Psalm 100

A Psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.

3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he that made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him, bless his name.

5 For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures for ever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

This is a well-known psalm; I want to dig down into two sentences in the psalm.

First – “Make a joyful noise” – this line appeared twice in Psalm 95 and twice in Psalm 98. An expression that gives permission to those of us who cannot carry a tune, who do not have musical gifts, to join the chorus of creation in voicing and singing our praise. It reminds us that bird’s song, children’s shouts of joy, even the barking of dogs is part of the joyful noise of creation in praise of God who made all things. For the call is not just that people sing – but that all the earth would be part of the hymn of joy to God the creator. The creation praising the Creator – and human beings as part of that creation fulfilling our proper role in creation as creature, as creation.  

Second, and building on the first part. Vs. 3 makes very clear – God made human beings. We are not self-made; we were made by God. We belong to God (“we are his” and “we are his people”) and as the people who belong to God, God is the shepherd who shepherds us through the fields of life and over the hills and through the valleys. Sheep are wilful creatures who can act in very stubborn ways. Sheep are deeply needy of being in community, yet at the same time sheep can wander off on their own and lose their way. To shepherd sheep is challenging, requiring great patience and resilience. The shepherd does care for the sheep, has the best of the sheet in mind, even in those times and in those moments when the sheep are difficult and unheeding of the shepherd’s voice and call.

To say that human beings are made by God and belong to God is a statement recognizing that God our maker is worthy of our praise for God’s faithfulness and steadfast love.  

PRAYER:

In joy we bring our praise to you, O Lord God, making a joyful noise with all of creation. Thank you for being our maker and our shepherd, thank you for your care and guidance in our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Psalm 99

1 The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
    He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
    Holy is he!

4 Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Extol the Lord our God; worship at his footstool.
    Holy is he!

6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
    They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
    they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them.

8 O Lord our God, you answered them;
    you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Extol the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain;

    for the Lord our God is holy.

We so easily minimize God. The thought of trembling before God sounds odd to us, out of step with the way our society thinks.

Someone told me that when they get to heaven they are going to say to God, “Hey buddy let’s have a beer.” I didn’t say what I was thinking, “You will be lucky to be flat on the ground before the majesty of God, unable to speak in the presence of such a majestic and awesome God.” This psalm drives home the point that God is greater than anyone or anything else in all of creation. King of all things (vs. 1); exalted over all people (vs. 2); great and awesome (vs. 3); the mighty king who brings justice (vs. 4) before God the only answer is to tremble (vs. 1); praise God (vs. 3); extol and worship God (vs. 5).

Further the repeated statement that God is holy – (vs. 3, 5, 9) – reminds us that God is not like human beings. God is perfect in all God’s ways and doings. Before such holiness, before such perfection, humanity falls on its knees in awe and wonder – worshipping – bringing honour to – God. Notice the links between the statement of God’s holiness and our worship – vs. 3: we are to praise God because “Holy is he!”; vs. 5 we are to worship at God’s footstool because “Holy is he!”; vs. 9 – we worship God because “God is holy.”

The holiness of God has only one response – humanity’s –our – worship. There is joy, hope, and exaltation in the truth that God is holy – that God is greater than us, wiser than us, more just than us, more forgiving than us – this is truly good news, and exaltation of God is good and right.   

PRAYER:

O God, you are holy. Before your holiness, your majesty, your justice and forgiveness – we bow in humble adoration and praise. In Jesus’ name. Amen.