(Message by Pastor Philip Joseph; hoping I haven't missed much. Happy reading!)
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His {mercy | love | loving-kindness} endures forever. – 1 Chronicles 16:34
In the Old Testament, David introduces this concept of thanking God for who He is; for His loving-kindness. It caught on the imaginations of a generation hungry for God’s revelation and it became a sort of catch-phrase; during
· Worship: Solomon during the dedication of the temple of God
· Warfare: Jehoshaphat during his battle against Moabites and Ammonites (2 Chr. 20: 21, 22) and the LORD set ambushes when they began to sing.
It seems to me that till that time, it had never occurred to the people of Israel
But David found a revelation of God’s goodness and mercy and begins to thank the LORD with joyful music. People began to experience the presence of God as never before. Worship to God was never the same again! Musical instruments, dance and singing became part and parcel of worship, along with the catch-phrase “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His loving-kindness is everlasting”.
In our lives too, we need a revelation of God’s goodness, love and mercy, to be filled with His presence. The phrase has three parts:
- Give thanks to the LORD
- He is good
- His loving-kindness is everlasting
Give thanks to the LORD
When was the last time you thanked the Lord for his love? The Bible encourages us to ‘enter his gates with thanksgiving’ and ‘into his courts with praise’ (Psalm 100:4). And as we begin to thank the Lord, we enter in to His holy presence.
Cultivate the habit of thanking the Lord at all times, for everything. An author has compiled 1000 (yes, thousand!) reasons to thank the Lord (all from God’s word with references). Another has compiled 1400 (yes, fourteen hundred) reasons on why we must thank the Lord! As is obvious, if you look at the word, there is no dearth of reasons to thank the Lord. So what or where is the problem?
Psalm 50:23 “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”
If you are having problems thanking the Lord, check out if you have truly experienced His {salvation | redemption}. Begin to thank Him for what He has done and who He is to you, and God will show up with His deliverance; to set you free from every bondage, every reversal and every pain. This was the case with Jehoshaphat-in deep trouble, surrounded by enemies. He appoints a choir, to sing and praise the beauty of holiness of the LORD, while going into the battle (!). What happened? 2 Chr. 20: 22 says, “Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.”
God shows up in the midst of praise. God showed up when Paul and Silas, who were thrown into the dungeons of the prison-cell, began singing and praising the Lord. (Acts 16: 25-26). Imagine Paul and Silas, in deep discomfort-having received many stripes on their back and their feet locked up in stock! And they-instead of complaining, committed themselves to give thanks to the Lord, singing hymns.
We are called to continually offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving-the fruit of our lips (Heb. 13:15). In the Old Covenant, there were many sacrifices-of grain, sheep and oxen; but in the New Covenant-just praise offerings! Anytime and anywhere-continually, it is possible that we can offer sacrifices of thanksgiving-for what He has done, for what He is doing and also for what He will do for us. Yes! Thank Him in advance, seeing with eyes of faith: let your requests be made known, with thanksgiving (Phi. 4:6).
He is good
God is good. Even in our church, we are quick to respond to ‘God is good’ with ‘All the time’-this has become a catch-phrase for us; and why not? God is good. His glory is His goodness! Moses wished to see God’s glory. And the LORD said to Moses, “I will make all My goodness pass before you…” (Exo. 33:19). And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth…” (Exo. 34: 6).
Jesus has taught us this: that God alone is good. For so He responded to a man who called Him “Good Teacher!” Jesus says in Matthew 7:11: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Think about this verse… humanly speaking, we do desire the welfare of our children-as parents would; we do give them gifts-as loving parents would; all this in spite of being EVIL. Now HOW MUCH MORE, God who is PERFECTLY GOOD, will give good things if you ask Him!
God is good. And he does good to all who love His name. Romans 8:28 that we are familiar with says: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. He did it in the life of Joseph-born in the house of promise, loved by his father (and loved by his Father who gave him dreams), but hated by his siblings, sold as a slave, framed as a sinner, lived as a prisoner; yet God raised him up, and how. When Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt and finally recognized him, this is what Joseph says: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Gen. 50: 20).
And do you think you are in a “bad” situation? Maybe a difficult boss or some uncooperative colleagues: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His loving-kindness is everlasting”. God is both loving and kind; the single Hebrew word for this is variously translated as mercy, love and loving-kindness in English translations.
Do not lose hope! In the midst of weeping and lamentations, Jeremiah found this quality of God that shone through all the ‘dark’ happenings surrounding him-the people of Israel were led away captives to Babylon ; Jerusalem was in ruins and the temple of Solomon
Sorrows will not continue; weeping may endure for just a night; but there is a shout of joy in the morning, because His mercies are new. Today is a new day; all failures, short-comings, misgivings of yesterday are gone! Welcome the new mercies of God into your heart. The ruins will be rebuilt; the streets will be restored for a dwelling; in His presence broken hearts are made new!
“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; and His love endures forever!”
His loving-kindness is everlasting
Everlasting-just think about big is that! Deut. 7: 9 says: Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
You ask “you mean a thousand generations?” - Yes. A THOUSAND generations. We all know that we are indeed fortunate if we see the second generation – our children’s children. A few may see the third generation – our great grand-children. But a THOUSAND generations! You see, God saw us in Abraham and kept His covenant and mercy in us through Jesus Christ-many generations later. And His promise is for us even today! Now go and get a grip on God’s forever faithfulness; everlasting kindness; never-ending love; uncompromising goodness and dew-new mercies!
Psalm 103: 15-17 says: As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, …
David compares the life of man, the length of which, is in total contrast to the extent of God’s mercy. On the one hand, our life is like that of a grass-little in duration; on the other hand, the LORD’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. How GREAT is God's mercy!
“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; and His mercy endures forever!”
That is why it is written, “Do all things without complaining and disputing…” (Phi. 2: 14); “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thes. 5:18). God is good and 100% good; there is no variation in God's goodness. The sun’s light may wax in noon-time and wane in the evening- but every good and perfect gift we receive is from the Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning! His mercies are never-ceasing. Therefore we have hope in God. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
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