Psalms 100
McGeePsalms 100THEME: Chorus of the hymn to HimThis psalm is the grand finale of that wonderful little cluster of psalms that began with Psalms 94 and closes with this psalm. In this section we have seen the Lord Jesus Christ as King. Jehovah is King. In Psalms 93 we saw that, “The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty …” (Psa_93:1). This phrase speaks of the future and the time that the Lord will come again to earth. The first time He came to earth He did not come in majesty.
He came, as George Macdonald put it, “a little baby thing that made a woman cry.” He is coming to earth the next time, as we are told in this psalm, “clothed with majesty.” Psa_94:1 begins, “O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth….” When the Lord comes to earth again, He will make things right. We could not do it because we would be vindictive; the Lord will not reign that way. He will vindicate, but He will not be vindictive. Then Psalm 95: “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” Psalm 96: “O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.” Psalm 97: “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice….” Psalm 98: “O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things….” Psalm 99: “The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble….” Now we come to the great doxology, Psalms 100. This is the hallelujah chorus at the conclusion of this series. It is the glorious finale of this very precious cluster of psalms. Listen to it:
Psalms 100:1
Once again I would emphasize the fact that God does not want you to come before Him to worship with a long face. There are times when we have long faces; problems beset us, temptations overcome us, or we come to God in repentance, asking Him for forgiveness. We cast ourselves upon Him. But none of that is worship. You worship God when you come to praise Him. He wants you to be happy. At the time of this writing most of the bars have what is called a “happy hour.” I wish we had a “happy hour” in church, without the liquid. Let’s tune up and get ready to worship the Lord. “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.” That includes everybody. That is universal praise. There is a time coming when the entire world will be able to sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” “Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” This is a wonderful psalm of praisepraise Him, worship Him, glorify Him. Now that I am a retired preacher I find myself becoming an expert on telling young pastors how they should conduct their services. There is one criticism I want to make concerning my own ministry, and that is that I did not have enough praise included in the services. We ought to praise God more. We ought to worship God more. We ought to come joyfully into His presence. This psalm is just like a great doxology. There are many doxologies in the Word of God. Believers can sing the one in Eph_1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” God has been good to us. He has given us all spiritual blessings, but some of us do not avail ourselves of them; we are keeping them in cold storage, waiting for a rainy day. Well, it is a rainy day todayregardless of how bright the sun is shining. Start using the blessing God has for you!
Here is another wonderful doxology in the first chapter of the Revelation: “…Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever” (Rev_1:5-6). My, I don’t know about you, but that just carries me into the clouds! The whole world is called upon to shout aloud their praises unto Jehovah and to sing the mighty hallelujah chorus, because in that day the whole world will know Him. In this next verse is something quite interestingthe homogenizing of God as the Creator and as the Redeemer.
Psalms 100:3
There are a lot of people who do not know that the Lord is God. Many Christians are not aware of this fact. In the early Christian church when the first persecution broke out, the apostles came back to the church in Jerusalem and reported what was happening. Their report moved the church to pray, and they began their prayer by saying, “Lord, thou art God …” (Act_4:24). Someone says, “That is easy to say.” Yes, but the question is, Do you believe it today? There are many Christians who act as if He is not God. “It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves"God is the Creator. We ought to worship Him because He is the Creator! He made this universe! Not only do we worship Him as Creator, but “we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” How do you become a sheep? You must be redeemed. This is a case where the Shepherd died for the sheep; the sheep did not die for this Shepherd. What sheep are being talked about in this psalm? The sheep are Israel. The Lord is their Shepherd too.
The Lord Jesus told them that He had “other” sheep that were not part of the flock of Israel. “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (Joh_10:14-16). The Lord is the Shepherd of Israel; He is also my Shepherd and yoursif we belong to Him.
Psalms 100:4
This is the way God wants you to come into His presence. Someone told me the other day that he attended the services of one of the great churches of the past and had never witnessed a place that was so dead. Do you know what the problem was? People were not coming to church with praise in their hearts. They did not come to the service with thankfulness in their hearts to God. They did not enter His gates with thanksgiving. If you go to church on Sunday to worship, make sure you go with thanksgiving and praise in your heart. If you fail to do that, you are not going to be very helpful to your church.
Psalms 100:5
I don’t know who you are, or why you are, or where you are, but I do know that God is good to you, and He is good to me. Oh, how good He is! “His mercy is everlasting.” He hasn’t run out of it. Perhaps since He extended so much mercy to me, you thought He had exhausted His supply. He hasn’t. He has a lot left for you. His mercy is everlasting. Like the flour in the barrel belonging to the widow that Elijah helpedit never runs out. “His truth endureth to all generations.” My, what a great psalm of praise this is!