Psalm 100
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
In a world where relativity seems to have taken over, clarity feels good. In a culture where good and evil are mushed together into a stew of cynical apathy, the simple declaration of a truth has a cleansing and revitalizing effect. "Old 100," as past generations have called this psalm, takes on this task with wonderful success.
No equivocation is allowed. No standing on the sidelines will be tolerated. No half-baked, vague spirituality will suffice. Those who have contented themselves with a quiescent, noncommittal faith are called out of the shadows of complacency. Every one, even the entire earth, is compelled to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Imagine the cacophony! The stamping of a thousand feet; the shrieking of youthful voices; the impromptu swaying of wild dancers; the soaring wail of a wall of voices singing at the top of the lungs; all of it given over to worshiping the God of Israel, the Lord who comes to us in Jesus Christ.
This is worship beyond liturgy. This is praise beyond planning. This is the glorification of God that arises from spirits set afire by the Holy Spirit. It is a holy moment. For all at once it dawns upon the people. This is the creator God, the God who made us. This is the God who numbers the hairs on our heads and places the beating heart within us. This is the God who rescues us in times of trouble. This is the God who saves! We throw our lot in with this God and declare that we belong to this God. If we are a people, we are God's people. We live out our lives on the planet and in the pastures that this God made.
This last part of the psalm is as powerful as the first words, and it calls to mind a typical Sunday morning. Enter the church with thanksgiving and the fellowship hall with praise! Invite all the neighbors to a sacred potluck! March down the aisle with hands waving and hearts held high. Wouldn't that be a sight to behold? Imagine churches everywhere breaking out in songs of thanksgiving and a fellowship of praise! It would be a revolution of praise, an uprising of thanksgiving, a moment of utter and complete clarity.
No equivocation is allowed. No standing on the sidelines will be tolerated. No half-baked, vague spirituality will suffice. Those who have contented themselves with a quiescent, noncommittal faith are called out of the shadows of complacency. Every one, even the entire earth, is compelled to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Imagine the cacophony! The stamping of a thousand feet; the shrieking of youthful voices; the impromptu swaying of wild dancers; the soaring wail of a wall of voices singing at the top of the lungs; all of it given over to worshiping the God of Israel, the Lord who comes to us in Jesus Christ.
This is worship beyond liturgy. This is praise beyond planning. This is the glorification of God that arises from spirits set afire by the Holy Spirit. It is a holy moment. For all at once it dawns upon the people. This is the creator God, the God who made us. This is the God who numbers the hairs on our heads and places the beating heart within us. This is the God who rescues us in times of trouble. This is the God who saves! We throw our lot in with this God and declare that we belong to this God. If we are a people, we are God's people. We live out our lives on the planet and in the pastures that this God made.
This last part of the psalm is as powerful as the first words, and it calls to mind a typical Sunday morning. Enter the church with thanksgiving and the fellowship hall with praise! Invite all the neighbors to a sacred potluck! March down the aisle with hands waving and hearts held high. Wouldn't that be a sight to behold? Imagine churches everywhere breaking out in songs of thanksgiving and a fellowship of praise! It would be a revolution of praise, an uprising of thanksgiving, a moment of utter and complete clarity.
