The Purpose of God for the Word of God Pt. 5
Good evening to all of you....
I would like to bring before us one last purpose that God has for His word. This involves the topic of worship. I would like to do this by taking a detailed look at Psalm 100. It is a song of worship to Jehovah.
Please read the text below. This Psalm is entirely focused upon the Christian’s glad privilege of freely offering praise to Jehovah, our most gracious LORD. As such, this Psalm is particularly a Psalm to encourage the wholehearted participation of every redeemed child of God.
Note that there are 8 actions words describing what the Christian should be doing in serving the Lord. This includes words like make, serve, come, enter, singing, know, be thankful and bless.
There are 4 adjectives describing our emotional response to Jehovah. They include joyfulness, gladness, thanksgiving and praise.
Last, there are several unique phrases found nowhere else in the Bible and I will point them out as we go along.
The
expression “joyful noise” occurs thirty-three times in the Old Testament and referred
to the action of shouting or the making of a loud noise. Usually, this word was
used for shouting orders during military action or to sound a civil alarm. It
was also used for religious purposes as noted in the text below.
I would like to bring before us one last purpose that God has for His word. This involves the topic of worship. I would like to do this by taking a detailed look at Psalm 100. It is a song of worship to Jehovah.
Please read the text below. This Psalm is entirely focused upon the Christian’s glad privilege of freely offering praise to Jehovah, our most gracious LORD. As such, this Psalm is particularly a Psalm to encourage the wholehearted participation of every redeemed child of God.
Note that there are 8 actions words describing what the Christian should be doing in serving the Lord. This includes words like make, serve, come, enter, singing, know, be thankful and bless.
There are 4 adjectives describing our emotional response to Jehovah. They include joyfulness, gladness, thanksgiving and praise.
Last, there are several unique phrases found nowhere else in the Bible and I will point them out as we go along.
Psalm 100:1-5
1Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all
ye lands. 2Serve the LORD with gladness: come before
his presence with singing. 3Know 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. 4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and
into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his
name. 5For the LORD is good; his
mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all
generations.
The first verse shows us the joyful noise of a true worshipper of Jehovah.
Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD,
all ye lands.
Making a joyful noise unto the LORD means to split the ears with sounds of
unrestrained joy for who Jehovah is and the triumph we enjoy because of what He has
done. It looks forward to the day when the Lord Jesus Christ is enthroned as
King of kings and Lord of lords. It reminds us that one
day, all saved and lost people will bow the knee to the all glorious King Jesus.
The glad labors of a faithful servant
of Jehovah.
Psalm 100:2 (a) Serve the LORD with gladness.
The first unique phrase. The word “serve”
refers to labor that can be focused on things, focused upon other people or focused
upon the LORD. When the focus of our labor is the Lord, it is an act of
religious service to worship Him. This word does not have connotations of doing
dreary duty or tackling tedious tasks but is a joyful experience of liberation.
You mean doing chores can be an act of worship? Yes, I do. My wife and I clean our church every week on Mondays. It usually takes us about 3 hours. We are praising the Lord in our hearts as we do this work. Now it is the job of you that are parents to teach this truth to your kids.
The
word “gladness” refers to the reality, the experience and manifestation of joy
and gladness. In this context, it refers to a celebration of the LORD with
joyful and cheerful activities. Webster’s 1828 defines the word “glad” as
pleased, cheerful, joyous, exhilarated.
The joyful adoration from saints singing.
Psalm 100:2 (b) Come before His presence with
singing.
This is the second unique phrase. It is
amazing that we can come into the presence of the LORD. It speaks of the new
and living way that Jesus opened for us. There is something very special about
lifting up our voices together in singing to praise Jehovah. This is done with
the idea that Jehovah is present with us, which He is.
The Apostle Paul speaks to Biblical worship in his letter to the church at Ephesus. The heart of true worship is being filled by God's Spirit and by God's word.
Ephesians 5:18-19 18And be not
drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Psalms
refer to the Hebrew hymnal and songs that are about the deliverance and mercies
received by the hand of Jehovah.
Hymns
are from a word that means a song given in honor to God and is a magnificent
declaration of how exceedingly excellent Jehovah is.
Spiritual songs are confessions of spiritual truth or
expressions of praise to God communicated or imparted by the Holy Spirit.
All
of this worship leads to a happy heart filled with praises to God above.
His sheep should know Him well.
Psalm 100:3 3Know 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.
Third unique phrase. We must know
Jehovah. We need to have a living dynamic relationship with Him. We must know
that Jehovah is also God (Elohim). Elohim is the divine name that teaches us God is
Creator, Sustainer, King and Judge.
The Glory gratefully given by the redeemed
children of Jehovah.
Psalm 100:4
4Enter into his gates with
thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto
him, and bless his name.
Last of the unique phrases.
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving”
is the idea of meeting the LORD at the appointed time and place. It is a
command about how our attitude should be when we go to meet with Him.
“Thanksgiving” is found 54 times in the Bible.Thanksgiving
means offering a
confession or praise to God. It is saying back to the LORD what you know to be true of Him.
“Into
his courts with praise” refers to coming into His presence with adoration
that humanity renders to Jehovah. It is an action that bears in mind the
character of Jehovah and His specific actions that evoke praise.
“Be thankful unto him and bless his name.”
To be thankful refers to acknowledging, praising, thanking, or confessing all
that is right about God. It also means we have a right acknowledgment of self
before Jehovah in confessing our sin. The word “bless” means to praise, to
glorify Jehovah for benefits we received.
3 reasons worship should be happily offered
to Jehovah.
PSALM 100:5 5For the LORD is
good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth
to all generations.
We worship Jehovah because He is good.
We worship Jehovah because He is merciful.
We worship Jehovah because He gives us His truth.
Are you a worshipper of the One, True God of Heaven & Earth? He is calling us into a lifelong relationship with Him so that we might worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
Bob
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