Savage Street Church of Christ

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Serve the Lord Gladly 

Psalm 100

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • October 19, In the year of our Lord, 2014

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Larry Amberg – “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” (528); “All People that on Earth Do Dwell” (17); “Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne” (64); “O Be Joyful in the Lord” (459); “I Will Enter His Gates” (949)

Prelude: 

1. What does the Lord think when we sing to Him? 
   1. How does it make Him feel?
   2. Later I hope to show you.
2. I want to show you something from Psalm 100. 

Persuasion: 

1. Psalm 100.0 – Thanksgiving
   
   0 A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
   
   1. Giving thanks is a major theme of the Bible.
      
      15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God (2Co 4.15).

      20 [Give] thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ… (Eph 5.20).

      12 “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
      Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
      Be to our God forever and ever.
      Amen.”
      (Rev 7.12)
      

   2. Why should we give thanks?
      1. Does not it imply that someone else is responsible for the good we see?
      2. Who is that Someone?
         
         17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (Jam 1.17).
         
   3. Therefore, this Psalm commands us and exhorts us
      1. to give thanks to the Lord.
      2. Now observe what else this Psalm tells us to do.
2. Psalm 100.1–2 – The Joy of Thanksgiving
   
   1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
   2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
   Come before His presence with singing.
   
   1. Not only Israel, but all lands, should make a joyful shout to the Lord.
      1. How can we not?
      2. The Lord has blessed us
         1. on the Earth and
         2. in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
   2. Not only all lands, but
      1. the church more so,
      2. remembering the price the Lord paid for us,
         
         28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20.28).

         19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (1Co 6.19–20).
         

   3. Then verse 2 tells us to serve the Lord, and
      1. in this context we serve Him through worship.
      2. And do it gladly, for
         1. we are His servants, and
         2. we consider this our highest calling.
   4. Let us come before His presence with singing.
      1. He loves to hear His children sing.
      2. Do you love to hear your children and grandchildren sing?
         1. I would like the following come forward:
            1. Haley Clasby
            2. Kelly Crisp
            3. Nash Crisp
            4. Michael Davis
            5. Michael Estes
            6. Colby Estes
            7. Billy Henshall
            8. Taylor Henshall
            9. Coral Holbrooke
            10. Aaliyah Linn
            11. Kayleigh Meyer
            12. Dominic Meyer
            13. McKinley Meyer
            14. Jackson Meyer
            15. Jacob Noveske
            16. Nick Noveske
            17. Natalie Noveske
            18. Zoe Peugh
            19. Lila Peugh
            20. Orie Peugh
            21. Chloe Thomason
            22. Paige Thomason
            23. Landon Wagerle
            24. Mitchel Wagerle
         2. [Lead them in the first verse of “Jesus Loves Me” (810)]
            1. What did you just feel as your children sang?
            2. Yet, they did not even sing a song about you!
               1. Do you think the parents and grandparents had dry eyes?
               2. Do you think they sat cross-armed and grumpy?
                  1. Do you think they were embarrassed by their children?
                  2. Did this whole thing get their attention and yours?
         3. Well, what does the Lord think and feel when you sing to Him?
            1. Now let us sing to the Lord about what we think of Him!
            2. “My Jesus, I Love Thee” (440)
3. Psalm 100.3 – The Motivation of Thanksgiving
   
   3 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.
   
   1. We have reached the heart of the Psalm.
      1. Everything the psalmist said for us to do,
      2. he based on the facts of this verse.
         1. If I know and believe what this verse declares,
         2. it will be no problem for me
            1. to make a joyful shout to the Lord,
            2. to serve and to worship the Lord with gladness, and
            3. to come before His presence with singing.
               1. It will be a joy.
               2. I will see it as the point of my life!
   2. Put this in your heart: We need to know that Jehovah, Yahweh, is God.
      1. Therefore, He made us.
      2. We did not make ourselves,
         
         12 “I have made the earth,
         And created man on it.
         I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
         And all their host I have commanded.”
         (Isa 45.12)

         18 For thus says the Lord,
         Who created the heavens,
         Who is God,
         Who formed the earth and made it,
         Who has established it,
         Who did not create it in vain,
         Who formed it to be inhabited:
         “I am the Lord, and there is no other.”
         (Isa 45.18)
         

   3. Therefore, we are His people.
      1. We either belong to the Lord or to Satan.
      2. Many people believe they do not belong to either one, but
         1. it just does not work that way.
         2. The Maker of the universe divides it up that way.
   4. This makes us the sheep of His pasture.
      1. He created us, therefore,
      2. He will look after us like a shepherd does his sheep.
   5. Did verse 3 give you any reason
      1. to shout joyfully to the Lord,
      2. to serve the Lord with gladness, and
      3. to come before His presence with singing?
4. Psalm 100.4 – The Expression of Thanksgiving
   
   4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
   And into His courts with praise.
   Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
   
   1. We gather
      1. to thank Him,
      2. to praise Him,
      3. to thank Him again, and
      4. to bless His name.
         1. If you think life is about you, or
         2. that He exists for your sake,
            1. your life will be unfulfilled, but
            2. if you understand that you exist for Him,
               1. then doing what this verse says,
               2. will flow naturally from the way you live.
                  1. You will seek the opportunity to do these things.
                  2. You will look forward to assembling to worship.
   2. Why do I say these things?
      1. Why should we
         1. thank Him,
         2. praise Him,
         3. thank Him again, and
         4. bless His name?
      2. Here it is.
5. Psalm 100.5 – The Foundation of Thanksgiving
   
   5 For the Lord is good;
   His mercy is everlasting,
   And His truth endures to all generations.
   
   1. Let us summarize what this Psalm has told us to do,
      1. that we should worship Yahweh God.
      2. Why should we worship Him?
   2. This verse alone provides three reasons:
      1. First, He is good.
         1. We can be good, but
         2. how long does it last?
            1. Consider what the Lord said about Ephraim,
               
               4 “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
               O Judah, what shall I do to you?
               For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
               And like the early dew it goes away.”
               (Hos 6.4)

               8a “Ephraim is a cake unturned.”
               (Hos 7.8a)
               

            2. Who wants to eat a pancake that was cooked on only one side?
         3. God is not like that, because
            1. His goodness has never been and never will be corrupted.
            2. The word “God” derives from the Anglo-Saxon word “good.”
               1. Therefore, when you say “God,”
               2. you have stated the epitome of His nature.
      2. Second, His mercy lasts forever.
         1. It is not as though He remembers later what we did and then
         2. blasts us for it after having shown us mercy.
      3. Third, His truth endures to all generations.
         1. Think about it.
         2. Here we sit centuries after the writing of this Psalm, yet,
            1. we read it, and
            2. we know it to be true.
               1. We practice it, and
               2. we find out just how true it is, because
                  1. when we do what it says,
                  2. we discover our purpose for which He created us.

Exhortation: 

1. Remember the words of the Lord found in Isaiah 45, 
   1. that He made the Earth and created man on it,
   2. that He formed the Earth to be inhabited by us.
      1. Now, hear what else the Lord said by the mouth of Isaiah,
      2. remembering that Psalm 100 addressed “all lands,”
         
         22 “Look to Me, and be saved,
         All you ends of the earth!
         For I am God, and there is no other.
         23 I have sworn by Myself;
         The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
         And shall not return,
         That to Me every knee shall bow,
         Every tongue shall take an oath.
         (Isa 45.22–23)
         
         1. Do those words sound familiar?
         2. You have read them in Philippians 2!
            1. However, notice Paul’s application, and
            2. see to whom he applies the words of Isaiah,
               
               9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phi 2.9–11).
               
2. Since both Psalm 100 and Isaiah 45 speak of Yahweh 
   1. as God and Creator,
   2. that means Jesus is
      1. Lord, God, Creator, Yahweh, or Jehovah.
      2. Do you believe these things?
3. What should you do? 
   1. Shout joyfully to the Lord.
   2. Serve the Lord gladly.
   3. Sing in His presence.
   4. Know that Jesus is God.
      1. Know that He made us.
      2. Know that we are His people.
      3. Know that we are His sheep.
   5. Give Him thanks.
   6. Praise Him.
   7. Thank Him again.
   8. Bless His name.
4. Do you see why we should do these things? 
   1. He is God.
   2. He made us.
   3. He is our Shepherd.
   4. He is good.
   5. His mercy is everlasting.
   6. His truth endures to all generations.
5. Confess Jesus is Lord. 
   1. Show it with your changed life.
   2. Show it first with baptism into Jesus.