Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
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 lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100
What a wonderful mind picture it is to think of the Israelites together with one accord shouting joyfully to Yahweh. They were filled with joy due to the kindness and protection that Yahweh gave to them, and the roar of millions of God’s people could probably be heard miles away. We are encouraged to serve Yahweh with gladness. How wonderful to be able to have a loving Father whom we can love and serve with great joy and gladness in our hearts – so much so we cannot help but sing for joy!
We are encouraged to remember who God is. Yahweh is God. There is none other like Him. If we get too full of ourselves, we need to remember that He made us, not the other way around. We belong to Yahweh just as sheep belong to the shepherd. The shepherd watches over his flock tending to their needs and binding up their wounds. He leads them over paths that get them to safe pasture and water they can drink. When we get ourselves out of the way and let Yahweh lead us, He leads us down a righteous path that leads to the Kingdom of God.
Because we have this wonderful shepherd who takes such detailed care of our every need, our godly response is thankfulness. Recognizing the goodness of Yahweh and knowing we can enter His gates with thanksgiving, we praise Yahweh and bless His name. Our eyes are to be steadfast on Him and His goodness.
Yahweh is good. He shows us lovingkindness and is faithful to us. Certainly, these traits and more give us cause to have great joy, thankfulness, and praise to our heavenly Father, Almighty God.
When we are in a dark space and troubles surround us, we can at any time turn our minds to thinking of the goodness of Yahweh, His protection and care, and sing praises of thanksgiving to Him. Psalm 100 is a simple psalm, but one that, when put into practice on a consistent basis, will lead us into a life that is full and complete with Yahweh. No matter what life hands to us, we can be joyful, glad, and thankful to Yahweh for His loving care.
