Keeping it 100 with God: Psalm 100

Psalm 100: Keeping it 100 with God

“(1) Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. (2)Worship the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. (3) Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us; we are His; we are His people, the sheep of the pasture. (4) Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name. (5) For the Lord is good and His love is everlasting; His faithfulness endures through all generations.”-Psalm 100: 1-5

At Ardent Church in Red Oak, we have recently been talking about acts of worship and I came across Psalm 100 today after reading one of my devotionals, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. The fourth verse of the psalm has actually been quoted several times at my church and is actually written down in sharpie at the entrance of the sanctuary at Ardent. So, I felt compelled to share and highlight the ways to keep your relationship real with God, ways to worship Him sincerely by unravelling Psalm 100 a little bit.

The first verse is talking about shouting for joy to God. This is the kind of joy you express because you are so happy that you can’t contain your excitement. The joy that God brings is far better than anything else this earth can bring. Ironically enough, I have been finding out that everything on earth that causes immense joy are God’s blessings and answered prayers. Have you ever had a time when something made you so happy that you just couldn’t contain your excitement and had to shout because it was so amazing? “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:40. That is the joy you can experience with God every day when you seek His presence. I used to spend days, weeks, and even months at a time in my teens and twenties so depressed that no one could reach me, all while taking psych meds, illegal drugs, and alcohol. Now that I have finally met God, my depression is nonexistent and momentary sadness from a disappointment may last for about an hour at the most.

The second verse of Psalm 100 is talking about worshipping or praising God with happy singing. Even if you can’t sing, God loves hearing you attempt like you would a child who tries singing to you. It’s adorable and makes your heart melt a little bit when a child sings to you, even when it’s not your child. Although, you don’t have to sing if you don’t want to. Singing is just one act of worship and not the only way to praise God. Keeping it 100 with God by just talking to Him about anything and everything is perfectly fine.

God’s credibility and validity have always been attacked relentlessly by the enemy with false claims, cynicism, atheism, and now mass media vilifying the world. Verse 3 insists that we should know God as He is and that we are His creation. He made us out of love, like any mother and father would plan having a child. We are His children beyond a shadow of a doubt and He is the good shepherd who leads us and keeps us safe. “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10: 14, 15. It goes on to say that a field hand won’t take care of the sheep like the shepherd would. That is true when you place your faith in other people, ideas, and situations that are subject to change. God is our constant companion if we let Him. He will always be there for us and never leave us.

There has been a new wave coming around called an attitude of gratitude. Being grateful to God for what you have is literally the same thing as being grateful to the universe. The only difference is that God is conveniently left out of being thanked. Everything that we have or experience that is good is a blessing from God, whether someone sees it as God or not. Psalm 100:4 clearly talks about an attitude of gratitude, except the thanks is given to God instead of just thanking the universe for it. Praise is simply admiring or approving someone. People praise their dogs for being good or thanking someone for a really cool gift. It is in our nature to praise and give approval to things. Thanking God gets easier when you start seeing where the blessings really come from.

The last verse has to do with why we should praise, thank, and worship God. God is always good. There is nothing dark or sinister about God. He is literally perfect love. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18. There is nothing we can do that will make God stop loving us. If you are a parent, it is easy to understand when you start seeing that we are God’s children and just how impossible of a task it would be to stop loving our children no matter what. That is unconditional love. Faithfulness is God’s ability to stay with us from generation to generation and keep His promises. Despite how lost someone is or may become, God is there to welcome us back like a prodigal son.

In closing, it’s completely up to us to praise God in any way that we can. He will never force us to do anything we don’t want to do. There are more ways to praise Him than shouting for joy, giving thanks, or even dropping to our knees in surrender and reverence. God wants sincerity just like anyone else does. He doesn’t want fake prayers or embellished acts of worship in front of people. God wants authenticity, even when you’re angry or upset. You can’t hide how you feel from God. He can’t be deceived like people and knows how you feel better than anyone so do God a solid and keep it 100 in every way.