Psalm One Hundred…
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.
September 30, 2024
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
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.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
You may or may not remember that back several months ago I mentioned the section division in the songs of the Psalms. The first two psalms are basically an index of the main themes, then Psalms 3-41 deal with beginning foundations of the covenant, 42-72 cover the hope for the Messiah’s coming, 73-89 the problems of the exile and the longing for the Messiah, 90-106 The God of Israel is the King of all Creation, and 107-150 the Songs of Ascent and Poems of Praise.
We find some of the greatest worship lyrics in the fourth section. Some Hebrew historians believe the 5 sections relate to the 5 books of the Pentateuch; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy – but Numbers doesn’t seem to go with songs of worship? In fact, Psalm 100 is one of the shortest songs, and ‘short’ doesn’t fit the book of Numbers!
On 1967 at a Chapel Service at Wheaton College, Dr. Raymond Edmon who had served many years as the Chancellor was speaking on the importance of worship. He related an experience from his past while a missionary in Ethiopia. In order to meet with the king of Ethiopia, he had to observe a strict protocol and if he didn’t do it right, he wouldn’t be worthy to see the king. Dr. Edmond then told the congregation of the Wheaton students, “You have an audience with the King of kings, the ruler of Ethiopia or any other nation would fall on their face and cast his crown in the presence of the Almighty.” Dr. Edmond then began to make some practical suggestions about worship, then at that moment he fell dead. They say this was the greatest sermon illustration he ever gave! Falling down to worship God face to face!
Being nearly the shortest of all songs, this one packs a huge wallop, especially to worship leaders like us! It gives us the protocol of worshipping our God. We probably shouldn’t think that we just barge into the throne room of heaven without taking some proper actions, so here they are…
Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth. We raise our voice to God! The word ‘shout’ also means a loud blast on a trumpet – an announcement to throngs of people that the king is about to appear among them. We don’t worship ‘loudly’ in order to draw attention to ourselves – we shout for joy because the Lord is among us.
Serve the Lord with gladness. Give honor to God. We honor God by serving him with our worship. We glorify God by ascribing to him the honor and adoration due to him. We need to visualize and be amazed at the inconceivable greatness and splendor of Almighty God.
Come before Him with joyful songs. We draw near to God with our singing. Through our voices in song we draw near to God – just like it will be in heaven. Music is a vehicle that can stir emotions and express our hearts, but the singing isn’t where we find the joy, the music is how we react to the joy that is within us – sometimes we get that backwards! Music is not worship – it’s part of the protocol TO worship. It sets the stage for us to worship God, it helps us get ready to be ready to be in God’s presence. Music can be a distraction to worshipping God if it’s not used in the correct way.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God. At this point we stop and, in our thoughts, we remind ourselves of who God is. Like a salute to a general, like signing the cross for Catholics, like a curtsy or a bow – something we do to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. God is our Creator and Supreme Commander, we are His people. This is the intellectual part of our praise, our firm foundation to worship.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. We open the door to worship. The gates were a part of the outer wall that surrounded the temple. To come to worship, they had to come through the gates and be thankful. Once through the gates, you’re in the courts and from there comes praise. Praise is like ringing the doorbell to the temple, and when you’re invited inside, that’s when we worship. God is enthroned by our praise and that creates the atmosphere for an audience with the King.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name. The most often used version of the Hebrew word for ‘praise’ means to kneel. By kneeling we show honor and homage to God as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Even in today’s world where we feel so important… we can’t worship if we don’t fall at the feet of God.