Psalm 100 - a Psalm of Thanksgiving for all the lands

Psalm 100

A Psalm of Praise

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name,

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

This was the Psalm read at the beginning of our Morning Worship last Sunday and I just had to journal it.  As I listened to the video by David Guzik of Enduring Word Commentary and read the notes afterwards I was struck by how many times we are told to either "make a joyful noise" or "sing" or "be thankful."

As I pondered on this I thought of my own experience in leading worship during our church services.  I played the organ for a number of years and it was very nerve wracking each week.  In fact the music within our worship services is something that is taken very much for granted.  We turn up and expect a musician to be present and for that musician to perhaps choose the music for the service or be able to play what has been chosen by the preacher.  For me that meant having a dozen hymns or pieces before each service and then having 5 or 6 for the congregation to join in with singing.  This was just for one service - our evening services included additional hymns for the start.  So many are under the false impression that it is a talent that can be switched on or off but that is definitely not the case.  There is much "behind the scenes" preparation.  During COVID everything changed and I really despaired having to be inside a church playing the music while it was relayed out to our church car park.  It was soul destroying because you couldn't see or hear anyone joining in and there were many occasions I went home wondering why I bothered turning up.  I think it was missing the congregation joining in that upset me the most - that is fellowship!  When was the last time recognition was given to our musicians for their preparation and leading worship weekly?

In this Psalm we are given the what and why of giving thanks - what we should do (praise God) and why we should do it (because he is the Lord).  In the opening verse the Psalmist is asking everyone to make a joyful shout to the Lord (all ye lands).  No-one is excluded.  It is an encouragement to everyone to do it.  It was an instruction that went beyond Israel's borders.  The idea behind the original Hebrew is one of happiness and the picture is of what happens when a King or Queen makes their presence known before their subjects.  We are giving the King of Kings the praise and honour due to him.  We should do it with gladness.  It is the call and responsibility of every believer to have some purposeful intentional way of praising God.  

Of course this idea of worship goes beyond singing with the congregation - it involves our service in the church and community - verse 2.  In doing service for God we are obeying him.

Verse 3 shows us the reason why we should praise God.  

Firstly - because "the Lord he is God".  In bible times there were many "false" gods including Baal, Dagon and Molech but the Psalmist points here to the one true God.  The Psalmist reminds us that we "know that the Lord is God."

Secondly - because "he hath made us".  This is a reference to our creature God.  He has a right to our worship because he has made us.  So many today think they have "made it" in this world and they love to worship themselves.  C H Spurgeon said

"For our part we find it far more easy to believe that the Lord made us than that we were developed by a long chain of natural selections from floating atoms which fashioned themselves."

He is God, he has made us.  If we have come to faith in Christ we have an even greater reason to praise God.  We are now a new creation in Christ Jesus - 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17.

Thirdly - "we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture".  David in presenting this picture of God as a shepherd knew what he was talking about.  He understood the tender shepherd care.  The shepherd's responsibility was to lead his sheep to green pastures and water.  Surely this is what God does through his written word each day.

The theme of thanksgiving continues in verse 4 - and these are words we might be familiar with as a modern chorus. The Psalmist pictures the people of God entering into the gates and courts of the temple.  The manner in which they enter into the temple is important - it is with thanksgiving.  It is recognising what God has done for us.  We cannot exhaust that aspect of our faith.

I wonder if we entered God's house each week and thought about why we are present - that Jesus has died for our sins on Calvary's cross - would it change our attitude?  Would we be more grateful?  Would we come with thankfulness on our lips?  I feel this is something that sadly is forgotten in the rush to get into church weekly.  We have the enormous privilege of coming into God's house to thank him for what he has done and for what he means to each of us personally.  Sadly there are times when we cannot come into God's house for one reason or another so all the more reason to be thankful when we can come and join with God's people.  Through the new covenant the gates are wide open today - will we come?

In verse 5 we have another reason why we should offer thanks - "For the Lord is good".  the Lord's goodness - he is good in his plans, he is good in his grace, he is good in his forgiveness and he is good in his covenant.  Those are just 4 reasons why God is good and I am sure there are many many more!   In the days of this psalm and even today people are not good.  They are selfish.  They do not do something without a reason.  Many are out to do us harm rather than good.  The God revealed in the bible is a God we can confidently say "his mercy is everlasting."  Surely this is another reason why we should give thanks.  If we have received the mercy of God then ywe have a reason to give thanks today.  That is what God deserves.

How does this Psalm point to Jesus?

In verse 1 the Psalmist calls all the lands to make a joyful noise.  Remember what Jesus told his disciples before he left this scene of time - "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (nation)."

We are told to come into God's presence with singing - Jesus himself sang hymns with his disciples - Matthew 26 verse 30 and Mark 14 verse 26.

The Psalmist talks about us being the sheep of God's pasture.  Jesus is the ultimate shepherd.  In John 10 verse 11 he is the "good shepherd".  In 1 Peter 5 verse 4 he is the "chief shepherd" and in Revelation 7 verse 17 he is our shepherd for all eternity.