Now Thank We All Our God

[An automated transcript of the teaching video]

The Apostle Paul instructed the churches in Colosse to teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. That’s what I hope to do by explaining the meaning of this hymn—Now Thank We All Our God. I’d like to explain the meaning of the hymn against the backdrop of the Framework of Sovereign Grace, which is God’s master plan for the ages.

You’ll notice the hymn was written by Martin Rinkart. This was a 17th century German clergymen belonging to the Lutheran Church. I’d like to read for you the three stanzas of the hymn.

1 Now thank we all our God, 

With heart and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things hath done, 

In Whom this world rejoices;

Who from our mothers’ arms, 

Hast blessed us on our way;

With countless gifts of love, 

And still is ours today.

2 O may this bounteous God,

Through all our life be near us,

With ever joyful hearts,

And blessed peace to cheer us;

And keep us in His grace, 

And guide us when perplexed;

And free us from all ills, 

In this world and the next!

3 All praise and thanks to God,

The Father now be given; 

The Son and Him Who reigns, 

With Them in highest Heaven;

The one eternal God, 

Whom earth and Heaven adore;

For thus it was, is now, 

And shall be evermore.

You’ll notice the hymn is all about the regenerate sinner’s gratitude to the Triune Jehovah—the regenerate sinner’s gratitude to the Triune Jehovah, from whom he or she has received all earthly and spiritual blessings. Now, we’re therefore looking at the third branch of the gospel, the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. And, just to put you in remembrance on what this branch of the gospel means and how it is connected to the hymn before us:

At the appointed time in the lives of all of God’s elect people, the Spirit of God will unite the soul of each elect person with the Lord Jesus Christ. And it’s by virtue of that union, the Spirit of God communicates the life and the graces of Christ to the soul, thereby making alive the soul unto God through Christ and also enabling the regenerate sinner to exercise the fruits of that union, or the graces of Christ, among which are things such as love, joy, peace, and faith. Now, this effectual power of the Holy Spirit is referred to—this effectual work is referred to—as regeneration. And it is at that point when a sinner is regenerated that he or she is brought to realize that he or she is a vessel of mercy, redeemed by the grace of Christ; and a vessel of honor, chosen by God the Father. In fact, it is the result of the Spirit’s work and regeneration that the regenerate sinner becomes a partaker of all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; the spirit of God communicating those blessings to the soul. And you see, it’s within that context, the hymn before us calls upon the Lord’s people to thank our God. Let’s take a look at the first stanza.

1 Now thank we all our God, 

That is, all of us are to thank our God, not only personally and privately, but corporately and publicly. That is, within the capacity of a church—not just an individual Christian thanking God in the privacy of his or her closet, but a group of Christians gathered together as a body of Christ, as a congregation or a church. Now thank we all our God—let us all gather together; all of the Lord’s people; testifying of His goodness and rendering thanksgiving unto the Lord our God.

With heart and hands and voices,

You know, it begins with the heart. As the Spirit of God communicates to each soul, the graces of the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s the Spirit of God working in His people, the graces of Christ. His people in response, therefore, work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. And that is the emblem of hands and voices— the Spirit of God working the graces of Christ in the heart, producing the response of the regenerate sinner, then working out by hands and voices throughout one’s life, the work of the Spirit of God upon the heart.

Who wondrous things hath done, 

These wondrous things include all the works of the Triune Jehovah—the earthly and heavenly, physical and spiritual, visible and in invisible blessings bestowed upon our souls.

In Whom this world rejoices;

Now, please watch, this is not a reference to the entire human race—to the world at large. For the majority of the human race are not worshipers of God. They do not honor God as God. But rather, they are vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts are darkened. Rather, this is the world of the Lord’s regenerate people; His elect people. Let the world, or in whom this world, now rejoices—this world of God’s regenerate people. We are the ones given new hearts filled with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord our God.

Who from our mothers’ arms, 

Hast blessed us on our way;

With countless gifts of love, 

And still is ours today.

That is, the Lord God has been conducting our lives from our mother’s womb into her nurturing arms; and from her nurturing arms through every step and passage of our lives—all of the provisions and protections we’ve received is from the hand of God. With countless gifts of love, and still are ours today—God continues to this moment, bestowing upon us the riches of His grace, both in an earthly and heavenly or spiritual context.

2 O may this bounteous God,

Through all our life be near us,

With ever joyful hearts,

And blessed peace to cheer us;

Although we are blessed beyond measure with all earthly and spiritual gifts—bestowed upon us by the Triune Jehovah through the effectual work of the Holy Spirit—yet please listen, our one desire is not that we might be in possession of these spiritual gifts, or even of these earthly gifts, but rather, we want to be drawn nearer to the Giver Himself. We do not enjoy the blessings, either spiritual or earthly, apart from the Blesser. In fact, we enjoy these spiritual and earthly blessings only as we are allowed to walk and commune with the Blesser. In other words, we love the Triune Jehovah more than these blessings themselves. Were these not the words of the Apostle Paul, when he charged Timothy to charge the members under his oversight at the church in Ephesus, that they should be careful, they who are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded nor trust in those uncertain riches, but rather they are to trust in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy? And that, my dear friends, is what you and I must do. We who are rich in this world with the earthly and spiritual blessings, let us not put our trust in those blessings, but rather, let us draw near to the Blesser Himself and trust Him.

And keep us in His grace, 

And guide us when perplexed;

And free us from all ills, 

In this world and the next!

Now, please listen. With regards to keeping us in His grace, we need not fear of being removed from the grace of God, for we are secured with the threefold cord of covenant engagements—the electing love of the Father, the redeeming grace of the Son, and the sanctifying power of the spirit. No one can pluck us out of the Father’s hand; no one can pluck us out of the Son’s hand; and no one can pluck us out of the Spirit’s hand. Who can separate us from the love of God? The apostle Paul said, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. So we need not fear that we will ever be removed from the grace of God.

But now watch, as regards to the second line. Guide us when perplexed—we are often perplexed in our walk with God, and we do seek on a daily basis guidance from Him. It’s appropriate to petition the Lord to guide us.

Likewise, there are many of us who experience the ills of this world. We suffer this side of heaven and it’s not inappropriate for us to seek from the Lord deliverance from those ills. But now, let me caution you. Let’s not forget that sometimes those ills are given to us by God as gifts and blessings, for when we are made weak through those ills, then the power of Christ rests upon us, and we are made strong in Him through our weaknesses. Let us therefore not seek to be loosed from pain and grief, if it is through these bitter experiences the Lord is pleased to sweeten His grace towards us.

3 All praise and thanks to God,

The Father now be given; 

The Son and Him Who reigns, 

With Them in highest Heaven;

The one eternal God, 

Whom earth and Heaven adore;

For thus it was, is now, 

And shall be evermore.

The one true and living God exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Spirit. And therefore, we render thanks to the Father, for setting us apart as objects of His special love; we render thanks to the Son, for receiving us as a gift from the Father and agreeing to redeem us from our sins and enrich us with his righteousness; and we render thanks to the Holy Spirit, who has received us as a gift from the Father and the Son, and has agreed to regenerate and sanctify us. Yes, my dear friends, we thank the one eternal God in each of the three Persons of His ever blessed Godhead.

And, because He so loves us, we love Him. And therefore our deepest aspiration and driving desire is not to get from God more and more blessings, but to draw near the Lord and walk with Him in communion and fellowship, which is itself the greater and greatest blessing for which we now all thank our God. If that is your testimony, it is my joy to invite you now to sing the words of this hymn.

 

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