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There is a God, and …
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Psalm 100 (NASB)
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(I use NASB at the jail and the lock-up ward. I use KJV in the hospital chapel. These are notes for both.)
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Psalm 100 (KJV) |
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Hints from the Hebrew:
[1] "Make a joyful noise" or "Shout joyfully" is a single word in Hebrew. It is also used in the context of war as "Charge!" before the battle, and "Victory!" after the battle. It becomes "Bravo!" in the context of watching a performance.
"all the earth" or "all ye lands" means all the people in the world, not the dirt we walk on.
[2] "Serve" as in be a servant of and do manual labor.
[3] "us, and not we ourselves; we are His people" is a single word in the Hebrew
[4] "name" – reputation, fame, glory
[5] "faithfulness" or "truth" – truth, firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness, faithfulness, stability
Scripture verses:
Leviticus 7:12 If he offers it by way of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of well stirred fine flour mixed with oil.
Psalm 74:16-17 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun. You have established all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter.
Psalm 89:11-12 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.
Psalm 95:5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land.
Psalm 98:4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
Proverbs 16:4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isaiah 58:1 Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet . . .
Matthew 25:40 The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
John 10:14-15 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Colossians 1:15-16 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Illustrations:
I heard of a missionary who was a medical missionary for many years in India. He served in a region where the eye disease, glaucoma, had been present in the people of that region, for generations. And because of this disease, a huge number of those people were going blind in later adulthood. But the missionary was able to treat this disease and stop the progressive blindness in those people. So, many people came to him and because of his treatment, never became blind. They realized that unlike their ancestors, they were going to be able to see for the rest of their lives. The story goes that the people never said, "Thank you," because that phrase wasn't in their language. Instead, they used a word that meant, "I will tell your name." And literally, wherever these cured patients would go, they would tell the name of the missionary who had cured their blindness. They had received something so wonderful that they eagerly proclaimed it.
"I used to be the chaplain for the Astros and the Oilers when I was in Houston, Texas. After I'd do a chapel, they'd give me tickets. One time in the Astrodome I watched Earl Campbell run over everybody, his own men included, to get to the goal line. When he got to the goal line, he threw the ball down. The place went crazy. People were giving high fives and jumping around. The score board went off. The same thing happened when the Astros hit a home run. It was a ringing shout, because their team had scored. I'm not saying that when you come to church you need to give each other high fives or do cartwheels down the aisle, but worship is a time of anticipation and expectation. We come together because all week God has been knocking home runs and scoring touchdowns in our lives. Worship is a time to celebrate what God has done for us.
(Rod Cooper, "Worship or Worry?" Preaching Today, Tape No. 108.)
The problem with sheep comes, when the sheep try to be the shepherd. You see, sheep aren't any good at finding drinkable water, or the nourishment of the green pastures. When sheep search for these things without a shepherd, they always get either lost, or into a lot of trouble. Just think about it… …when sheep try to be the shepherd, we wind up with people leaving a church over such incredibly important kingdom matters as: music style, hurt feelings, or the pastor preaching on The Prayer of Jabez. …when sheep try to be the shepherd, we decide things based on our backgrounds, feelings, and preferences-not on the Word of God.
Pastor Tom Rietveld
Fulton Oursler tells of his old nurse, who was born a slave on the eastern shore of Maryland and who attended the birth of his mother and his own birth. She taught him the greatest lesson in giving thanks and finding contentment. "I remember her as she sat at the kitchen table in our house; the hard, old, brown hands folded across her starched apron, the glistening eyes, and the husky old whispering voice, saying, 'Much obliged, Lord, for my vittles.' 'Anna,' I asked, 'what's a vittle?' 'It's what I've got to eat and drink, that's vittles. 'But you'd get your vittles whether you thanked the Lord or not.' 'Sure, but it makes everything taste better to be thankful.'"
James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited p. 265.
Five or six years ago I visited a church in Connecticut. In the middle of the eucharistic liturgy, when the whole congregation was kneeling and singing the "Alleluia," I saw a woman near me with her hands lifted in praise. The thing was, those hands were terribly twisted and gnarled, and she had a pair of crutches near her. Dear Christ, I thought, what makes Christians sing "Alleluia"? Clearly there was something besides self-interest welling up from that woman in the act of praise.
--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited
(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 17.
Quotable quotes:
"True service takes the attention off of us, and places it on to God"
Pastor Tom Rietveld
He upholds all things in the same manner as he created, continues the being of all things in the same way as he gave it. He does it of himself, without other support, without any assistant. All would fall into nothing in a moment, if he did not every moment bear them up. So that all things on this account have still their being from him every moment, and their well-being too, and all the means which conduce to it; and therefore all are his own.
David Clarkson
Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more--a grateful heart.
Not thankful when it pleases me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart, whose pulse may be Thy praise.
George Herbert --James S. Hewett, Illustrations p. 265.
A sacrifice of praise will always cost you something. It will be a difficult thing to do. It requires trading in our pride, our anger, and most valued of all, our human logic. We will be compelled to voice our words of praise firmly and precisely, even as our logic screams that God has no idea what he's doing. Most of the verses written about praise in God's Word were penned by men and women who faced crushing heartaches, injustice, treachery, slander, and scores of other intolerable situations.
Joni Eareckson Tada
From the reasons of this exhortation, learn, that such is our natural atheism, that we have need again and again to be instructed, that the Lord is God; of whom, and through whom, and for whom are all things.
David Dickson
Other sermons on Psalm 100:
www.biblebb.com/files/SPURGEON/TOD/chstp100.htm
www.pastortom.org/thanksgiving2001.htm
www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2002/92_Education_for_Exultation
www.preachhim.org//PSA100.htm
ll.newsforchristians.com/sermons/sermon014.html
Joke:
A woman leaving the worship service said to the minister, "Thank you, I enjoyed the sermon." "Don't thank me. Thank the Lord," said the minister. The lady replied, "It wasn't that good."
Small group discussion questions:
So, what do you know good about God?
What is something that happened to you, that made you want to shout with joy?
