A Joyful Shout Psalm 100 Some have called this Psalm the “Pilgrims’ Psalm” because it was especially cherished by the Purtians who felt it was an appropriate description of their experiences in coming to the New World. “The psalm is not hard to analyze. It contains seven great imperatives plus two explanations of why we should give thanks, the first halfway through the psalm and the other at the end. Psalm 100 contains: (1) a statement of how to give thanks, (2) an explanation of why God’s people must give thanks, (3) an invitation to give thanks, and (4) a final great expression of praise of thanksgiving” (Psalms 42-106, James Montgomery Boice, p. 811). “Shout joyfully to the Lord”: 100:1 “Since God is great and greatly to be praised, we are called to boisterous expression as we begin our worship” (Psalms 73-150, Donald Williams p. 218). The term here translated “shout” means a glad shout, “such as loyal subjects might utter when the king appears among them, the emphasis being on the gladness. Still the text does say “shout”. It would be accurate to express this idea by saying that the people of God are to praise God loudly because they are happy with Him” (Boice p. 811). I believe we see the same emphasis in Colossians 3:16 when Paul says, “singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God”. Thankful singing should be anything but quiet. The Psalm certainly gives us permission, in fact commands us to be excited and vocal in worshipping God. We can be loud and excited when being with friends, playing games, attending a sporting event, or a concert. Yet, we have so much more to be excited about when it comes to God. “Serve the Lord with gladness”: 100:2 “Serve the Lord is paralleled to come into His presence, which is a reminder that an act of worship is well named a ‘service’. It is the first response we owe Him— and not, in either sense of the word, the last. How far it reaches is shown in Romans 12:1, where nothing short of a living sacrifice counts as ‘worship’” (Psalms 73-150, Derek Kidner p. 356). It is essential that we grasp this connection
between “service” and “worship”. It will prevent us from making the mistake that the sum total of worship is praying, singing, and meditating upon Scripture in private. As Kidner notes, “Praise and prayer go stale in isolation” (p. 356). Applications The purpose of worship is not to remove us from society but rather to prepare us to serve more effectively. We cannot separate “service” or serving others from a love for God. “Good deeds” that are performed without any faith in God do not count as worship—therefore they do not count at all (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). When we perform the deeds that Jesus as commanded, we are worshipping Him at that moment. “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40). “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). “Children obey your parents in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1). “Not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephesians 6:6-7). The decision therefore to honor my parents, is a decision to worship, the decision to support and cherish my mate, is a decision to worship, the decision to work hard and be an honest employee is a decision to worship, the decision to abstain from immorality, is a decision to worship. Every time we resist temptation and do not give in, we are making a choice at that moment to give God an expression of our love. “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing”: 100:2 Here we see the “thrill of liberation” that we have experienced as God’s people. We need to remember that being forgiven has not only delivered us from hell, it has equally given us God. “A free and clean conscience enables us to see more of God and frees us to enjoy Him” (Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper p. 101). The term come refers to formal worship, as would happen when the Israelites came to Jerusalem and the temple. “Silent belief is not enough. I am struck by the well-rounded nature of these terms—shout, serve (worship), and come—for they embrace the verbal profession of our faith, our helping others, and worship, three necessary parts of Christianity” (Boice p. 812). We can worship God at home and while walking in the forest, but we are equally commanded to “come” to a formal gathering of God’s people (Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 20:7).
This emphasis on public worship is equally seen in verse 4, enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. “It teaches that there is a special aspect of thanksgiving that involves the whole people of God together and not just the private prayers of individuals. For when God called us to Christ He did not call us in isolation but to be His elect people together, participating in a common heritage. This means that those among whom, for whom, and with whom we should give thanks are other believers. Moreover, we should exercise responsibility toward these others by encouraging a thankful response in them toward God. How do we thank God? One way is by inviting others to join in the thanksgiving. I notice that the psalm begins this way: ‘Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth” (100:1). It is an invitation to all the people of all the world to praise God” (Boice p. 814). Therefore, anyone can become one of His sheep (100:3), if one is willing to follow Him. This psalm equally infers that all men can find God, can understand His communication, and every man and woman has the ability to serve Him and conform to the lifestyle presented in Scripture. “Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who had made us, and not we ourselves”: 100:3 “To know is to have firm ground underfoot, the prerequisite of praise, and this knowledge is ours by gift; indeed by command” (Kidner p. 356). This reveals that our thanksgiving and praise toward God needs to be intelligent; we must know whom we are thanking. “The first thing we should notice about this verse is the connection between knowing God as Creator and knowing ourselves as His creatures. Knowing God and knowing ourselves always go together” (Boice p. 812). This means if we do not take the time to learn about Him we will never truly understand ourselves, our needs, our potential and our purpose. “What happens to us when we do not know God as Creator? We imagine that we are our own creators. Sometimes we do this scientifically. This is what lies behind the surprising persistent appeal of evolution, a theory that has very little if any true evidence in its support. This appeal of evolution is that it does away with the need for God. It explains how things got to be as they are without any divine creative force behind them. Of course, if we do not need God as our Creator, then we do not need to be thankful” (Boice p. 813). It is significant that in Romans chapter one Paul notes that the Gentiles, that is the rest of the human race outside of Israel, got off on the wrong track at the precise moment they stopped being thankful to the Creator.
Ingratitude lead to idle and futile speculations (Romans 1:21), such as futile speculations about the universe minus a Creator. “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture”: 100:3 Observe how understanding who God is (our Creator) creates for us a definite dignity. On the one hands, we are not gods, autonomous beings, or self-made men. Yet, on the other hand, neither are we worthless and purposeless carbon based life forms. In Romans one the people who stopped being grateful to God and wanted to get out from underneath His authority (1:25) started living like pigs (actually far worse than literal pigs) (Romans 1:26-32). As then, so it is today, wrong views about God or origins leads to idolatry, self-worship, materialism, immorality, degrading passions, basic dishonestly, and merciless and ruthless living. People may not like the idea of being accountable to God, but we will end up with far more value, self-respect and dignity if we side with Him. Dishonor, shame, and the relationship sewer are some of the consequences if we forget who He is and forget who we are. “If it is really God who has made us, not ourselves, and if we are His because He made us, then we are His to do with as seems best to Him” (Boice p. 813). And His “best” is far better than man’s “best”. Man’s “best” often turns out to be “worse”. “For the Lord is good”: 100:4 “The final verse of the psalm, like verse 3, explains why you and I should thank God. But it is not just a repetition of the first explanation. The third verse said that we should thank God because of what He has done; He has both made and remade us. That is, He is both our Creator and Redeemer. The final verse invites us to thank God because of who He is. It tells us three things about Him. “God is good”: The gods created by the heathen were not good. They were selfish and capricious. You could never know when they might turn against you and do you harm. Not so our God. The God of the Bible is and has always been good (James 1:17)” (Boice p. 815). He gave us a “good” world (Genesis 1:4-31), a “good” law (Romans 7:12), and a gospel that is “good, pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). “The word gospel means the “good news”. The very word God is a shorted form of ‘good’” (p. 815). Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017 www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com