MARCH 14, 2024
“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.” (Psalm 100)
This psalm is replete with grateful adoration and has been a favorite of the people of God ever since it was written and will be so while those whose hearts are loyal to Him exist. All people do well when they sing with gladness the Lord’s creating power and goodness with extreme reverence, adoring His holiness.
The psalm opens with a repetition of Psalm 98:4. “A joyful noise” signifies a glad shout, such as loyal subjects give when their king appears among them. Our happy God should be worshiped by happy people; a cheerful spirit is in keeping with His nature, His acts, and the gratitude we should cherish for His mercies. God’s goodness can be seen everywhere, and therefore, He should be praised everywhere.
Therefore, He is to be served with joy. We are told to come before His presence with singing. We should realize the presence of God in our worship and try to approach Him. This act must be one of great solemnity and respect, with joy and love, not with weeping and wailing, but with psalms and hymns. The measured, harmonious, hearty utterance of praise by a congregation of devout people is not just a decoration but is delightful and a fit anticipation of the worship of Heaven.
Our worship must be intelligent. We need to know Who we worship and why. It is very questionable whether someone can honestly know themselves until they know God. To know Him in His character and prove our knowledge by obedience, trust, submission, zeal, and love is something that only grace can bestow. Only those who recognize the Godhead can offer acceptable praise. Some people live as if they made themselves; they call themselves “self-made men,” but Christians should acknowledge the origin of their being and their well-being and take no honor to themselves for that.
Thanks must abound in all our public service; it is like incense, filling the whole house with a holy fragrance. Expiatory sacrifices are ended, but those of gratitude will never be out of date. So long as we are receivers of mercy, we must be givers of thanks.
He is good, gracious, kind, bountiful, loving, and much, much more. He who does not praise the good is not good himself. The type of praise indicated in the Psalm (that of joy and gladness) is most fitly urged upon us by an argument from the goodness of God. His mercy is everlasting. God is not mere justice, stern and cold; He has tremendous compassion and doesn’t will the sinner’s death. Resting on his sure word, we feel that joy, which is here commanded, and in the strength of it, we come into His presence even now and speak good of His name.
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