A Psalm for Giving Thanks

Psalm 100 - Riley Boggs

Have you ever used a word that you didn’t really know the meaning to? Maybe you used the word so that you would sound smart or cool or something like that. Well, I have a clear memory of a time where I used a word that I didn’t really know, and I got caught. I was talking with some friends who were much more knowledgeable about theology than I was, and I was treading water trying to stay engaged in the conversation. And eventually, I spoke up, and I used a word that I kind of sort of thought I understood, but not really. I did it because I wanted to sound a bit smarter than I was. Big mistake. Don’t do that. Immediately after I said the word, one of my friends turned and looked at me and asked, “What does that mean?” I responded by saying, “Umm… I think, umm… Like, umm”. I didn’t have an answer because I really didn’t know what it meant, I had just said it to feel included. My friend realized that, looked me straight in my soul, and said, “Don’t use words you don’t know.” And let me just say, that might have been the last time I have ever done that intentionally. By the way, that friend later apologized for being harsh and feels bad about it today, but I have repeatedly told him that I think I needed that, even if it did hurt a little.

The reason I say that is because I think as Christians we often use words we don’t really understand to the fullest. In fact, I want to put this to the test. I am going to tell you a word and I want you to either write down or think about how you would define this word. I know for a fact that all of you have heard this word and most of you use it very often, and it’s likely that many of you have already used it this morning. Are you ready for the word? The word is “worship”. I want you to think through or write down how you would define what worship is. Think about how you would explain worship to someone who had no clue what that word meant.

Many of you likely wrote down or thought of something like, “Singing to God or Praising God or showing honor to God,” something in that realm. And truthfully all of those are right, but they are also kind of just using another word instead of worship. I’m probably pressing this a bit too far, I think you all know how to define worship. I’m just trying to remind us that we all have room to grow here. We can always come to a better, more full, understanding of worship. In fact, I think God has called us to do that. He wants us to become better worshippers. The way that I’d like to define worship this morning is this. “Acknowledging God to be who He is with our hearts, souls, and minds.” The reason that I want to define is like that is because our English word “worship” comes from an older English word that literally means to acknowledge of worth (https://learn.ligonier.org/guides/worship#).  In other words, to worship means to confess, recognize, or proclaim something. And in the case of worshipping God, it is confessing, recognizing, or proclaiming that God is worthy. We can do that with our hearts, with our souls, and with our minds. We believe it, we sing it, we pray it. Everything we do ought to be an act of worship, an acknowledgment that God is worthy to be praised.

Now there is so much that can be said about what worship is and how we can do it well. The Bible is filled, beginning to end, with instructions and examples concerning worship. And this morning, in Psalm 100, I think we are shown 3 different aspects of worshipping God. There are 3 different things that we are taught or reminded of. The first one is this.

1.) The scope of worshipping God

This Psalm is the last one in a group of Psalms that begins in Psalm 93. And the reason that these Psalms, 93-100, are grouped together is because they are celebrating a common theme. That theme is the Lord’s Kingship. That is that God is the King of the world. Each one of these Psalms point to this reality and you can see that in our Psalm this morning. Psalm 100 alternates between a call to worship God and giving us the reason to worship Him. In verses 1-2 we get call to worship, then verse 3 gives us a reason, then again in verse 4 we get the call to worship, and then again verse 4 gives us a reason. In this back and forth, and specifically in the calls to worship, God’s kingship is clear. Think about the language being used here. Verses 1-2 says, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” Then in verse 4 it says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name.” We are to make a joyful noise, to serve, to come singing, to enter the gates and courts, to give thanks, and to bless. Who do you do those kinds of things to? A King! But the Psalmist isn’t calling us to do this for just any king, but the King of the world, the Lord God Himself.

And, he’s not just calling us to do this is he? No, who is the call to? The call to worship God is a call to the entire world. That’s the scope of worship to God. Because God is the creator of the world and because He is the King of the world, everyone, everywhere, must worship God. There is no one who is exempt from this. There is no one who is off the hook for acknowledging the worthiness of God with their entire being. No one. That’s what the Psalmist is trying to convey here in this call to worship.

If we think through this, we soon realize that this means anyone who refuses to worship God, or even doesn’t know to worship God, is sinning. They are sinning because they are not doing the very thing they were created to do. The very first question of the Westminster Catechism asks this. “What is the chief end of man?” The answer, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” I love the way they put that because it is so simply stated and yet so profound at the same time. The very purpose for which God has created every person is so that they might worship Him and enjoy Him.

And, while God made us to worship Him, He will not force us to worship Him. Every person must decide what it is they want to worship. There is no option to simply not worship at all. God wrote it in our very DNA to be people who worship. We can’t help but worship, and acknowledge something as being worthy. Many people choose to worship themselves. They exalt themselves and place their desires as the Lord of their life. They live for themselves and it often glaringly obvious to those around them. Others find something else to worship, maybe a false god clothed in false religion or some  false god of their own making. Or maybe they just go from thing to thing, hobbies or jobs or something, worshipping them and living for them. Everyone worships something. Look around and see what people have devoted their life to and there you will often find the thing that they worship. And while the list of things will be seemingly infinite, there is only One who truly should be worshipped, and that is God Himself, the King of the world.

One of my favorite quotes from John Piper is, “Missions exist because worship doesn’t.” I love that quote because it’s a reminder that just because someone doesn’t know they were created to worship God doesn’t change the fact that they are held responsible for not doing so. Everyone has been called to worship God and those who have never even heard of God are just as required and responsible for worshipping God like those who have. The Psalmist doesn’t make any caveats when he calls the whole earth to worship Him, and neither can we.

If God is King of the Earth, and He is, then that means if you dwell in His land, and everyone does, then you are to treat Him as such. Even if you don’t know that you’re in the king’s land, you are required to acknowledge the king as king. If you don’t believe me, try going to another country and breaking a law you didn’t know existed. When you break that law, a law that you didn’t even know, the police are going to come and arrest you. And if you look at them and say, “But officer, I didn’t know that was a law. It’s not a law where I’m from,” the officer isn’t going to say, “Oh you didn’t know? Well why didn’t you say so sooner? Go on you merry way my friend!” No, the officer is going to say, “It doesn’t matter if you knew it or not, you are in this land and must obey the law of the land.”

So it is with this Earth. God created every person and placed them on this Earth so that they might worship Him. And no matter if they know that they are dwelling on His Earth or not, or why they were created, they must worship Him. And when they don’t, they are considered trespassers. This why Paul writes that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, without making any exemptions to those who simply don’t know. And that right there, the lack of worship and the guilt incurred by it, is the reason that missions exist. We don’t want people to continue on in their ignorance of God and their misplaced worship. We want them to know that there is One who is worthy of all of your worship. We want them to know that God created them, that He loves them, and that they should turn from their sin and trust in Jesus who can save them. And if you can show them that, the power of the Gospel and the goodness of Jesus, you won’t even have to teach them to worship. They will understand worship will begin to flow out. All their misplaced worship will be directed to the One who saved them.

But not only does the Psalmist give us the scope of worshipping God, but he tell us the way of worshipping God.

2.) The way of worshipping God

Often times we think that we are free to worship God however we please. We think that we can simply do something and slap the label “worship” on it, and it will be pleasing to God. This is typically how people justify seemingly bizarre forms of “worship” that probably come across your social media from time to time. They think that worship is whatever we want it to be, as long as we say we love Jesus along the way. I don’t actually think that’s the case though. We aren’t free to worship however we want, rather we are to worship God in the way that He desires.

Think of it like this. Let’s say you’re married and you tell your spouse, “I want this to be a weekend where we do whatever you want to do. You just tell me where you want to go and what you want to do, and we’ll do it.” So your husband or wife tells you that they want to go to the lake and have a picnic on Saturday evening. That’s the only thing that they really want to do. So you say, “Alright, that sounds great.” So Saturday evening rolls around and you all get in the car, and you start to drive to the movie theater. Your spouse looks at you kind and asks, “Hey, the lake is the other way. Where are we going?” And you respond and say, “Babe, I know you said you wanted to go to the lake, but I think you’ll actually enjoy the movies more.” And they respond, “No no, I really want to go to the lake and have a picnic with you. I’m sure of it.” But you continue to drive to the movie theater saying, “No, trust me. I’m doing this because I love you and think you’re awesome and I just know you’ll like this.”

In that situation, we all know that the spouse is feeling anything but loved. Why? Because they told them how to love them and instead of just listening to that, they have decided that they know better. And in turn, they have missed the point of it all. I think often times we do the very same thing when it comes to worship. We see that the Bible says, “This is what God wants from you. This is how HE desires to be worshipped.” But then we think we are a wiser and we ignore it, and come up with our own forms of worship.

I think the chief example of this is singing. God has called us to sing songs of worship to Him. The whole Bible makes that abundantly clear, and in our text this morning it’s also very clear. Verse 1 says, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord!”, followed by verse 2 that says to, “Come into his presence singing!” We see that, we know that, and then when the time comes, we hardly mumble. We just stand there waiting until the whole singing this is over. Why? Maybe we aren’t confident in our singing abilities, maybe we are worried that others will hear us, and we’ll be embarrassed. There are endless reasons, and I promise you I have used them all to justify my years of mumbling in the pew. Whatever it is, it isn’t right. God has called us to be a people who worship Him by singing songs to Him with our voice. It’s what He’s asked of us, how could we deny Him that? How could we be so arrogant to think that our own pride is more important? I’m just as guilty as anyone here and I still have to continually push away the temptation to not sing in certain settings because of what others might think of me. But I need to, I need to sing, and so do you all, because God has called me us to.

But it’s not just singing. Look at the other things ways that Psalmist is calling us to worship God. In verse 2 we are called to serve the Lord with gladness. Then in verse 3 we are to know that the Lord is God. Verse 4 we are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. We are to give thanks to Him and bless His name. You can really summarize all these ways to worship God as singing, serving, learning, and thanking. We’ve already talked a bit about singing. It’s this act of using the voice that God gave worship Him. Then, in serving, we are to serve Him in gladness. That is we do the things that He has asked of us with gladness. We walk in obedience, we gather with the saints, we serve the body of Christ, we share the Gospel with others, we care for those in need, and so on. We live our lives in service to the King of the world, and we do it with gladness. That’s a way in which we worship God.

Then we have learning, which I would guess isn’t often thought of as an act of worship, but it is. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” I love that Proverb because it serves as a reminder that God has done everything intentionally. He has created the world and written His Word in such a way that it takes more than a glance to understand it. In fact, it is so complex and rich that we will spend our whole life in it and never come to a full understanding. And if we do that with a heart of worship, if we spend our while life trying to further understand these things, it is a noble task that honors God.

It is good to go beyond the surface level of the Christian faith. It is good to ponder and consider and dwell on the deep things that are hard to understand. It is good spend time trying to better understand who God is. And not only is it good, but it is an act of worship. I’m not saying we have to make sense of it all, we can’t do that, so much has to be left to mystery and trust in God. But, at the same time, we need to seek to grow in our knowledge and understanding. If you don’t believe, try becoming friends with someone and never trying to learn anything about them. If you do that, you’ll find yourself not being friends for long. Why? Because being seeking to know someone further than the surface level is actually what makes you friends. If you only know one another vaguely, then by definition your friendship will be shallow. So it is with God. He’s made it so that you can spend your whole life in pursuit of Him and the knowledge of Him and you’ll hardly scratch the surface. And He’s called you to do that very thing as an act of worship to Him.

Lastly, the Psalmist says a kind of worship is thanksgiving. You could ask, “Well, what are we to thank Him for specifically?” And if you did ask that, I would say, well, I’m glad you asked because point number 3 is this.

3.) The reason for worshipping God

Not only does the Psalmist give us the scope of worshipping God and the way of worshipping God, but he gives us the reason for worshipping God. First and foremost the Psalmist calls everyone to worship God because He created us. We see that in verse 3 where we read that, “It is He who made us.” This goes back to the first point because no one falls outside of this category. Everyone who has ever existed was made by God and for no other reason than that, they should worship God. He is the Creator, and we are His creation, so what else could we do besides lift praises to Him.

But that’s not where the Psalmist leaves it. He goes further to call God’s covenant people to worship. He says in verse 3 that God is to be worshipped because we are His people, the sheep of His pasture, and that He is our Shepherd. Think about what that conveys here. What does a shepherd do for their sheep? A shepherd leads their sheep to the right places. They don’t lead them astray, but to the places where they need to be. A shepherd feeds their sheep. They nourish them, giving them what they need and bringing them to places where they might grow. A shepherd protects their sheep. They fend off predators and those who seek to bring harm them. God has and is doing all of those things for us, and it’s why we ought to worship Him.

But even further in the case of our Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, He not only leads us and feeds us and protects us, but He gave His life for us. Jesus says in John 10:11, “11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus entered this world and died for us, a flock of sheep who could never save ourselves. But He sought us out, laid down His life for us, and continues day by day to lead us. That is the reason that our everyday ought to be filled with worship.

When I think about kings, my mind often goes to The Chronicles of Narnia, specifically the scene where the beavers are talking to Lucy about Aslan. For those who don’t know, Aslan is a lion, and He is the Christ figure in the books and movies. And this girl Lucy is curious about him and asks the beavers, “Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” Mrs. Beaver replies, ““That you will, dearie, and no mistake. If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.” Then Lucy asks, “Then he isn’t safe?” Mr. Beaver replies, “Safe? don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” I love that scene because it reminds me of who our God is. Yes, He is the Almighty Creator of the Universe who is all-consuming fire and is in a category of His own. Yes He is the Eternal Ruler of all things who is Mighty Fortress. Yes all of that is true and at the same time we can say that He is good. The Psalmist says that He is good, His love never ends, and His faithfulness goes on forever. It seems impossible and yet it is our reality that the God of the universe loves us and keeps and is good to us, and that is reason to worship Him.

So, let me ask you this very morning, what do you worship? What have you centered your life on and what do you continually acknowledge as worthy? Is it God, or has something else begun to take that place? Maybe your job, money, your notoriety, your children, or some hobby. Whatever the case may be, let this be a morning where you confess that to the Lord and ask that He help lead you to a further and deeper worship of Him. And what better time than this Christmas season than to put this to the test. A time where all of these fun and warm traditions can overshadow the very purpose for this season to begin with. Maybe this is the year where your family intentionally spends time not only reading the birth of Jesus, but worshipping Him for coming to us. Maybe this is the year where you scale back some of the traditions and business of this season so that you can spend time dwelling on the fact that God took on flesh so He could save you.

And don’t let this be a time where you regret all of your lack of worship from the past. We have all lacked and fallen short in this area over and over again. God knows that and He doesn’t want you to dwell on it and heap condemnation on yourself. What He wants is for you to come to Him, confess your sin, receive forgiveness, and begin to walk in further obedience. He wants all of that because it is an act of worship. He wants you to acknowledge Him for who He is and what He has done, namely that He sent His Son to save us from our sins and is daily bringing us along. Let’s be a people who worship Him not only today, but every day, for He is worthy of it all.