A Thanksgiving Psalm

Shout for Joy to the Lord

Psalm 100 (a Thanksgiving Psalm)

 

 

This little psalm is special.  When I read it I see our heavenly Father calling all of His children – all the earth - to come for a thanksgiving Celebration – a loving Family Reunion. To enter the gates and come into the courts praising and thanking our Father for all that He is and all that He means to us.  He has created us and made us what we are and His ongoing love and faithfulness to us will last forever.  So He waits with outstretched arms for us to come and enjoy His Presence and thank Him for being our Father.   

 

Here it is - Psalm 100

 

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 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: 

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

 

For the Lord is good: His love endures forever:

And His faithfulness continues through all generations.

 

This Psalm is an invitation to everyone on earth to thank and praise God: to rejoice in His faithfulness and goodness and enjoy our relationship with Him.  He enjoys our praises and our worship – our songs and our love. He loves to be honored by His children.  Psalm 22:3 says: “God inhabits the praises of His people.”  In other words, God is present when we praise Him.  And amazingly sometimes when you are together in a group praising God, you can feel Gods’ sweet heavy presence there in the midst of the group.  It’s wonderful.

 

The third verse of this Psalm reads: “Know that the Lord is God.  It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…”  Do some of God’s children forget that God created them?  Does He need to remind us that He indeed gave us our lives and made us who we are?  And that we didn’t create ourselves?  We miss out on so much if we forget that we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  If we stay away and don’t come home to our Father. 

 

I know of several parents who loved their children more than they loved themselves, provided them with a good home and every advantage.  But now the children have grown up and time has passed, and all the love and the good family memories have been forgotten. 

 

 The children only remember what their parents didn’t do!  “You didn’t go to all of my soccer games.”  “You never were a good cook.”  There is no respect or honor to the parents, only criticism and rejection.  And sadly the bonds between the parents and the children are hanging there torn and tattered.  It would have been so different if the children had remembered the good times and thanked the parents for their ongoing love.

 

Speaking words of thanks and love mean so much in our human families.  How many broken families would still be together if just a few words of thanks and appreciation – just a few words of respect had been spoken? 

 

And Scripture tells us that thanks and praise also mean everything in our heavenly family too.  All through the Bible God asks us for our thanks and praise and for our worship and our fellowship.  He reminds us of His love and faithfulness to us and He waits for us to respond with our love and faithfulness in return.  He expects it. The entire message of Psalm 100 is a request - plea for us to come and praise God.  Worship and bring our thanksgiving.  Love Him and enjoy His goodness.  Celebrate and shout for joy to the Lord.  Let’s do it!