Philippians 4:20

Paul closed this section with a doxology in which he praised God for His providential care. God’s care comes to us through His Son, and He often uses His people as His channels of blessing. Nevertheless ultimately God is the provider of His people’s needs. May we ever be mindful of this truth and be grateful to Him!

We cannot read this pericope (Philippians 4:10-20) thoughtfully without appreciating the apostle Paul’s sensitivity to his Philippian readers. He was careful to balance what he said. He wanted them to understand his genuine gratitude for their gifts on the one hand and his contentment with whatever God sent his way on the other. In our day we tend to go to one of these extremes or the other in dealing with those who give us gifts. We may give these people the impression that we do not appreciate their gift, or we may lead them to conclude that we are greedy. A proper balance must rest on genuine contentment and should communicate both appreciation and faith.

William Dalton identified four elements common in both the prologue (Philippians 1:3-26) and the epilogue (Philippians 4:10-20). Paul’s return to these ideas in the epilogue ties the book together and gives it unity.

". . . we seem to have evidence of an inclusion which binds the whole letter into one unit. First of all, the idea of partnership is strongly expressed at the beginning and the end. Thus in Philippians 1:5 Paul is ’thankful for your partnership (koinonia) in the gospel’; and in Philippians 4:15 he records that ’no church entered into partnership in giving and receiving except you only.’ This partnership is reiterated in another parallel: in Philippians 1:7 the Philippians are sharers (sugkoinonous) of grace with Paul; in Philippians 4:13 they are sharers (sugkoinonesantes) with him in his trouble. At both beginning and end we have the same idea expressed in different ways: the long-standing partnership of the Philippians with Paul: ’from the first day until now’ (Philippians 1:5), and ’in the beginning of the gospel’ (Philippians 4:15). And finally the reciprocal attitude of sympathy between Paul and the Philippians is expressed in the same phrase; in Philippians 1:7 he says ’it is right for me to feel this about you’ (touto phronein huper panton humon), and in Philippians 4:10, ’You have revived your concern for me’ (to huper emoi phronein)." [Note: William J. Dalton, "The Integrity of Philippians," Biblica 60:1 (1979):101.]