November 2025
From the Pastor's Desk
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! God has been so good to Bethel Baptist Church this year. May we praise Him passionately from our heads and hearts. The Psalmist could hardly contain his joy when he thought about the goodness of his God in Psalm 100: 1 Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. 3 Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are His —His people, the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 5 For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.
As we examine verse 5, we find three reasons why the psalmist praised God. We might say that there were three aspects of God’s character that the psalmist praised. One, Yahweh is good. The name Yahweh is the proper name of God. It is the name God gives himself at the burning bush. The great I Am. So, we see that the God who reveals Himself to His people is good. The word “good” means good in the in the widest sense possible. It means good, agreeable, pleasant, sweet. In other words, God is good in every way imaginable. The God we worship, follow, love, and trust is good. No matter what we see, hear, read, observe, or even how we feel, we can have confidence that God is good in every conceivable way. Two, God’s love is eternal. The word translated “love” really has the idea of kindness or mercy. We’ve all known people who are kind and people who are unkind. There is a definite difference between those who are kind and those who are unkind. The psalmist says that God is kind. He is merciful. He will always be this way. I’m so glad that God never has a bad day. I’m so thankful that God is never moody or pouty. I’m so glad I do not have to wonder if it is a good time to approach God. Three, God’s faithfulness endures through all generations. The idea here is of the trustworthiness of God. We can count on God to be faithful to His Word. If God says it, we can believe it. The God that your momma and grand momma loved, trusted, followed, and served is the same God that you and your children and grandchildren can love, trust, follow, and serve.
In light of these three character attributes of our great, good, gracious God, the psalmist said our praise of Him and thanksgiving to Him should be three-fold. One, our thanksgiving to God should be public. We are to shout, serve, and sing. In verse 1 the psalmists says, “Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth.” Some translations say make a joyful noise to the LORD. Whether you translate it “shout” or “noise,” the meaning does not change. The meaning is volume. We are to vocally proclaim our joyful thanksgiving to the Lord. Two, our thanksgiving to God should be personal. In verse 3 the psalmist says to know that Yahweh is God. We need to know who our God is. We need to have the head knowledge of God. We must know the facts of the faith. The psalmist wants us to know that the mighty creator God is also our tender Father. Please do not miss the opportunities you have at Bethel Baptist Church to learn more about God and the faith. We need to know God with our heads AND with our hearts. The psalmist said in verse 3 that God has made us, and we are His—His people, the sheep of his pasture. This imagery includes a tender, personal, experiential feeling. It’s not just head knowledge, and it’s not experience absent biblical knowledge. It’s both. We must know and experience the God who reveals Himself in the Bible. And from this personal knowledge we can’t help but praise Him and thank Him. Three, we are to thank God passionately. In verse 4 the psalmist says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.” If this is indeed a post-exilic psalm, then we can imagine how much passion and excitement must have been in the Jewish people when they entered the temple complex once again after being held in captivity for 70 years. Even though the temple and the city walls needed help, they were home; they were back; they were out of captivity; and they were filled with passion, joy, and excitement.
In light of our great High Priest Jesus Christ, we can boldly enter God’s presence anytime day or night. No person under the Old Covenant would have ever conceived of this intimacy with God. Therefore, may we never look like we are eating corn out of a coke bottle when we come to BBC and praise and worship our great God. May we always be filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory
-Pastor Clint Miller
As we examine verse 5, we find three reasons why the psalmist praised God. We might say that there were three aspects of God’s character that the psalmist praised. One, Yahweh is good. The name Yahweh is the proper name of God. It is the name God gives himself at the burning bush. The great I Am. So, we see that the God who reveals Himself to His people is good. The word “good” means good in the in the widest sense possible. It means good, agreeable, pleasant, sweet. In other words, God is good in every way imaginable. The God we worship, follow, love, and trust is good. No matter what we see, hear, read, observe, or even how we feel, we can have confidence that God is good in every conceivable way. Two, God’s love is eternal. The word translated “love” really has the idea of kindness or mercy. We’ve all known people who are kind and people who are unkind. There is a definite difference between those who are kind and those who are unkind. The psalmist says that God is kind. He is merciful. He will always be this way. I’m so glad that God never has a bad day. I’m so thankful that God is never moody or pouty. I’m so glad I do not have to wonder if it is a good time to approach God. Three, God’s faithfulness endures through all generations. The idea here is of the trustworthiness of God. We can count on God to be faithful to His Word. If God says it, we can believe it. The God that your momma and grand momma loved, trusted, followed, and served is the same God that you and your children and grandchildren can love, trust, follow, and serve.
In light of these three character attributes of our great, good, gracious God, the psalmist said our praise of Him and thanksgiving to Him should be three-fold. One, our thanksgiving to God should be public. We are to shout, serve, and sing. In verse 1 the psalmists says, “Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth.” Some translations say make a joyful noise to the LORD. Whether you translate it “shout” or “noise,” the meaning does not change. The meaning is volume. We are to vocally proclaim our joyful thanksgiving to the Lord. Two, our thanksgiving to God should be personal. In verse 3 the psalmist says to know that Yahweh is God. We need to know who our God is. We need to have the head knowledge of God. We must know the facts of the faith. The psalmist wants us to know that the mighty creator God is also our tender Father. Please do not miss the opportunities you have at Bethel Baptist Church to learn more about God and the faith. We need to know God with our heads AND with our hearts. The psalmist said in verse 3 that God has made us, and we are His—His people, the sheep of his pasture. This imagery includes a tender, personal, experiential feeling. It’s not just head knowledge, and it’s not experience absent biblical knowledge. It’s both. We must know and experience the God who reveals Himself in the Bible. And from this personal knowledge we can’t help but praise Him and thank Him. Three, we are to thank God passionately. In verse 4 the psalmist says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.” If this is indeed a post-exilic psalm, then we can imagine how much passion and excitement must have been in the Jewish people when they entered the temple complex once again after being held in captivity for 70 years. Even though the temple and the city walls needed help, they were home; they were back; they were out of captivity; and they were filled with passion, joy, and excitement.
In light of our great High Priest Jesus Christ, we can boldly enter God’s presence anytime day or night. No person under the Old Covenant would have ever conceived of this intimacy with God. Therefore, may we never look like we are eating corn out of a coke bottle when we come to BBC and praise and worship our great God. May we always be filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory
-Pastor Clint Miller
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