1 Thessalonians 3:9
For what mthanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;
For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;
τίνα γὰρ εὐχαριστίαν δυνάμεθα τῷ Θεῷ ἀνταποδοῦναι περὶ ὑμῶν, ἐπὶ πάσῃ τῇ χαρᾷ ᾗ χαίρομεν δι᾽ ὑμᾶς ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν,
Textual key: no entry
m:
Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
1 Thessalonians 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Acts 26:7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;
Romans 1:9-1:12 9. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; 10. Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. 11. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12. That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
Romans 15:23 But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you;
1 Thessalonians 2:17 But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
This is another effect of the message Timothy brought, it caused in the apostle great thanksgivings to God. First he rejoiced in their faith, and then gives thanks to God for that joy. The matter of his rejoicing was their faith, but the author and upholder of this faith was God; and in giving thanks to God for his joy, he gives thanks also to God for their faith from whence it sprang. The joy that ministers have in their people’s faith should break forth into thanksgivings. And the apostle’s thanks to God was beyond what he could return or express, as appears by the form of his speech:
&c.; as Psa 116:12: What shall I render unto the Lord? said David. And his rejoicing before God implies both the nature of it, it was divine and spiritual, and his respect to God therein, as David danced before the Lord with all his might, 2Sa 6:14; i.e. with a respect to God’s goodness then declared Or the apostle might mean his joy was inward, before God, rather than before men.