Psalm 100:1-5 “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.”
Every Sunday morning I post on facebook a reference to Psalm 118:24 “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
There are some differences among good men as to what this “day which the Lord hath made” is referring to by the Psalmist. With good authority some believe he was talking about the day in which God brought him to the throne to bring freedom to His chosen people. That was a day in which to “rejoice and be glad.” God hand-picked David to be king, the least of anybody’s expectation.
Some believe that this “day” was prophetic of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. That truly is a day to rejoice and that is exactly what we do every Sunday as we gather together in our local churches to praise and worship God.
But I believe that it also could have reference to another day of which God has “made” and that’s the day when He will break through the blue on the second coming of Jesus Christ. What a day that will be. Praise God for the prospect of the Lord coming again.
Here in Psalm 100 the Psalmist calls us to praise the Lord. Dr. Warren Wiersbe, one of my favorite writers, says that “praise is the highest use of man’s faculties.” When we think of God and all He is, we can’t help but praise Him.
In this week’s CHALLENGING CONCEPTS I want us to consider one verse from this Psalm. Notice verse 5 “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” The Psalmist points out three attributes of God here:
1. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS GOODNESS – His nature is to be good. Sometimes we only think God is good when we’re on the mountain; just got a raise in our salary; got a good report from the doctor, etc. But God is also good when we’re in the valley; lost our job; been told by the doctor we have a tumor, etc. “God is good all the time; all the time God is good.”
Look around and see God’s goodness in nature. He created the universe and said, “. . . it is good.” Even though man’s sin has brought a curse on it, you look around at the flowers, trees, green fields, etc. Grace and I always say, “God has given us a beautiful place to live.” God is so good and that ought to bring joy, gladness and praise from our hearts.
2. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS EVERLASTING MERCY – I like the word “everlasting” and “eternal.” These two words are used some 37 times in the New Testament. Along with use to describe our salvation, the glory of Christ and the kingdom of Jesus Christ, they are used to describe the nature of God Himself. In Genesis 21:3 we read “And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.”
In Deuteronomy 33:27 we see both words used: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say Destroy them.”
When you consider the above usage of the word “everlasting,” this really takes God’s mercy to a very high level. Since no one is big enough to throw Christ off His throne, Christ cannot lose His glory and certainly God is not going to die, then everlasting mercy will always be part of His attribute toward us. In fact we read in Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” The “goodness” of point 1 and the “mercy” here will follow us all of our days. It’s everlasting.
3. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS ENDURING TRUTH – On this past Sunday our pastor, Rev. Daniel Harper, brought this truth to our minds by pointing out that God communicates His existence by two different witnesses in Psalm 19: His Creation (vs 1-6) and His Word (vs 7-14). In these last verses God gives 7 terms that are used for the Word of God. One of those is “Fear of the Lord” which is declared “enduring forever.” Of course He used other verses to reinforce this truth such as Luke 21:33 “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away.”
There are other Scripture that we also use to back up this truth such as: Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withereth the flower fadeth but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” And I Peter 1:25 “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
As we consider these three points out of Psalm 100:5 (1) God’s Goodness (2) God’s Everlasting Mercy (3) God’s Enduring Truth, we see that we have so much for which to praise God. No wonder the Psalmist said in verse 4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
Do you regularly come into God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise? This is a good question for you and me to consider today!
That’s my view; how about you?
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Thanks for truth from the word of God. I must consider how often I come to God in prayer and begin immediately by asking for Him to ... instead of first taking time to praise Him and thank Him for who He is, what He has done, what He will do, and what He has done in my life. If I first take time to acknowledge Him and who He is it changes how I pray and what I pray for.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brother Buford