THE HUNDREDTH PSALM

Dearly Beloved, THE HUNDREDTH PSALM "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 made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations" (Psalm 100 NIV). Psalm 100 is one of the most popular psalms. Many people have memorized it. In fact I have learnt it since my primary school days. Why is the five-verse psalm popular? The reason is that it is a thanksgiving psalm. Recently, the beauty of this praise poem stirs my heart. Verses 1 to 2 invite us to reverence God with gladness. How often I forget to ponder on the reasons why we should do this. Verses 3 and 5 give five reasons. First Reason: we serve THE God, the one and only God. All other gods are not gods. They are sheer idols. They cannot be compared with Him (cf. Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 1 Kings 19:39; Psalms 86:8; 89:6; 95:3; 96:4-5; 97:9; Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 40:18; Jeremiah 10:10-16). Second Reason: the Lord created us. Before He created us, He created everything we need so that we will lack nothing (Genesis 1; Job 10:8-13; Psalms 139:13-24). Third Reason: we belong to Him, so He takes care of us; He sustains us; He protects us; He provides for us, etc (Psalms 74:1-2; 78:52; 95:7; Isaiah 40:9-11; Ezekiel 34:11, 30-31; John 10:14-16, 26-28). We belong to Someone who cares! (Psalm 34:15; Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:30; 1 Peter 5:7). Fourth Reason: the Lord is good and He does good things (see Psalms 86:5; 106:1; 107:1, 8, 15, 32; 119:68; Jeremiah 33:11). The Bible presents it this way: "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him" (Acts 10:38, NIV). Is He still doing good till today? Yes, indeed! Think about your own life. Fifth Reason: the love, mercy, and faithfulness of God are permanent (Exodus 34:6-7; Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalms 36:5; 103:17; 119:90-91; Lamentations 3:22-23; Luke 1:50). The above reasons made the psalmist to rejoice and advise us to always worship God with thanksgiving and praise in verse 4. Nevertheless, why do we need to adore, glorify and bless Him when, at times, we do not receive answer to our prayers? The hundredth psalm counsels us to simply serve God for who He is, and what He is doing for us, not because of what we get from Him. He is more than what we need. Those who rejoice in their unpleasant situation are convinced of God’s love which never abandons anyone that hopes in Him. Feed your soul with the hundredth psalm and you will see that the Lord is indeed good! In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). NB Please find time to read and meditate on each of the Bible references above. I extensively referred to them for your further studies. God bless you as you do so! The message was first sent out on November 23, 2003.