Thrust Statement: Psalm 100 reveals one’s proper posture
on earth—a posture of thanksgiving and praise.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 100
This
Psalm is a psalm about thanksgiving. This Psalm is a psalm about worship. This
Psalm is a psalm about knowing God. This Psalm is a psalm addressed to the
inner hearts of men and women. This Psalm is a psalm calling for praise and
thanksgiving and worship with gladness. This Psalm was not just a call to
Israel to praise God, but for “all the earth” (Psalms 1:1).[1]
The Psalmist begins this Psalm with a call for cheerful worship: “Shout for joy
to the LORD, all the earth” (1:1). Yes, God inspires ecstatic and joyful
worship. Does God detect a note of joy in your worship?
When the Psalmist speaks of worship, he is not simply speaking of something that occurred at the Temple, but rather of their service to God twenty-four hours a day. This Psalm is as relevant today as it was at the time it was written. God still wants His people to “Shout for joy to the Lord.” Whether one is assembled with the saints on Sunday or whether one is serving God in his/her daily walk, this worship, according to the Psalmist, is to express joy, delight, and pleasure. It is not uncommon for church gatherings to assume an air of dignity that actually squeezes out the spirit of thanksgiving and rejoicing. It is not uncommon for songs to lack the note of exhilaration. Is it any wonder that the little boy whispered in his mother’s ear: “Is God dead?” Yes, Christians often give the impression of being gloomy, despondent, and unenthusiastic—whether assembled or not.
PSALMS 100
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we
are his;
we are 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 the LORD is good and his love endures
forever;
his faithfulness continues
through all generations.
Do you have this inner experience of gratitude and rejoicing for the spiritual blessings in Christ? But, do you stifle every breath of praise? Christians have every reason to praise God for his willingness to adopt us as sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14). This Psalm is a call to praise. The Psalmist articulates this summons to praise with three imperatives: (1) Shout, (2) Worship/serve, and (2) come. In other words, the Psalmist desires that “all the earth” submit to the power and presence of Yahweh. When the community of God praises its maker of heaven and earth, then this worship embraces a life that is doxological. When one lives a life of doxology (a liturgical expression of praise to God), then this kind of life demands a reorganization of one’s priorities. To state another way, when one submits to Yahweh, then one reorients his/her life that is different from the old way.
WORSHIP/SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS
When one shouts for joy to the Lord, then one
will “Worship the LORD with gladness” (Psalms 100:2a). This
worship is not simply a “moment” of worship, but rather it is the embrace of a
life that is dedicated to offering one’s body as a living sacrifice to
God—whether in the assembly or outside the assembly. This kind of
service/worship supports a life of praise. The worship of the Psalmist breathes
a faith of simple trust, a life of glad surrender, and a faithful
responsiveness to God in every area of one’s life—twenty-four hours a day. As stated
above, this worship is a reformation of one’s life style. In other words, it is
the reordering of one’s life to God’s glory.
The Hebrew word db^u* (u*b^d,
“to work, to serve, to be a servant) conveys the idea of conduct that is
appropriate to a royal figure. This word (u*b^d) can be translated “worship” because its
focus is God, but our English word worship
does not convey satisfactorily the comprehensiveness of the term. The Hebrew
word is more wide-ranging than just what one performs at the gate of the
Tabernacle/Temple. It is that, but it is more. Worship also includes the whole
of one’s life dedicated to the service of God. The same is still true today in
one’s use of the word worship to
describe what takes place on Sunday mornings. The activities that Christians
share on Sunday mornings may be called worship, but one must not limit worship
to one hour a week—between 9am and 10am.
When Christians congregate on Sundays, one must be conscious that God
has not prescribed or ordained a so-called worship service. Paul calls
attention, in the book of Romans, to a life style that is devoted to God, which
is one’s “spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1). Worship,
for the believer, is one’s way of life lived in harmony with the teachings of
Scripture. Since God has not ordained a worship service, then one does not
violate any Scripture if one employs instruments of music in his/her praise to
Yahweh. When one worships God, then this individual brings his/her life into
conformity to the image of Christ. Serving God excludes allegiance to another
deity. Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, calls attention to the necessity of
choice: “No one can serve two masters.
Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24).
Christians should lift up their voices in a shout. They should lift up their voices in praise for the inner experience of God’s peace, and for the inner experience of God’s grace. Have you stiffed every breath of praise before it is half grown? Are you selfish and self-centered? Do you lift up your voice in praise to God for the redemption that He has made available “in” and “through” Jesus Christ? As Paul contemplates redemption, he breaks forth in rapturous language in his contemplation of God’s scheme of redemption?
Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual
blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to
be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus
Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his
glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with
the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and
understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his
good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the
times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on
earth together under one head, even Christ (Ephesians 1:3-10).
KNOW THAT THE LORD IS GOD
The fourth imperative—“know”—gathers up and interprets the first three imperatives—“shout,” “worship,” and “come.” This knowing “that the LORD is God” is more about recognition than cognition. One must not vacillate between allegiance to God and allegiance to Satan. The Psalmist is encouraging the heart to cry out for certainty. He wants the people of God to know that Yahweh is God. How firm are you about this fact? Is He the God of the entire universe with unlimited power? Does He possess absolute knowledge? Do you stand in awe and reverence in your knowledge about God? Are you conscious that God is the Creator of the world and its inhabitants? Do you rejoice in the thought that He is our God and that we belong to Him?
Alongside of the confession—the Lord is God—the Psalmist says,
It is he who made us, and we
are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture (Psalms 100:3bc).
WE ARE HIS PEOPLE
God is the creator of His world and His creatures. Just as God made
Israel His chosen people to be a light to the nations, so He has made us to be
a light to “all the earth” (v.1a). We belong to God. No one can claim
ownership of His creation. We are not self-governing; He is our rightful
owner—“we are his people.” This making
is not the creation of the world—even though God did that—but this making is
the fashioning of His people into a worshipping/serving community. Again, this
concept of ownership refers back to the Psalmist’s earlier command: “Worship
the Lord with gladness.” Since we are the people of God, then we must reorient our
lives in such a way that they magnify God’s sovereignty.
As one reflects upon the words of the Holy Spirit in Psalm 100:3,
one cannot help but think also about the words of Paul to the Corinthians: “Do
you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom
you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.
Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
As Creator He has special rights and claims. God made us for Himself. He has a
right to our love, to our gratitude, to our praise, and to our devoted service.
God has redeemed us through the atoning work of Jesus upon the cross. It is in
this vein that Paul writes: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The words of the Psalmist, “We are his people, the sheep of his
pasture” (Psalm
100:3c), captures the essence of Psalm 23:1: “The LORD is
my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” This hymn (Psalm 100) asserts a
covenantal identity of Israel with God. But today, this hymn also addresses the
followers of Christ as in covenant relationship with God through Jesus. Is it
any wonder that Paul encourages the Ephesians to “Speak to one another with
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19a)? Paul wants believers to “Sing and make music” (5:19a).
But this singing and making music was not just a ritual, but also something
that was to be carried out with one’s whole heart. Listen to Paul as he
elaborates on this singing and making music: “in your heart to the Lord, always
giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ” (Ephesians
5:19b-20). The RSV translates the Greek text, th'/ kardiva/ uJmw'n (th kardia &umon), as “with all your heart.”[2]
The words of Paul, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and the words of the Psalmist, “We are his people, the sheep of his pasture,” ring a bell from the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John:
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life
for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring
them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and
one shepherd” (John 10:14-16).
ENTER HIS GATES WITH
THANKSGIVING
Jesus is our Shepherd. We are His people; we
are the sheep of His pasture. God issues another imperative through the
Psalmist. Since Israel belonged to God, He issued another imperative—“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to
him and praise his name” (Psalms 100:4). This “enter” is the fifth
imperative in God’s instruction to Israel. Psalm 100 moves from a concrete metaphor (sheep)
to a liturgical act of praise. When the Israelites entered into “his gates,”
this act of entering into the area of the Temple with singing caused the
children of Israel to reflect upon their blessings from God. Psalms 136 is a classic example of a “thanksgiving
psalm” that calls attention to the goodness of God. This Psalm begins: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.” Even today, as we
gather as a corporate body of believers, we, too, reflect upon the goodness of
God, especially our exodus from the world of darkness into the kingdom of God’s
dear Son (Colossians 2:13).
THANKSGIVING HYMN
Psalms 100:4 intensifies the invitation to enter His
courts with thanksgiving and praise. But the Psalmist does not stop with this
summons. He gives the reasons for “thanksgiving” and “praise”: “For the LORD is good and his love endures
forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (100:5).
Just as this act of thanksgiving and praise kept the Israelites focused on
their responsibilities to God, so, too, the act of thanksgiving and praise
helps the believer to keep things in proper perspective. Doxology puts life in its proper outlook. It
calls attention to the blessings of God as a gift, not an achievement from
man’s efforts.
Thanksgiving invites one to enter the sanctuary with a consciousness that “It is he
who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture (Psalms 100:3bc). On the other hand, praise invites one to offer a responsive
sacrifice to the One who loves us. The superscription of Psalm 100—“A Psalm. For
Giving Thanks”—expresses one’s gratitude for God’s goodness. Verse 4
expresses beautifully the superscription.
Thanksgiving is rooted in a concrete action of Yahweh. Praise is rooted
in God’s character. The two terms move one from memory to ecstasy.
Life
for the believer is no longer self-grounded without thanks, but life is now a
life rooted in thanks. This Psalm reveals one’s proper posture on earth—a
posture of thanksgiving and praise. In
this act of “thanksgiving” (hd`oT, tod`h), one speaks with exuberance of what God has
accomplished for His people and of what God is. In this thanksgiving and
praise, one speaks about his/her dependence upon God. In spite of difficulties
in life, the believer still praises God. It is true that in this world,
doxology is not an easy thing, but praise is still permitted by our faith (see Psalms 73).
Every worshiper of God is permitted to experience all of life in fresh forms
and faithfulness when he/she enters into Jesus Christ who is our Shepherd.
Just
as God made Israel, so the new Israel, too, is made by God: “For we are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
As Paul contemplates the richness of salvation, he writes about
thankfulness and gratitude, which reminds one of Psalm 100:
Let the peace of Christ rule
in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word
or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him (Colossians 3:15-17).
THE LORD IS GOOD
Why should Israel praise God? Why should Christians praise God?
The answer is: “For the
LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through
all generations” (Psalm
100:5). This Psalm is designed to bring individuals back to
the origin of thanks—know that Yahweh is God. One cannot reflect upon the word good (bof fob) without thinking about God’s creative
activity in Genesis
1. Even in the darkest hours of history, one must never
forget that God is still “good.” No storm or cloud can drive the believer to
say that God is not good. The believer continues to sing:
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep
of his pasture (100:3).
Are you thanking God and praising Him for His goodness? Even in the heavens, God goodness calls forth a response that makes the portals of heaven ring with joy of praise.
The four living creatures
and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp
and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of
the saints. And they sang
a new song:
“You are worthy to take the
scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and
language and people and nation.
You
have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the
earth.”
Then I looked and heard the
voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times
ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the
elders. In a loud voice they sang:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was
slain,
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and
praise!”
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
“To him who sits on the
throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and
glory and power,
for
ever and ever!”
The four living creatures
said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped (Revelation 5:8-14).
The triumphant trust displayed by “The four living creatures and the twenty-four
elders” is still needed among God’s people today. In the midst of tragedy, in
the face of perils, in the hour of sorrow, one needs to remember the goodness
of God. One must continue to turn his/her heart and voice toward heaven in
thanksgiving and praise. Have you entered this assembly today with
thanksgiving? Have you entered this assembly of God’s people with praise?
Surely, such contemplation of God’s goodness will lift your heart in the kind
of thanksgiving and praise that God delights in.