THANKFUL WORSHIP Psalm 100 [NKJV]

Introduction:

LET US PRAY

Text: Psalm 100:1-5

Psalm 100:1–5 NKJV

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 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. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

Good morning on this Thanksgiving Sunday to each and everyone of you the people of God! I bring you greetings from the Community Baptist Church of Bayside where C. Omarr Evans is our pastor. To the Chair of the Deacon Board Dea. Jenkins, and to the Merrick Park Baptist church family; I am so grateful to be here, to share for a little while on thus sayeth the Lord-Amen?

On this Thanksgiving Sunday, I would like to read Psalm 100, from the NKJV:

100 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 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.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

And God’s Word is blessed!! AMEN

How many of you are in the middle of your holiday prep? Getting the house ready, going food shopping, pulled out recipes to get ready for the holiday that has Thanksgiving in its name?!!!

For many believers, Psalm 100 is a familiar psalm! Brothers and sisters, in this psalm, the psalmist, based on his own experience of the goodness of God, calls us to praise the Lord and to give God thanks!!!

Today we are talking about being in Thankful Worship!

In this psalm as I mentioned, I want to highlight what the writer really calls us to: to praise God and to give Him thanks!!! Brothers and sisters, this combination of relating with our God is a form of worship!!!!

A definition of worship is the human response to the perceived presence of the divine. This happens in the form of prayers, singing, reading, giving thanks, and the teaching and preaching of scripture. Gratitude was such a vital part of Israel’s religion that it pervaded most ceremonies and customs. “Thank” offerings acknowledged blessings from God, Shouts of joy (Ps 42:4), songs of praise, music and dance all added to the spirit of thanksgiving in worship. And as the writer of Hebrews says, we as believers are to offer up sacrifices of praise to God!

And on this Thanksgiving Sunday, you ought to know, that there are 3 important aspects of Thankful worship:

I. WE ARE CALLED TO PRAISE [v.1-2]

Here in the text, the Psalmist said, “ Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth!” Unlike the previous psalms, Psalm 100 does not begin with a declaration of God’s sovereignty or character. Instead, it begins with the simple and direct call to praise God with a joyful shout. This is a call to the nations, extending far beyond Israel’s borders. This is a call to praise for each and every one us no matter where you come from!!!

In the Bible, worship is not some quiet event. We as God’s people are to engage in worship with a sense of excitement!!! You can’t worship the Lord without your emotions!! It is not a mere intellectual exercise. Moreover, worship is for “the whole earth.” We as believers should see our lives out of the lens of joy because of all that Jesus has done for us!! The Good News of the Gospel, should give us everlasting joy!! All people are invited to join the celebration and no one has to be left out!! Worship is all that we are responding to and all that God is!!! It is the recognition of God: who He is, what He’s done, and what we are trusting Him to do!!! Can I get a witness?

We are called to praise!!! And considering the goodness of Jesus, and all that He’s done for us, we ought to want to serve the Lord with gladness!! Is Anybody here glad this morning?

We ought to want to rejoice because our God and Father gave His only begotten Son so that NO ONE would perish, but ALL would have EVERLASTING LIFE!!!

We have to Serve the LORD with gladness: Here in the text, the whole earth is invited to serve the LORD. The psalmist likely had in mind the service of worship in the temple, but the principle applies to us and any service directed to God. Those of us who serve the LORD should do it with gladness!!!

Know that “It is our privilege and duty to be happy in our worship!!! Does our day to day show our praises to the Lord?

God has invited us into His presence to serve Him w/gladness!!! And We ought to come before His presence with singing: As in many places in the psalms, praise is expressed in song. Singing though, is not the only way to praise God,!!! We are called to come before Him with joyful songs and not with an attitude of indifference!!! And I hope I’m not by myself this morning, in recognizing that if I don’t know how to sing, I can lift up holy hands in which to praise the Lord!!!

Our worship leads to service, and true service is worship. God inhabits the praises of His people!! And when the praises go up—THE BLESSINGS COME DOWN!! This is our call to praise!!

Not only do we have a call to praise:

II. WE HAVE CAUSE TO PRAISE [V.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.

Saints, when we read this verse, it begs the question: ‘Do we really know the God that we serve?’

Here in verse Ps. 100:3 ‘The LORD is God’ is a translation of the Hebrew phrase, “Yahweh is Elohim.” Yahweh is the name of God revealed in his covenant relationship with His people. Elohim speaks of power; He is the one who created the heavens and the earth. And our powerful God wants a relationship with you and I!! He made us, and we are His sheep. He is our Creator and Sustainer. He is our Way-maker! He is our Miracle-worker, He is our Promise-keeper! He is our Light and Salvation!! HE IS THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING WE NEED!!!

AND HE DESERVES ALL THE PRAISE!!!

We have many reasons to worship Yahweh, and the reasons begin with the recognition that He is God!! AND BESIDES HIM THERE IS NO OTHER!!!

Saints, verse 3 emphasizes our intimate relationship with the Lord!! And I ask again, ‘Do we really know the God that we serve?” The psalmist tells us to acknowledge that the Lord is God! The word ‘acknowledge’ means to ‘know, to have a firm understanding of who someone is.’ That means that we ought not treat our God as a casual acquaintance!! This verse is a simple statement of our faith: Jehovah is our God, our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Shepherd, and we are to be submitted to Him.

We ought to know that, it is by grace to know God personally and intimately. And that is what we as believers are to do today!!!! We ought to acknowledge Him because Knowing God CHANGES EVERYTHING!!

God who is our Creator; we did not create ourselves!! How is it that we have the nerve to live as though we had a hand in anything good in our lives? I want you to know that we have cause to praise God, because ALL PRAISES ARE DUE FOR THE GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!!! The fact that He woke up this morning! The fact that we have a measure of health!! That He gave us a roof over our heads!!

When we take on the opinion or mindset that we are the originators of ANYTHING good in our lives- we need to think again BECAUSE IN THE BEGINNING WAS GOD!! We ought to know, as God’s sheep, He is is always leading, guiding and protecting us!! GOD IS THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END AND THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH!!! WITHOUT GOD THRU JESUS, WE CAN DO NOTHING AND WE ARE NOTHING!!!

So We have cause to praise because God created us and gives us all we have!!

Finally Saints, the last aspect of Thankful worship is the fact that:

III. WE ARE COMMANDED TO PRAISE [v.4-5]

Verses 4 and 5 tells us, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.”

In response to God’s faithfulness, these final verses remind us to rejoice in the Lord!!! Here in verse 4, the people in the psalmist’s day were commanded to enter God’s gates and courts.

Though we do not go to a temple today, we are similarly commanded to enter into God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise!!! If you didn’t know, there is a distinction regarding thanksgiving and just being grateful or having an ‘attitude of gratitude!!! Gratitude is having a general appreciation of life, while thankfulness is a response to a particular event or experience!! Thanksgiving is an action, where gratitude is more like a feeling!!

So, no matter what your circumstances, give thanks to God and bless His holy name because there’s always a reason for thankful worship to God!!

We live in God’s presence, under His continual care, and GOD NEVER STOPS SHOWERING US WITH HIS LOVE; HE ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISE TO HELP US WHEN WE CALL ON HIM!!! SO WHY DON’T YOU GIVE HIM ALL THE PRAISE RIGHT NOW!!!

And doing so will transform you Saints!!! God is good and faithful---whose faithfulness never dies!!! His constant provision in our lives ought to lead us to thanksgiving!!!

THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON TO REJOICE!!! “Oh taste and see that the LORD is good” (Ps 34:8). So, worship Him, trust Him, and obey Him!! You won’t be disappointed!!

WE ARE COMMANDED TO PRAISE!!!

God alone is worthy of being worshiped! Don’t let what’s going on outside in the world, distract you from giving God thanks for the great things He is doing in your life!!!

WE ARE CALLED TO PRAISE, WE HAVE CAUSE TO PRAISE and WE ARE COMMANDED TO PRAISE THE LORD!!! THAT’S WHAT THANKFUL WORSHIP IS ALL ABOUT!!!

What are you going to do: come into God’s presence, or are you just going through the motions? Now is not the time for you to be willy nilly in your praise!!! Have you thanked God today that He has allowed you to make it to this Thanksgiving Sunday 2024? WHY WAIT UNTIL THURSDAY, WHEN YOU CAN GIVE GOD THANKS RIGHT NOW!

-O GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD, AND HE IS WORTHY!

- O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD FOR HIS MERCY ENDURETHS FOREVER!

WE OUGHT TO:

"Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus”

"Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving;

-OH MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME—LET US EXALT HIS NAME TOGETHER!!! LET’S GIVE OUR GOD THANKFUL WORSHIP!!!

Amen and amen!!