Worthy Of All Praise And Worship
October 1st marked the 50th year of the opening of Disney World in Orlando, FL. Disney will be celebrating this 50th anniversary, not just for a day, but its celebration will extend over the next 18 months. The ABC network (owned by Disney) even kicks off the celebration with a tv special entitled "The Most Magical Story on Earth". For the last 50 years, people have passed through the gates to enter Disney World with joy, anticipation, wonder and excitement. Disney World calls itself the happiest place on earth and fans around the globe are said to be "rejoicing" over the 50th celebration at the house the mouse built. And Disney has no plans to stop actively calling on people to come and enjoy this experience for the next 50 years and beyond! Imagine if we exhibited that same level of joy, anticipation, wonder and excitement whenever we entered the Lord's house and whenever we came into His presence. What would our praise of Him look like? What would our worship of Him look like? Psalm 100 tells us to come before the Lord with shouts and joy and gladness. We are not to be subdued in His presence, but we are to celebrate the Lord's rule over the world and in our lives. We are to worship Him gladly as our Creator and give thanks to Him because of His goodness and faithfulness to us. I pray that as you study Psalm 100, that God would give you a renewed Spirit that inspires and incites you to exuberant joy, praise and worship for all that He has done for you! Amen.
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. (Psalm 100:1-2) This Psalm exhorts all people in every nation to praise the Lord with shouts of joy and to be glad in our worship of Him. The psalmist urges us to come into the Lord's presence with songs of joy! Our Lord is unlike any other. Those who have positions of power and authority in this world are flawed and they have flawed motivations. But we can have joy and gladness in worshiping our Lord because He is just, righteous, holy, loving and merciful. I worship the Lord in joy and gladness because I know He cares for me!
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. The psalmist calls upon us recognize that the Lord he has called us to express our joy and worship towards, is God. And our relationship to God begins with this fact...He is our creator. And we are His creation and we belong to Him. He is also our shepherd. And as Christ proclaimed, He is our Good Shepherd who watches over us, provides for us and protects us. I worship the Lord. He is God all by Himself. He created me and overjoyed that He is mine and I am His.
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 100:4-5) What should we come into God's presence doing? In addition to singing songs with an attitude of joy and gladness in vv1-2, We should come into the presence of the Lord giving thanks and praise. Thanking Him for His grace and mercy that saved us even though we were not worthy. Thanking and praising Him for the unconditional Agape love He shows us and His faithfulnes to us Paul said that love was the greatest gift and the psalmist tells us the reason why...because it endures forever. And while some things that were believed to be true have been proven untrue in subsequent generations, the truth of God and His faithfulness is proven and can be counted on in every generation. I praise God and give Him thanks for His love, mercy and faithfulness in all that He has done and will do in my life.
As I think about this psalm, I think about two different ministers of music. Each of them was unfortunately struck with Covid had to be hospitalized. For one of them, God had more assignments for him to complete and He healed him to recover. The other, God called home. Paul wrote "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21) In other words, the Lord is to be praised and get the glory in either situation. That's exactly what each of these music ministers did post-Covid. The one who recovered, put on a gospel concert to praise God for His love, mercy and grace in extending his earthly life. The other, even as he transitioned from this world, inspired others to sing one of his original compositions at his deathbed. Both recognized with joy and gladness the goodness, mercy and truth of the Lord. And they each entered into the Lord’s presence in their own way, with worship and songs of joy. God has done so much for you and you have so much to be thankful for. The next opportunity that you have, don't wait on someone else to praise and worship God for you... let the Holy Spirit move you to enter into the gates of the Lord's presence with thanksgiving and into the courts of His heavenly reign with praise!
Blessings,
Rev Glenn
