sunshine307
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Worship With All You Have
Psalm 100
“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.”
Worship with all you have! Worship is an event. We don’t simply come to worship or attend worship; we do worship. This summons to worship in Psalm 100 is a summons to action: ‘shout’ (a shout of triumph or a battle cry), ‘worship’ (literally, ‘serve’, like a slave), ‘come’, ‘enter’, give thanks’, ‘praise’. When we do this we throw ourselves into it. It’s hard to shout without using our whole body. We open our mouths, we fill our lungs, we let go. Again, when we enter Yahweh’s gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise, we are in motion. We are going somewhere – into the Temple to see the King. This worship, or service, is corporate, intense, loud, boisterous, energetic, releasing. It is worthy of our great God.
This kind of worship also has a tone. We shout ‘for joy’. We worship ‘with gladness’. We come ‘with joyful songs’. We enter ‘with thanksgiving and praise’. We ‘give thanks to him’, and ‘praise His name’. Do you feel this? Exhilaration, gladness, exuberance, even ecstasy?
Psalm 100 is antiphonal. The worship leaders and the worshipers’ dialogue. This worship is active, reactive and dynamic. Unlike many of our churches there are no passive worshipers here. The priests at the temple gates summon the pilgrims; “shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. The crowds respond with their confession “Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His people and the sheep of his pasture.” Again the priests call: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” The people respond: “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
We and the whole earth should worship with such delight because Yahweh is God. He is our creator. He is our owner, we are His. He is also our Redeemer, calling us to be His. We enter the temple because the Lord is good and His love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Does our worship measure up to these biblical tests? Do we participate in worship, and not sit by and watch others? Do we worship with joy – grounded in our Creator and covenant King – with His attributes of goodness, eternal love and faithfulness through all generations? Don’t hold back. Worship costs us everything and we are made for exactly that. Our ancestors knew this: “The chief end of mankind is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism). Do we?
Don Williams
Psalm 100
“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.”
Worship with all you have! Worship is an event. We don’t simply come to worship or attend worship; we do worship. This summons to worship in Psalm 100 is a summons to action: ‘shout’ (a shout of triumph or a battle cry), ‘worship’ (literally, ‘serve’, like a slave), ‘come’, ‘enter’, give thanks’, ‘praise’. When we do this we throw ourselves into it. It’s hard to shout without using our whole body. We open our mouths, we fill our lungs, we let go. Again, when we enter Yahweh’s gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise, we are in motion. We are going somewhere – into the Temple to see the King. This worship, or service, is corporate, intense, loud, boisterous, energetic, releasing. It is worthy of our great God.
This kind of worship also has a tone. We shout ‘for joy’. We worship ‘with gladness’. We come ‘with joyful songs’. We enter ‘with thanksgiving and praise’. We ‘give thanks to him’, and ‘praise His name’. Do you feel this? Exhilaration, gladness, exuberance, even ecstasy?
Psalm 100 is antiphonal. The worship leaders and the worshipers’ dialogue. This worship is active, reactive and dynamic. Unlike many of our churches there are no passive worshipers here. The priests at the temple gates summon the pilgrims; “shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. The crowds respond with their confession “Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His people and the sheep of his pasture.” Again the priests call: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” The people respond: “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
We and the whole earth should worship with such delight because Yahweh is God. He is our creator. He is our owner, we are His. He is also our Redeemer, calling us to be His. We enter the temple because the Lord is good and His love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Does our worship measure up to these biblical tests? Do we participate in worship, and not sit by and watch others? Do we worship with joy – grounded in our Creator and covenant King – with His attributes of goodness, eternal love and faithfulness through all generations? Don’t hold back. Worship costs us everything and we are made for exactly that. Our ancestors knew this: “The chief end of mankind is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism). Do we?
Don Williams
