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"Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God;
It is He who has 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 to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations."
(Psalm 100:1-5)
This week, we have been examining Psalm 100 and the commandments contained in this beloved and popular psalm. The psalmist lists seven commandments for the children of Israel to obey. These same commandments apply to followers of Jesus today. So far, we have looked at two: 1. Make a joyful shout, and 2. Serve the LORD.
3. Come before His presence with singing (vs. 2).
Isn't it amazing that God invites you and me to come to Him? He not only invites us, but He also commands us to come into His very presence. What a joy, privilege, and responsibility to come into the presence of God. One writer describes the command this way: "The command, Serve the Lord, is paralleled by 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'." (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 389). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
Come and sing! God commands us to come into His presence with singing. Singing praise to God is a natural response to being in His presence. When we experience the LORD in His holiness and love, our reactions should be bowing and singing. This is one of my favorite parts of public worship services. To enter God's presence with other followers of Jesus and to lift our voices in songs of praise–wow, what a blessing that is. But we do not have to wait for Sundays to obey this commandment! We can go directly to the very throne room of God through the blood of Jesus and sing His praise.
4. Know that the LORD, He is God (vs. 3).
We are commanded to know, to recognize that there is only one God. Yahweh is the one, true living God! When I am in Asia, I see the many gods that the people worship. It breaks my heart to see this because they are lost and do not know the one and only God. The God of Scripture is one God in three persons: Father, Son, Spirit. Psalm 96:5 states, "For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens."
The next part of verse 3 reads, "It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves." God not only created the nation of Israel and delivered them out of Egyptian bondage, but God also created every living soul and offers us freedom from sin through the merits of His Son, Jesus. God made us, He created us in His image, according to Genesis 1:27. The last part of verse 3 reads, "We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." I love those first three words, "We are His." Most of the world does not recognize God as the creator of everything. Most create God in their own image instead of realizing that God created them in His. We are not to worship the creation but the Creator. He made us, and He alone deserves our allegiance, devotion, and worship.
Do you know God? He created you and desires for you to know Him, worship Him, and spend eternity with Him. He has made a way for you to have a blessed relationship with Him. This relationship begins at new birth and carries you throughout eternity. When the Holy Spirit reveals to you your sin, He also points you to the sinless Savior, Jesus. The King died for your sins and mine on the cross and arose from the dead on the third day. When you repent and believe in Him, you truly know God and are saved for eternity. If you have not already done so, turn now to Jesus by faith and invite Him to be your personal Savior and Lord.
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