God is Good
Holidays 2025 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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A Psalm of praise.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: Come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God: It is he that hath 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 unto him, and bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.
Introduction
Introduction
Praise and thankfulness are two separate ideas connected by a single Recipient in the Christian life. Praise is always to be toward God who has done so many great things. Thankfulness is a proper response to the faithfulness of God. One writer has pointed out that praise is a general acknowledgement of who God is. Thanksgiving is what is offered for the specific interactions of God in your life.
Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme Thanksgiving and Worship
Brueggemann (1985: 68) has further noted that thanksgiving is rooted in concrete action while praise is related to the general attributes of God.
Are we thankful people? We ought to be. We praise the Lord for the world around us but we should be thankful for the many blessings that God has done inside of our daily lives. God care about each and every person on earth. God has a plan for each person and He works in our lives. But are we thankful? What do we offer to God?
Be thankful for the providence which has made you poor, or sick, or sad; for by all this Jesus works the life of your spirit and turns you to Himself.
Charles Spurgeon
Thankfulness must come from the heart. Only Jesus can redeem our wicked hearts. Will we allow Him to work this morning to make us thankful people?
Ps 100 is a likely a familiar psalm. It is right next to Ps 23 as a common psalm to memorize. I remember learning it in school as we approached the Thanksgiving break. But we must be careful not to let the familiar keep us from the foundational. Ps 100 is foundational to gathering for worship. As we will see this morning, this psalm reminds us that everything we say or do should be directed as praise and thanksgiving to God.
Verse 1 gathers us to the theme of the psalm from all over the world. Verse 5 will give us the reason for the thanksgiving. We find here a needed reminder of the faithfulness of God. As one writer points out about the praise for the Lord in the Psalms,
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings 2.2. The Character of God in Psalms
the psalmists are overcome with the gracious and dependable character of this God. They cannot say enough good things about him.
There must be in our hearts a focus on God above all else. As we study this psalm today, let that be your choice. Let’s gather to be thankful to Him as the center of our worship.
Declaration
Declaration
God is a good God because God is faithful. He is deserving of our thankfulness and praise! Today, we should bring our offering of thanksgiving into the house of God.
1. God is Good Today
1. God is Good Today
A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
God is good today. We can see all around us the goodness of God. God is not just good to those who are righteous. God is good to all His creatures because that is who God is. Jesus, teaching on loving our enemies, uses the example of God’s goodness to prompt His hears to action.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
God is good today. The psalm begins with the title. This title is associated with the thank-offering in the tabernacle or temple. The word “praise” was used elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer to this specific act of worship. The person would offer a free sacrifice, not for sin, but in response for something God had done for them.
From the title, we see the psalmist moves into a list of commands we should obey as part of this thankfulness. Begin with a loud shout of joy! All people of the world owe a joyful noise to God who is the source of their salvation!
O come, let us sing unto the Lord: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Salvation is both national and personal. In the history of Israel, God brought them out of Egypt. They had been slaves under Pharaoh but God delivered them by His miraculous plagues. God kept them safe in the wilderness and gave them victories in battle in Canaan. At each turn of the page, God was there to take care of them, when they chose to turn to Him from their sin. But salvation is also personal.
The great theme of the Bible is the redemption of mankind. The Psalmist calls for the people of all lands to make a joyful noise. This is available only through their trust in God alone for salvation. Salvation must be personal and it changes us from our self-reliance and idolatrous worship. We instead worship the One who deserves our praise. Salvation is a turning to God. Paul reminds us,
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Have you turned to Him from your sin? This is the call of verse 1. All people in all lands must acknowledge that God is good today.
In verse 2, we see that God wants His people to worship Him. This brings Him the glory because of who He is and what we have seen Him do. The service that God expects is one that is conducted in the context of worship as it had been in the history of Israel.
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
There is a constant struggle in our hearts and minds to serve God instead of others. We struggle with giving Him His due when we try to bring victory on our own. The Psalmist is clear that we must instead serve God with joy.
The human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols.
John Calvin
Joy is the focus of verse 2. Are we glad to give glory to Him or do we want it ourselves? There is to be joy because we are praising the one true God. He is Jehovah.
For thus saith the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations: Publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
We not only serve but we also come with singing. The “singing” of verse 2 is found elsewhere as a victorious shout. This is the loud excitement brought about by who God is. We must know Him closer and closer to allow the joy to swell inside our hearts. The Psalmist is now commanding the reader to come into the presence of God with a joy that is visible and contagious. People must know that we are glad for who God is and what He has done.
We must know who God is by seeing what He does for us throughout our daily lives. One commentator pointed to verse 3 as the heart of the entire psalm. All of the verses point to learning who God is based on being in His presence and experiencing Him for ourselves. David calls to us,
O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Has God been good in your life today? How has He been at work? What has He done for you?
We see in verse 3 the action of God. He “hath made us”. God is the Creator of the world. This is something that God has done for every person. We have life because of Him. No one can make himself. Only God can make us.
Those who praise God have turned toward the One true God. They can say with the psalmist, “we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Are you such a person. The image of sheep is found throughout the Bible. Sheep are people who are carried away by their sin.
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The sin of us all is placed on Jesus Christ. He died in our place. Jesus offers salvation to any who will come to Him. We are sinners. He took our sin away on the cross. He is the good shepherd of the sheep who searches for the lost sheep.
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Are you sheep of His pasture? God is good today! He provides and cares for us. He is the Creator. He has done all this for each and every person. But only some will turn to Him and worship Him as they should. God is good today! Let’s give thanks for His goodness!
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2. God is Good Forever
2. God is Good Forever
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.
God is good forever. The second part of the psalm looks from the present to the future. There is some speculation that this psalm was written after the return to the land from Exile. There seems to have been a more universal flavour to the worship in that period. Whenever this psalm was written, we see that the commands in the passage are not only for all people but all time. God is good forever.
Verse 4 commands us to come with a song in the congregation of praise for what God has done. The gates and the courts were the entrance of the Temple in Jerusalem. We today come into the Presence of God in the church but most especially in our prayers to Him. The word "praise" in the title and "thanksgiving" in v. 4 are the same Hebrew word. This is the central purpose for the psalm.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
We can come today with thanksgiving into the presence of God by prayer for those who have accepted the free gift of salvation!Those singing this psalm were giving public testimony to what God had done for them. When was the last time that you told someone of the great things God has done for you?
And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: There was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; They sang his praise.
Being thankful might not seem like a specific application. Praising God can feel like a general action that we should already be doing. But the truth is that we don’t as we should. We complain and doubt God. We look to the future as if God had done nothing for us in the past. Our thanklessness is a clear indication of our lack of faith. Verse 4 tells us to be thankful and bless God’s name. The name of God is parallel with His identity. Our faith is in the God who is always the same. In the darkest of times, God is good forever. When we sin, God forgives and shows mercy. When there are trials and punishments, God is faithful.
For I am the Lord, I change not; Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Verse 5 of our passage gives us the reason for the praise. We see here that the great equals sign is set between Jehovah and good. God is good. This is what we know about Him and what He always is! One resource pointed out this as a characterization of God. He is good. Things are said to be good truly if they are like God.
Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.
The rest of the verse expands on this idea of God as good. Because He is good, “his mercy is everlasting.” This “mercy” is the Hebrew word hesed or the covenant love and faithfulness of God, especially to His people Israel. God is faithful in how He interacts with mankind as well. He is kind and loyal. He is the God who cares for His Creation.
Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; And thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
The final phrase of verse 5 gives us the forever in God’s goodness. The word translated “truth” gives us the idea of this faithfulness as well. The Psalmist tells us that “his truth endureth to all generations.” God is able to be relied on and He is the Rock of His people. This is reliance on God forever.
Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.
Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
God is good forever. Psalms 100 points us to the goodness of God being shown in His faithfulness. What can we do but be thankful for His faithfulness. With joy, be thankful today that God knows where you are, what you face and He is good forever! Wiersbe said,
Be Exultant Psalm 100:4–5
A thankful spirit is a triumphant spirit.
Conclusion
Conclusion
God is a good God because God is faithful. He is deserving of our thankfulness and praise! Today, we should bring our offering of thanksgiving into the house of God.
How can we apply the message this morning? Psalm 100 gives us seven commands to follow under the heading of thankfulness. This week and every week, obey the Bible’s commands. Give God praise and thanksgiving for all that He is, has done, and will do.
Make a joyful noise - open your mouth and praise God. Every person must have joy and express it toward God. The world should be filled with thankful people. One person has said,
The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (English Pre-Raphaelite Poet and Painter)
Serve the Lord with gladness - be part of a local church and worship God only. The weekly grind is a perfect place for us to lose sight of the centrality of God to all that we do. We miss God and we need Sunday to point us back to Him. Be of worship service.
Come before His presence with singing - sing songs to God. We should always have a song in our heart that reminds us of redemption. We forget but singing will remind us. Sing this week praise to God.
Know the Lord - take time to see God at work in the Bible. Pay attention to His attributes and actions. Wait on a God that is faithful to His people. There is so much that we could learn about God if we would take the time to know Him.
Enter into His gates and courts - be present in worshipping God each day. We should have a daily time with God to be with Him. That was the description of the disciples with Jesus.
Be thankful - respond to the specific actions and blessings of God to you. God has done many things for you. God will do many more in the days ahead. Say thank you!
Bless His Name - give praise to God for who He is. If we obey nothing else, let us obey the command to praise God. When you have the opportunity this week to say that God has done something for you, say it. Everything we have is given to us by God. We can praise Him for who He is, what He has done and what He will do.
God is good. God is good forever. Be thankful this morning! You and I must choose to obey or disobey. Will you be thankful today?
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.
