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March 2009
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With Campus Cross Walk
Written by: CampUs4 11/24/2009 5:15 PM
Thanking God by Steven Tramel Gaines When I was a child, my immediate family often spent Thanksgiving Day at my grandparents’ house, where aunts, uncles, and cousins joined us. We devoured fattening feasts of turkey, dressing, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, and desserts. Every dish was homemade and scrumptious. Then, after stuffing my stomach and unbuckling my belt, I recuperated with family members in the living room and spent the afternoon watching football. Years later, I discovered another way to celebrate the holiday—worship. Many churches provide worship experiences at this time of year for people who wish to express their thanks to God. Although my family always prayed before meals—including the enormous Thanksgiving dinner—and thanked God for our food, gathering with other believers to worship God is an even fuller way to thank our Creator and Provider. The Bible offers some suggestive thanksgiving examples. We can look to the ancient Israelites’ songbook, the Psalms, to see a few ways that these faithful people of long ago expressed their thanks. Theologian Chad Bird points out that the Hebrew hymnal thanked God “by confessing who God is and what God does for His people.”* Psalm 136 is a prime example. It begins with a popular verse that some churches now recite after the Lord’s Supper, and many families say it at meals in their homes. “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever” (KJV). Notice that the psalm does not begin with (in the sarcastic language of Professor Bird) “O give thanks unto whom it may concern.” No, the ancient Israelites addressed God by a personal name: YHWH (Yahweh), often translated “LORD.” The name was a specific and personal name by which they had come to know their God, and no other god in the surrounding cultures went by that name. When the Israelites sang Psalm 136, they expressed their thanks for who God was (and still is). Verses 2-4 of this psalm more specifically identify its audience: “God of gods” and “Lord of lords.” The worshippers followed those opening words with a further reason for their thanks. They were thankful for what God had done. God is good, and God’s love (mercy) never ends. The rest of the song is a catalog of what God had done for the people of Israel. God created the earth and all the objects in the sky (verses 5-9), rescued the people from slavery and protected them from their enemies (10-20), led them into the Promised Land (21-22), and continued to remember them, protect them, and provide for them (23-25). Chad Bird explains, “Following every verse, every confession of how the Lord creates and redeems, is the refrain: ‘for His lovingkindness is everlasting.’ Because Yahweh is good, He does good for His people. Because His lovingkindness never stops, He never stops demonstrating that love... In good times and bad, whether hungry or enslaved, Israel can count on Yahweh because He is who He is--a good and merciful Father.” The song ends basically where it began: “O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth forever.” Hopefully you will get some time this week away from your normal routine and can express your thanks for who God is and what God has done. I pray that this reflection on God’s goodness will play a small role in shaping your thankfulness at other times of the year, as you strive to be a living thanksgiving on your college campus. *Chad Bird, “Thanksgiving in the Old Testament,” http://www.lifeoftheworld.com/lotw/article.php?a_num=1&m_num=2&m_vol=7
Thanking God
by Steven Tramel Gaines
When I was a child, my immediate family often spent Thanksgiving Day at my grandparents’ house, where aunts, uncles, and cousins joined us. We devoured fattening feasts of turkey, dressing, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, and desserts. Every dish was homemade and scrumptious. Then, after stuffing my stomach and unbuckling my belt, I recuperated with family members in the living room and spent the afternoon watching football.
Years later, I discovered another way to celebrate the holiday—worship. Many churches provide worship experiences at this time of year for people who wish to express their thanks to God. Although my family always prayed before meals—including the enormous Thanksgiving dinner—and thanked God for our food, gathering with other believers to worship God is an even fuller way to thank our Creator and Provider.
The Bible offers some suggestive thanksgiving examples. We can look to the ancient Israelites’ songbook, the Psalms, to see a few ways that these faithful people of long ago expressed their thanks. Theologian Chad Bird points out that the Hebrew hymnal thanked God “by confessing who God is and what God does for His people.”*
Psalm 136 is a prime example. It begins with a popular verse that some churches now recite after the Lord’s Supper, and many families say it at meals in their homes. “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever” (KJV).
Notice that the psalm does not begin with (in the sarcastic language of Professor Bird) “O give thanks unto whom it may concern.” No, the ancient Israelites addressed God by a personal name: YHWH (Yahweh), often translated “LORD.” The name was a specific and personal name by which they had come to know their God, and no other god in the surrounding cultures went by that name. When the Israelites sang Psalm 136, they expressed their thanks for who God was (and still is). Verses 2-4 of this psalm more specifically identify its audience: “God of gods” and “Lord of lords.”
The worshippers followed those opening words with a further reason for their thanks. They were thankful for what God had done. God is good, and God’s love (mercy) never ends. The rest of the song is a catalog of what God had done for the people of Israel. God created the earth and all the objects in the sky (verses 5-9), rescued the people from slavery and protected them from their enemies (10-20), led them into the Promised Land (21-22), and continued to remember them, protect them, and provide for them (23-25).
Chad Bird explains, “Following every verse, every confession of how the Lord creates and redeems, is the refrain: ‘for His lovingkindness is everlasting.’ Because Yahweh is good, He does good for His people. Because His lovingkindness never stops, He never stops demonstrating that love... In good times and bad, whether hungry or enslaved, Israel can count on Yahweh because He is who He is--a good and merciful Father.”
The song ends basically where it began: “O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth forever.”
Hopefully you will get some time this week away from your normal routine and can express your thanks for who God is and what God has done. I pray that this reflection on God’s goodness will play a small role in shaping your thankfulness at other times of the year, as you strive to be a living thanksgiving on your college campus.
*Chad Bird, “Thanksgiving in the Old Testament,” http://www.lifeoftheworld.com/lotw/article.php?a_num=1&m_num=2&m_vol=7
Steven Tramel Gaines lives with his lovely wife Tamara and their two crazy but cuddly cats in Spartanburg, SC, where he leads the OASIS Campus Ministry, reaching students on multiple campuses. He also serves as the associate editor of Campus Crosswalk. You may communicate with him via the contacts page of this web site.
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