Give Thanks!

Hello! Welcome to Psalms of the Saviour, Devotions for His Sheep. I’m Joshua VanZandbeek, and today we are going to be looking together at Psalm 100. I’m excited to dive into this psalm together because it calls together God’s people in joyful, heartfelt thanksgiving. I think thanksgiving is one of the best ways for us to connect with God, and is part of our worship of Him.

I’d like to start today by reading Psalm 100 together. I’ll be reading from the ESV, and you are welcome to follow along in your Bible, or just listen if you like.

Psalm 100 ESV

A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

You know, there are times in life when we feel like praising God. There are times when we are filled with joy, or perhaps just overwhelmed by who God is and it leaves us wanting to thank Him and praise Him! However, there are also times when we are not feeling it. Maybe it’s just an off day, or maybe there’s big life circumstances getting in the way. Whatever the case, we generally don’t feel like praise God every moment of every day.

Psalm 100 is the climax to a set of thanksgiving psalms that started at Psalm 93, which were used during Jewish festivals. The singer’s heart of worship here is categorized by two things:

Acknowledging that Yahweh is the only true God (Ps 100:3)

Coming to God with thanksgiving and gratitude (Ps 100:4)

The call to worship is developed in 7 different ways. Through making a joyful noise, serving, coming, knowing, entering, giving thanks, blessing, culminating in the declaration that Yahweh is good, and His faithfulness will never end.

We should be lifting up our song in praise and thanksgiving to God not only on Sunday, but throughout the week! We need to serve each other and our community as part of our worship. We should come to Jesus, growing in Him, giving thanks to Him, and blessing God on a regular basis. All of this transfers into a testimony to how good God is, and that God’s faithfulness will endure forever.

We have it up on the original readers of this Psalm because we live on this side of the the cross. Jesus, the ultimate fulfilment. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s faithfulness to save a fallen humanity and wash us clean again. Without Christ, we can never be right with God. With Christ, we have every reason to praise God for how He has saved us.

No matter how you feel, or what is happening in your life, you can priase and thank God. In fact, just doing so can be a balm to the soul, and joy for the heart. Because of Christ, we have every reason to sing joyfully to God and bless His name! We are saved! This is because of God’s faithfulness in Christ.

As we close today, I have two questions for you:

Will you remain thankful toward God and praise him, no matter how you feel at that moment?

What can you thank God for right now?