Scripture
Enter HIS gates with thanksgiving; go into HIS courts with praise. Give thanks to HIM and praise HIS name.
~Psalms 100:4, NLT
Quote
The evidence of Spirit-filled worship is joy, thanksgiving and submission.
~Warren W. Wiersbe
Psalm 100 is the last of the enthronement Psalms [93-100] and next to Psalm 23 is the most popular Psalm. We memorized it in school. I’m not talking about Sunday School but public school. I attended a three room school house that was only a quarter of a mile from home. We had one teacher and she taught all six grades. This little Psalm is packed with imperatives: I count seven–Shout v.1, Worship (v.2), Come (v.2), Know (v.3), Enter (v.4), Give (v.4) and Praise (v.4). The AV begins like this, “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD,” but in the Hebrew the first word is rü·ah’ {shout}. The NASB reads Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Once again, we do not do enough shouting, not in the Jewish fashion. When we mention the word shout, many of you think of random shouting that comes from someone who isn’t all there or just wants some extra attention. The Jews shouted in unison. No single individual got attention: it was a part of their worship and part we are missing.
Lawson divides the Psalm into three parts: Approaching God, Apprehending God and Adoring God. In our culture, we know nothing about approaching a king. The Psalms and much of the O.T. was written in the Monarchic setting where there was a king. When a subject approached a king, they shouted, “Long live the king,” and then they bowed in humility, prostrating themselves before the king. Nehemiah could have been executed for entering the kings presence with a long face. It was not a good idea to enter a kings presence if you were unhappy. You chances of success were much better if you came joyfully, thankfully and in humility ready to serve the king. There are many directions we could go with this Psalm but today I want to focus on this one thing, our approach to the KING.
I know many of you have seen the film “Gladiator” which happens to be one of my favorites. Marcus Aurelius is not a fictional character and neither was his son Commodus. Marcus Aurelius was a man of character and wisdom. I use his quotes often. Commodus was capricious, fickle, unpredictable, immoral and highly insecure. This made him unapproachable. The man has his own sister exiled and later she was murdered. I for one would be afraid to approach a character like Commodus. At best you would be taking a chance that you might say or do something to tic him off. Our KING is infinitely greater than any Roman Emperor and He is not capricious. He is perfectly stable and totally dependable. No one in the universe is more sympathetic and understanding than our High Priest. The writer of Hebrews said, So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Can you find anyone more merciful and gracious than our LORD Jesus Christ? He invites us to approach and it is a wonderful privilege that we often take for granted. Just remember, you are approaching a KING and although we can’t always come before Him joyfully, we can always enter His court with thanksgiving, praise and humility. He understands when our hearts are broken. He never despises a broken or contrite heart.
- Those amazing Indians won again, 3-2 in the 10th inning. June and I watched and celebrated this historic event. Rick Manning said, “It is a record that will never be broken.” We were down to our last strike, trailing 2-1 when Francisco Lindor lined one off the left field wall driving in the tying run. Jay Bruce drove in Jose Ramirez for the game winner. The crowd would not go home. They stood in the stands cheering. You would have thought we had won the World Series.
- What a beautiful month September has been. When I awoke yesterday, the sun was shinning through the windows. When you feel the sun warmth but not it’s intense heat, it is a perfect day. God is good.
- I hate bad news and we got some. Larry Garner is going to have to take some more chemo. He already had a lot on his plate with Rickey’s illness and now he has to deal with this. I would really appreciate it if you would pray for Larry.
- I am preparing for the REVIVAL September 24-27 at Mount Zion and I also appreciate prayers. Prayer for Larry first.
- Full schedule this Sunday beginning with Deacon’s meeting at 8:15.
- Hey, I was kidding about the suit and it was too small anyway but I may go back and get it for Zedra Shaneyfelt. I have to find out what size he wears.