the ‘gods’ of non-Christian religions. Those ‘gods’ are vengeful, impersonal, detached, unreachable, or capricious. Only Christianity and Judaism portray a God Who knows how to forgive, and actually wants to extend this grace to His fallen creatures. When David says that God forgave him when he was overwhelmed by his sins, he knows that of which he speaks. This is the same David who stole a man’s wife in adultery, then had the audacity to eliminate the husband and marry the recently widowed adulterous partner! Just how ‘overwhelmed’ was David? At first not much. But as time went on he became increasingly troubled by his heinous actions. In Psalm 51 we see him depressed (8), guilty (14), and broken (17). In Psalm 32 David’s pitiful existence included unbearable stress, sleepless nights, loss of stamina, and drowning in a sea of personal misery. Psalm 38 shows a man totally overwhelmed by sadness, sickness, weakness, emptiness, and friendlessness. But all of that disappeared the very second he confessed and repented of his sins against the Lord (Psa. 32:5; 2 Sam. 12:13). We too can know this same blessing of forgiveness from God as we confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:9). Freedom from sin’s guilt can be ours; it’s only a prayer of repentance away! And best of all, there’s no ‘threshold’ of forgiveness, no limit to how many times God will forgive us if we deal sincerely and decisively with those things that have marred our fellowship with Him … Hallelujah!!
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR GRACIOUSLY HOSPITABLE GOD. 4
“Blessed are those You choose and bring near to live in Your courts! We are filled with the good things of Your house, of Your holy temple.”
Homelessness is approaching epidemic proportions in America. Over 3.5 million Americans live on the streets and a whopping 36 million are only one paycheck away from joining this desperate population. Tens of thousands have lost jobs, homes, and even their families, falling through the cultural cracks and landing in the streets of our cities. This is a tragedy of huge proportions. What these unfortunates would give to be welcomed into a home filled with the good things of Thanksgiving … the warmth of human kindness, the love of family and friends, the joy of fellowship. Many have been blessed by the loving outreach of the many city missions that provide a Thanksgiving meal with all the traditional trimmings, and served by the loving, friendly hands of those freely volunteering their time on a busy holiday. God bless them, every one!
While physical homelessness can and does happen, no such state exists in the spiritual realm of the family of God. The Lord is always seen extending His hand of invitation to us to enter into His presence and House. David declares that he had found life, joy and endless pleasure in the presence of God (Psa. 16:11). The Lord’s goodness and mercy became evident to David as he spent time worshipping and fellowshipping among His people in the temple (Psa. 23:6). One of God’s favorite words is “Come”. He’s constantly inviting us over to His place to share a meal, engage in conversation, and enjoy one another’s company … not unlike the hospitality of a great, lifelong friend or loving relative. Jesus picks up on this same theme, inviting all who would to “come” to God for relief from the burdens of daily life that they bear (Matt. 11:28). Even at the end of the Bible we see God reaching out to us in the third Person of the Holy Spirit, Who says, “Come” (Rev. 22:17). As we reflect on the year gone by, we surely have a lot to thank God for as we consider all the wonderful times of hospitality and fellowship we’ve had in His house with Him and His people.
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR WONDER WORKING GOD. 5-8
“You answer us with awesome deeds … Who formed the mountains by Your power … Who stilled the roaring of the seas … [Who stilled] the turmoil of the nations. Those living far away fear Your wonders.”
I recall building a volcanic mountain for my ninth grade science class, but that doesn’t even come close to a single cliff created by God! I had the opportunity to swim in a “wave pool” in Illinois, where a mechanism causes the surface to roll into high waves across the length of the pool. But compared to the waves of the sea, this isn’t even a trickle! I’ve known the peace of a reconciled friendship, but as important as that may be, it pales in comparison to ending world wars among the nations of the earth! God makes mountains, calms seas, and ends international conflicts. These are wonder-working acts that can only be achieved by a wonder-working God! The Father showed His wonderful side to His people Israel in the wilderness (Acts 7:36). Isaiah called Jesus the “Wonderful Counselor”, and rightfully so. When on earth in a human body, Jesus repeatedly left His audience awestruck with wonder (Luke 4:36-37). The Holy Spirit continued to display God’s wonder-working power through the apostles as they worked wonder after wonder in the days of the infant Church (Acts 2:43; 5:12; 14:3; 15:12).
But the greatest wonder God ever works is that of transforming the human heart. He takes a sinful, rebellious, hopeless, hell-bound lives and remakes them into something beautiful. Paul likens this transformation to the process of metamorphosis, the biological process responsible for a caterpillar becoming a butterfly and a tadpole becoming a bullfrog (2 Cor. 5:17). The change involved in spiritual regeneration likewise is dramatic, complete and permanent. If you’ve been the recipient of God’s wonder-working, saving and transforming power, why not take a moment out (right now?) and thank Him from the depths of your redeemed heart?
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR GENEROUSLY GIVING GOD. 9-13
“You enrich the land and water abundantly … [You] provide the people with grain … You crown the year with Your bounty … Your carts overflow … the grasslands overflow … the meadows are covered with flocks … the valleys are mantled with grain.”
I fear that we who have little to do with the raising of crops and the milking of cows often take our food for granted. We just cruise through the grocery store aisles oblivious to all that was involved in getting to market what we see on the shelves. It’s hard for us to make the connection between the product and the effort expended to get it to our tables. We simply buy them, bag them, and consume them. I wonder how different our gratitude level might be if we spent a month or two working on a farm. I’d venture to guess that we’d see things a whole lot differently. The grain farmer KNOWS that God sent the rain he prayed for. The dairy farmer UNDERSTANDS that all his efforts are in vain apart from God keeping his herd healthy. We should be genuinely grateful for something as simple as food because, at the end of the day, it is a gift from the hand of our loving and generous Creator.
Here David pictures a harvest landscape that graphically depicts the abundance which God showers upon His people. He carefully maintains the ecosystems that support both plant and animal life. God insures that seeds become plants, and plants become grain. As the “Master Meteorologist” He measures out just the right amount of sunshine and precipitation to guarantee an abundant harvest. Contrast this abundance with the stark poverty of many nations who have chosen to worship other gods. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psa. 33:12). Thanks to the reverence of our forefathers, we’ve enjoyed over two centuries of economic prosperity here in America. While America’s moral drift leaves us with an uncertain future, we can still be thankful for the multitudinous blessings we’ve each received in our lifetime. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Good News Paper to all of you! J J
John R. Petrilli
Christian hymnody is replete with songs of praise and thanksgiving. One of my fondest Thanksgiving memories is a holiday I shared with the family of a classmate from Bible School. Instead of the customary after-dinner football game, this Christian family gathered around the piano and sang a series of favorite harvest hymns. It was a very enjoyable and uplifting experience. We sang “Harvest Home”, “Now Thank We All Our God” and many other great songs of thanksgiving.
Singing songs of thanksgiving to God by no means originates with the American experience. For centuries, cultures around the world have celebrated as they hauled in the precious, life-sustaining fruits of their crops. In fact, in Psalm 65 we have the record of a harvest hymn that dates back literally thousands of years. A close look at how the people of Israel celebrated their time of harvest provides us with some keys to making our Thanksgiving an unforgettable celebration of the goodness and greatness of our God.
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR PRAYER ANSWERING GOD. 1-2
“Oh You Who hear prayer, to You all men shall come.”
Of the many things David was, he was most prominently a man of prayer. The Psalms he authored reveal a heart that diligently sought God’s face and boldly requested great things from the Lord. David’s life breathed prayer, practicing it at least three times throughout the span of a day (Psa. 55:17). This King of Israel prayed with utmost confidence in God’s ability and willingness to not only hear his request, but to grant it according to His perfect will (Psa. 5:3). That confidence proved to be well-placed as he received answer after answer from his Lord (Psalm 118:5). What instances of answered prayer can you recall this past year? Why not make a list and turn it into a song of thanksgiving to be sung around your Thanksgiving table?
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR SIN FORGIVING GOD. 3
“When we were overwhelmed by sins, You forgave our transgressions!”
Amazing at it may seem, the character quality of forgiveness is glaringly lacking in the ‘gods’ of non-Christian religions. Those ‘gods’ are vengeful, impersonal, detached, unreachable, or capricious. Only Christianity and Judaism portray a God Who knows how to forgive, and actually wants to extend this grace to His fallen creatures. When David says that God forgave him when he was overwhelmed by his sins, he knows that of which he speaks. This is the same David who stole a man’s wife in adultery, then had the audacity to eliminate the husband and marry the recently widowed adulterous partner! Just how ‘overwhelmed’ was David? At first not much. But as time went on he became increasingly troubled by his heinous actions. In Psalm 51 we see him depressed (8), guilty (14), and broken (17). In Psalm 32 David’s pitiful existence included unbearable stress, sleepless nights, loss of stamina, and drowning in a sea of personal misery. Psalm 38 shows a man totally overwhelmed by sadness, sickness, weakness, emptiness, and friendlessness. But all of that disappeared the very second he confessed and repented of his sins against the Lord (Psa. 32:5; 2 Sam. 12:13). We too can know this same blessing of forgiveness from God as we confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:9). Freedom from sin’s guilt can be ours; it’s only a prayer of repentance away! And best of all, there’s no ‘threshold’ of forgiveness, no limit to how many times God will forgive us if we deal sincerely and decisively with those things that have marred our fellowship with Him … Hallelujah!!
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR GRACIOUSLY HOSPITABLE GOD. 4
“Blessed are those You choose and bring near to live in Your courts! We are filled with the good things of Your house, of Your holy temple.”
Homelessness is approaching epidemic proportions in America. Over 3.5 million Americans live on the streets and a whopping 36 million are only one paycheck away from joining this desperate population. Tens of thousands have lost jobs, homes, and even their families, falling through the cultural cracks and landing in the streets of our cities. This is a tragedy of huge proportions. What these unfortunates would give to be welcomed into a home filled with the good things of Thanksgiving … the warmth of human kindness, the love of family and friends, the joy of fellowship. Many have been blessed by the loving outreach of the many city missions that provide a Thanksgiving meal with all the traditional trimmings, and served by the loving, friendly hands of those freely volunteering their time on a busy holiday. God bless them, every one!
While physical homelessness can and does happen, no such state exists in the spiritual realm of the family of God. The Lord is always seen extending His hand of invitation to us to enter into His presence and House. David declares that he had found life, joy and endless pleasure in the presence of God (Psa. 16:11). The Lord’s goodness and mercy became evident to David as he spent time worshipping and fellowshipping among His people in the temple (Psa. 23:6). One of God’s favorite words is “Come”. He’s constantly inviting us over to His place to share a meal, engage in conversation, and enjoy one another’s company … not unlike the hospitality of a great, lifelong friend or loving relative. Jesus picks up on this same theme, inviting all who would to “come” to God for relief from the burdens of daily life that they bear (Matt. 11:28). Even at the end of the Bible we see God reaching out to us in the third Person of the Holy Spirit, Who says, “Come” (Rev. 22:17). As we reflect on the year gone by, we surely have a lot to thank God for as we consider all the wonderful times of hospitality and fellowship we’ve had in His house with Him and His people.
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR WONDER WORKING GOD. 5-8
“You answer us with awesome deeds … Who formed the mountains by Your power … Who stilled the roaring of the seas … [Who stilled] the turmoil of the nations. Those living far away fear Your wonders.”
I recall building a volcanic mountain for my ninth grade science class, but that doesn’t even come close to a single cliff created by God! I had the opportunity to swim in a “wave pool” in Illinois, where a mechanism causes the surface to roll into high waves across the length of the pool. But compared to the waves of the sea, this isn’t even a trickle! I’ve known the peace of a reconciled friendship, but as important as that may be, it pales in comparison to ending world wars among the nations of the earth! God makes mountains, calms seas, and ends international conflicts. These are wonder-working acts that can only be achieved by a wonder-working God! The Father showed His wonderful side to His people Israel in the wilderness (Acts 7:36). Isaiah called Jesus the “Wonderful Counselor”, and rightfully so. When on earth in a human body, Jesus repeatedly left His audience awestruck with wonder (Luke 4:36-37). The Holy Spirit continued to display God’s wonder-working power through the apostles as they worked wonder after wonder in the days of the infant Church (Acts 2:43; 5:12; 14:3; 15:12).
But the greatest wonder God ever works is that of transforming the human heart. He takes a sinful, rebellious, hopeless, hell-bound lives and remakes them into something beautiful. Paul likens this transformation to the process of metamorphosis, the biological process responsible for a caterpillar becoming a butterfly and a tadpole becoming a bullfrog (2 Cor. 5:17). The change involved in spiritual regeneration likewise is dramatic, complete and permanent. If you’ve been the recipient of God’s wonder-working, saving and transforming power, why not take a moment out (right now?) and thank Him from the depths of your redeemed heart?
LET’S SING SONGS OF THANKSGIVING TO OUR GENEROUSLY GIVING GOD. 9-13
“You enrich the land and water abundantly … [You] provide the people with grain … You crown the year with Your bounty … Your carts overflow … the grasslands overflow … the meadows are covered with flocks … the valleys are mantled with grain.”
I fear that we who have little to do with the raising of crops and the milking of cows often take our food for granted. We just cruise through the grocery store aisles oblivious to all that was involved in getting to market what we see on the shelves. It’s hard for us to make the connection between the product and the effort expended to get it to our tables. We simply buy them, bag them, and consume them. I wonder how different our gratitude level might be if we spent a month or two working on a farm. I’d venture to guess that we’d see things a whole lot differently. The grain farmer KNOWS that God sent the rain he prayed for. The dairy farmer UNDERSTANDS that all his efforts are in vain apart from God keeping his herd healthy. We should be genuinely grateful for something as simple as food because, at the end of the day, it is a gift from the hand of our loving and generous Creator.
Here David pictures a harvest landscape that graphically depicts the abundance which God showers upon His people. He carefully maintains the ecosystems that support both plant and animal life. God insures that seeds become plants, and plants become grain. As the “Master Meteorologist” He measures out just the right amount of sunshine and precipitation to guarantee an abundant harvest. Contrast this abundance with the stark poverty of many nations who have chosen to worship other gods. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psa. 33:12). Thanks to the reverence of our forefathers, we’ve enjoyed over two centuries of economic prosperity here in America. While America’s moral drift leaves us with an uncertain future, we can still be thankful for the multitudinous blessings we’ve each received in our lifetime. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Good News Paper to all of you! J J
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