Oh, give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures for ever.
The subject of revival is currently one of the most often discussed subjects among the majority of denominations; and the rhetoric of glory is the language of choice among revivalists. Images often used involve “the cloud”, “the fire”, “God’s presence”, and, “the weight of God’s glory”. This language is borrowed from texts like 2 Chronicles 5-7 surrounding the dedication of Solomon’s temple. Revivalists quickly turn to such passages as they grasp for adequate, descriptive terminology to explain the effects of encounters with the glory of God.
It is somewhat interesting to observe the picturesque interpretive slants of the different groups. Charismatics color their rhetoric with the rich hues of the Holy Spirit, while Higher Life groups paint with their bright palettes making quick strokes with sanctifying verbs like “cover me with the cloud” and “let the fire burn deep in my soul.” Catholics cherish the church using sacramental images muted with mysterious overtones, while Reformed groups tend to use more translucent tones of transcendence.
In the area of worship this same rhetoric of glory has been exploited. “Let the fire fall down” has become an exhortative call to worship. “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place” has been combined with the “brush of angels’ wings”. The psalmists’ prayer for the One who sits enthroned between the cherubim to shine forth (Ps. 80) has been replaced with “Shine, Jesus, Shine”. Worship leaders and ministers of music have had to learn this new language, this rhetoric of glory, if they want to be more effective and successful in the fast-paced worship marketplace.
There is nothing inherently wrong with the language that is being used. Most of it is biblical language. The images are from Holy Scripture. However, the interpretation, or rather, the misinterpretation and misapplication of this language is at question. It is always dangerous to remove terms from their context and insert them wherever the spirit moves. For example, consider the text that was mentioned above – 2 Chronicles 5-7. Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD.
The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles…. The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions (5:7-11). Then, after the priests had sung, the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God (5:13b-14)…. When Solomon finished praying (chapter 6), fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it (7:1-2).
If you read only what you found above, you also might be inclined to take up the rhetoric of glory. Maybe you already are using the language. Perhaps you were not aware of what you were doing. Your motives were pure, so you thought. You just wanted to help your people worship God. The language seemed to help. Or, did it? Word association is powerful. What do you think the contemporary Christian thinks, or feels, when they hear this rhetoric of glory? Are they better able to worship if they think about the cloud or the fire or cherubim wings? Are they more earnest if they pray for the fire to come? Do these images help or distract when it comes to worshiping God?
There is no doubt in my mind that the images can help when they are joined with the right object. However, my observations find that the images are being used to appeal simply to the emotions, resulting in purely subjective experiences. In the history of rhetoric there is a place for emotional appeals; but they are only good and useful when they are built upon strong, logical appeals. “Logic on fire” was the phrase Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to employ.
Is there something from the text that can help us logically appeal to the worshipers? When I look at the passage I notice something mentioned twice, once in chapter 5 and again in chapter 7. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Spurgeon called this “the sweetest stanza ever sung.” If you want to encourage the worshipers to think about the glory of God, give them something objective to think about. His goodness is His glory. His mercy is His glory. Encourage worshipers to think about God, about His nature and His works, not clouds and fire and angel’s wings. Worship Him!
When the singers of Israel summoned the people to give thanks to God because “He is good. His mercy endures for ever” (1 Chron. 16:34; 2 Chron. 5:1-14, esp. 13; 2 Chron. 7:1-3, esp. 3; Ezra 3:8-13, esp. 11; Pss. 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 136:1f; and Jer. 33:1-13, esp. 11), it was usually of God’s nature and His redemptive mercies that they were thinking. How important is it for us to consider these things?
Can there be true worship of God without acknowledging His goodness and mercy? Why is it important to reflect on the fact that God is good? Why is it important to dwell on the fact that His mercy endures forever? Should we really take time to think about these things? Why not take up the rhetoric of glory and feel good about ourselves? If we don’t feel just right we can always ‘jump for Jesus’? That is what one tele-evangelist / worship leader exhorts us to do---over and over again. Why not worship and get a good aerobic workout at the same time? Is there more to worshiping God than this?
In this section of the article allow me to set before you a better way for worshiping God. Instead of the rhetoric of glory, why not consider the language that Holy Scripture uses for the nature of God and His works of creation and redemption. Notice the clarity of Psalm 136. Why not test Spurgeon and see if this repetitive chorus is “the sweetest stanza ever sung”.
God is ‘abundant in goodness’ --- ultro bonus, as Latin-speaking theologians long ago used to put it, spontaneously good, overflowing with generosity. Theologians of the Reformed school use the New Testament word ‘grace’ (free favour) to cover every act of divine generosity, of whatever kind, and hence distinguish between the ‘common grace’ of ‘creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life’, and the ‘special grace’ manifested in the economy of salvation --- the point of the contrast between ‘common’ and ‘special’ being that all benefit from the former, but not all are touched by the latter. The biblical way of putting this distinction would be to say that God is good to all in some ways and to some in all ways. (J. I. Packer, Knowing God)
136:1 Oh, give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures for ever.
136:2 Oh, give thanks unto the God of gods!
For His mercy endures for ever.
136:3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
For His mercy endures for ever.
Notice in the first three verses the emphasis on God: LORD, Jehovah; God, Elohim; Lord, Adonai. No one is greater. He alone is full of goodness and everlasting mercy. That is why we are to give thanks to Him, because He is God.
As you read through the next portion of the psalm consider God’s great creative actions. What is the relation between those actions and His enduring mercy? How much time to do you spend thinking about the creative works of God? Does prolonged reflection on these things invoke doxology from you?
136:4 To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His mercy endures for ever.
136:5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,
For His mercy endures for ever.
136:6 To Him that laid out the earth above the waters,
For His mercy endures for ever.
136:7 To Him who made great lights,
For His mercy endures for ever---
136:8 The sun to rule by day,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:9 The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His mercy endures for ever.
If you were to take time to compare the passages that use this recurring stanza you would notice that thanking God for His goodness and redemptive mercies was of the utmost importance. You would see an emphasis on new beginnings after deliverance; new foundations for worship after times of reformation; exuberant, joyful, heart-felt singing after recognition of God’s providential goodness and everlasting lovingkindness.
When you compare the psalms that use the stanza you observe this emphasis. Remember God’s covenantal love and devotion to His people. Even though they had rebelled, yet He continued as their Redeemer (Ps. 106). Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached an extended series of sermons (Ps. 107) which deals with our theme of giving thanks for God’s goodness and everlasting mercy. One of the first sermons, on verses 1-3, was entitled True Religion because true religion should consist in giving thanks to the LORD for He is good; His mercy endures forever. This is the life-work of the redeemed, to sing of their Redeemer, for they cannot be silent.
Verses 4-23 calls upon us to consider the common, yet varied experiences of the redeemed. Verses 33-42 remind us all of the activity of the Redeemer. Verses 42-43 conclude with the right response of the redeemed: Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Great God of wonders! All Thy ways
Are matchless, God-like, and divine;
But the fair glories of Thy grace
More Godlike and unrivaled shine,
More Godlike and unrivaled shine.
Who is a pardoning God like Thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
Psalms 106, 107, 118, and 136 remind us of the experiences of the redeemed and the activity of the Redeemer; they all emphasize God’s work, not ours; they all encourage us for every deliverance to give thanks to God:
136:10 To Him who stuck Egypt in their firstborn,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:11 And brought out Israel from among them,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:17 To Him who struck down great kings,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:18 And slew famous kings,
For His mercy endures for ever ---
136:19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:20 And Og the king of Bashan,
For His mercy endures for ever ---
136:21 And gave their land as a heritage,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:22 A heritage to Israel His servant,
For His mercy endures for ever.
136:23 Who remembered us in our lowly state,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:24 And rescued us from our enemies,
For His mercy endures for ever;
136:25 Who gives food to all flesh,
For His mercy endures for ever.
136:26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
For His mercy endures for ever.
Up to now, we have been considering the Old Testament paradigm of worship. What does the New Testament have to say about these things? Should this sweetest stanza still be sung? In our last study we focused on Christ the Creator as expounded in Colossians. We are to worship Jesus Christ because He is God - Creator and Redeemer. Paul reminds us to...
“Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
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. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”
(Colossians 1:12-22 ESV)
Oh, give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good!
For his mercy endureth for ever.
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