[0:00] If you've got a Bible, turn to Psalm 100. Psalm 100 I've never preached Psalm 100, so it's a one-off tonight. It's a psalm which is relevant to all of us. I think all of us struggle with saying thank you, don't we?
[0:21] So you children, what do mum and dad tell you? They tell you, don't they, please and thank you. When you go to someone else's home, did you say thank you? When you get off the bus, what do you say to the driver? Thank you.
[0:35] And so Psalm 100, can you see the inscription? It's a psalm for giving thanks. It's the only psalm with that inscription. There are other psalms which are Thanksgiving psalms, but Psalm 100 is the only psalm with that inscription.
[0:50] And it is exquisitely structured. There's two things the psalm is teaching you. It's teaching you, first of all, how to thank God, and then it's teaching you why to thank God.
[1:03] And there's four verses. It's four stanzas. You can see the structure. The ESV puts it out well. So verses 1 and 2, if you look there, they tell us how to worship him.
[1:16] And then verse 3 tells us why. And then verse 4 circles back and tells us how. And verse 5 tells us why. And in each of those stanzas, there are three components. Let me show you that.
[1:33] So look at verses 1 and 2. This is the how. You're given three verbs. I always get a little bit nervous when I talk about grammar. I think they're three verbs. Make a joyful noise. Serve the Lord.
[1:44] And come into his presence. They are three verbs, aren't they? That's right. And then you get to verse 3. And you're given three reasons why you should worship God. Look, he is God. He made us.
[1:56] We belong to him like sheep. And then you go to verse 4. And you're back to how do you worship. And he somewhat repeats verses 1 and 2. But he takes this feedback. He says, enter. That is, come again.
[2:07] Into his gates. And he says, give thanks. And then bless his name. And then you come to verse 5. And why should you worship God? What's the motivation?
[2:19] And again, you get three components. Number one, God is good. And number two, his steadfast love endures forever. And number three, his faithfulness goes through all generations.
[2:32] Fifteen points. No, no, no, no. All right. I hope we'll be brief. So we're going to look at these four stanzas. And really walk through the psalm. What do we learn in verse 1 and 2?
[2:45] We learn that the whole world must thank the Lord with joyful hearts and voices. The whole world must thank the Lord with joyful hearts and voices.
[2:58] Can you see that? He says, make a joyful noise to the Lord. All you lands, all the earth, the entire world, everywhere. It's universal, the command. It goes out from this psalmist to the entire world.
[3:12] All the nations. No matter where you're from. No matter what your religious background. You must worship the Lord God of Israel. You must worship the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[3:26] Can you see how offensive this is? Right away. In our pluralistic city, this little nation, probably the size of Wales in the Middle East, this tiny little nation, their priests have the courage and the temerity to say, come and worship.
[3:45] Come and worship the only true God. It's exactly what he's saying. How do we do this? Well, three things. Make a joyful noise. So let's pause for a moment.
[3:56] The worship of God is not quiet and subdued. It's going to be loud and boisterous and vigorous and passionate. Make a joyful noise.
[4:08] It's not a little whimper. The word is often translated as like shout to the Lord. And that word is used as a battle cry. You're an invading army and you charge.
[4:22] Think of Braveheart. And you charge with a shout. I look back at Psalm 98 verse 6. And so this charge is with trumpets and the sound of the horn.
[4:35] Make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord. It's known as a tribute shout. A shout to the King to enthrone him. And how do you do that?
[4:45] Well, look at the next two phrases. He says, worship and serve the Lord with gladness. I mean, you don't make this shout reluctantly. You don't come to worship being dragged there.
[5:01] You don't begrudge the time. You don't think, oh, it's a waste of time. The psalmist says we worship God with glad and joyful hearts. And the number one thing that you bring to God to thank him is a grateful heart.
[5:17] And so let me encourage you tonight. And no matter what your circumstances, no matter what your age, no matter what your income level is, no matter what your educational achievements are, no matter how many friends you have or don't have, there is an obligation upon you and upon me to have a glad and a grateful heart.
[5:37] Otherwise, you cannot rightly thank him. And so we thank him with a joyful noise and with a grateful heart. But do you see the next phrase?
[5:49] Come into his presence with singing. And that's how you make a joyful noise in the thanks of God. You do it with a glad heart and an uplifted voice. And notice he says, make a joyful noise.
[6:06] Doesn't say play a joyful noise or watch it or sway to it or observe others doing it. He says, make it. You, the congregation, are the choir.
[6:20] You are the choristers. You go to many churches and they do the singing at the front, don't they? And the people kind of move a little bit, join in where they want. And you admire it.
[6:32] And the mic is so loud you can't hear the people singing. But no, the psalmist says, no, you, as the people of God, you make a joyful noise. And you say to me, I can't do it.
[6:44] Have you heard me? One of the joys of watching the live stream, I'm told, is that you hear Ruben singing and my singing.
[6:56] And the people at the back assure us week by week that the mics are off and they have this little game that they play with us. And you have our occasional hitting the right note, but doing it vigorously.
[7:11] So let me say to you, come with your crummy little voice and I'll come with my crummy little voice. And let's join together in making a joyful noise to the Lord. That's how you make a joyful noise.
[7:24] You sing. In our culture, our people have learned to download music. They hire musicians. But we've ceased producing and making the music ourselves.
[7:39] And so let me tell you what produces music. A glad and a grateful heart. And so it's a good barometer, isn't it? When the singing goes down among the people, it's a reliable barometer.
[7:50] You can tell, can't you, the gladness has gone down. The gratitude has gone down. Because the noise has gone down. And the psalmist says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth.
[8:03] It's not just ourselves, isn't it? We're calling upon the entire earth, the entire world, to join us. Because they too have received this bounty. Now we get to the third verse, which is the second stanza.
[8:15] And it's teaching us what we must know. It's teaching you the why. You must know why you're being called to thank him. We mustn't thank God thoughtlessly.
[8:29] Or just on automatic pilot. We must not come to worship and enter it without thinking. We come with prepared hearts. And we don't come without reasons.
[8:40] So in verse 3, he says, know something. You must know something. And here is what you must know. Psalm 100. Know that the Lord, it's spelt in capital letters.
[8:53] He is God. That is the personal, covenantal name of God that's given to the people of Israel. And by which they were to call upon him.
[9:06] And here is what God is saying. I am your God. Here is my name. I had a teacher in school. For four years.
[9:18] And he never remembered my name. He would call me boy or you. And I remember him because he never remembered my name. He never remembered me.
[9:29] Never knew who I was. Even though I tell him, he just wouldn't remember it. Deliberately so. But God has given us his name. So that he would be known by us.
[9:42] And here the psalmist is saying, your God, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your God is God. And there are many, many different religions in the world. And we need to respect, don't we, all people from all religions.
[9:56] But we do not equally respect all religions. Because they're not all true. There is one religion and it is the religion of the living God.
[10:08] The one true and living God. And the psalmist says, here is why we thank him. Because there is no other God. There's a story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Do you remember that? And they've got their sacrifices.
[10:22] They're asking for fire to come down. They're cutting themselves. They're shouting out to God. And there's all these other priests from the other religions. There's 700, 800 of them. And there's one little Elijah.
[10:33] And fire comes down from heaven on Elijah's sacrifice. And consumes it. And do you remember what the people say? In 1 Chronicles 18 they say, the Lord, he is God.
[10:45] Well that's what the psalmist is saying. That's the reason we thank him. Because there is no other God. He is God. Secondly, look at verse 3.
[10:56] It is he who made us. He made everything. What have you enjoyed today? The clothes you wear. The heat you enjoyed.
[11:09] The food that you've eaten. The family that you've been given. The car that you drive. The bus that you ride. The work that you'll have tomorrow. Everything is made by God.
[11:23] And so if you're enjoying anything in life, which you are. Let me tell you where it comes from. Everything is made by God. It came from him.
[11:36] And it's given to you so that we would thank him. He's the source of every good thing. All good gifts around us. Are sent from heaven above. He made us.
[11:47] And not only did he make us. But can you see he owns us. Verse 3. We are his. We are his people. The apostle Paul.
[11:59] He stresses that in the epistles. That we're his by virtue of creation. He made us. But we're his by virtue of being redeemed by him. We belong to him for his purposes.
[12:10] And that's the reason that when we come to thank him. We're not thinking so much of ourselves. And whether I'm enjoying thanking him. That's what people often say. I didn't get much out of that service.
[12:23] The real fundamental question. Says the psalmist. Is. Did you who are his property. Who are made by him. And owned by him. And he fulfilled. His purpose for you.
[12:35] Did you do. What he wanted you to do. For the reasons. He wanted you to do it. It's really important.
[12:46] For our young people. And for our children. We are to. To bring up our children. In fear and the knowledge of the Lord. But can you notice.
[12:57] From this psalm. That we are. Not just to educate them. So they know more. Theology. Or just so they can quote more of the Bible. What the psalmist is telling us.
[13:08] Is verse three. Know that the Lord. He is God. It is he who made us. And we are his. The sheep. Of his pasture. Why? Why do we. Why do we need to know that?
[13:18] So that with. That knowledge. We will make a joyful noise. Do you see this? That if we are. Training our children. And it does not lead them.
[13:30] To praise in the Lord. We're wasting our time. If we have. Our kids come to Club 16. And they come to Sunday school. And they learn the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation.
[13:41] They've memorised. A hundred verses. But they don't come. And sing praises to God. We've wasted our time. For the knowledge of God.
[13:55] Is for the purpose. Of thanking God. The reason that we would know about him. And his great works. Is so that we who are created in his image. Will lift up our hearts and our voices.
[14:08] And acknowledge his greatness. That is the reason why we're here. The purpose of education. Is for exaltation. And as parents.
[14:21] And as grandparents. We must never forget that. That the reason we train our children. The reason that we. Bring them to Sunday school. And Club 16. And ignite. The reason that we. Bring them into worship.
[14:32] We say. This. This is your legacy. This is the. The knowledge that you have. That's now reflected up to the Lord. We educate our children.
[14:44] So that they will exalt the Lord. And swing back around. To verses. Stanza three. And verse four. And once again.
[14:55] He's telling us how we thank him. So three words. Enter. Give thanks. Bless. It seems like. He's saying the same thing. Again. Doesn't it? Repeating himself. And there's a little bit of that.
[15:08] In Hebrew poetry. It's either spiraling up. Giving you something kind of higher. And greater. Or in lament. It's spiraling down. And he says.
[15:18] The same thing here. But he says it in a deeper way. From a different angle. Here's the different angle. Look in verse four. What he says. In verse four. Is he talking to the whole world now?
[15:31] No. He seems to be speaking to the people of God. So here in verse four. What verse four teaches us. Is that the people of God. Must especially thank him.
[15:43] Those who are called by his name. Those who've been saved. Those who've been given his promises. Who've been brought into covenant with him. They especially must learn to thank him.
[15:55] So see what he says. Enter his gates. Enter his courts. What are those courts? These are the gates and the courts of the temple. And he is saying.
[16:05] You who know him redemptively. Who know him not only as the God of creation. But the God of your salvation. Who's made promises to his people. And he's gathered you together as his treasured possession.
[16:17] You enter his gates with thanksgiving. You enter his courts with praise. It speaks of welcome doesn't it? It speaks of privilege. And of course. We know in the Old Testament.
[16:28] That the inner portion of the temple. Was only accessible to the high priest once a year. The Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies.
[16:39] And the Holy place was accessible to the priests. On kind of regular rotation. They could go in and minister there. But the non-priests. They were welcomed into the outer courts. The outer courts of the temple.
[16:50] And this is where the people come. And of course. As we're going to learn in Hebrews. In our day. With the coming of Christ.
[17:01] Who died for us. Who is our great high priest. Whoever lives to make intercession for us. He who. When he died. The curtain was torn into two. So that we have access.
[17:11] Into the Holy of Holies. And he says. Come. Come. Into the presence of God. Enter. Into intimacy. With me. The Lord God of heaven and earth.
[17:24] Enter into those courts. With thanksgiving. And give thanks. The sheer joy of being welcome. Through his gates. Into his courts. Before his face.
[17:36] The joy of belonging. That he chose us to be his people. And you have even more reason to thank him. We all thank him.
[17:47] Because he is God. And there is no other. We thank him. Because he made everything. And we thank him. Because he made us. And we belong to him. But for those who have been forgiven our sins.
[17:58] Have been forgiven our rebellion. Against the king. The thanksgiving is. Surely heightened. And so bless his name. Bless his name.
[18:11] When God blesses us. And we are helped. And strengthened. And we're made better off.
[18:21] Than we were before. But in scripture. When man is told to bless God. God is not helped. God is not strengthened. God is not made better off. Man's blessing of God.
[18:35] Is an expression of thankfulness. God is not. And when the Old Testament speaks of blessing God. It isn't. It isn't a process where kind of God's strength is increased. But for us to bless God.
[18:48] Is exclaiming. Our gratitude. And our admiration. Spurgeon says this. He blessed you. Bless him in return. Bless his name.
[18:58] Bless his character. Bless his person. Whatever he does. Be sure that you bless him for it. Bless him when he takes away. As well as when he gives. Bless him as long as you live. Under all circumstances.
[19:09] Bless him in all his attributes. From whatever point of view you consider him. And look what he says. In the fourth stanza. In verse five. Here are the reasons.
[19:22] Why you should praise him. First of all. Because he says the Lord is good. The Lord is good.
[19:35] And Jesus says to the rich young ruler. Who comes to him in Luke 18. Why do you call me good? God alone is good. There is no other who is truly inherently perfect.
[19:49] Human beings have fallen. We are not good. We were created good. But we are fallen. And we are no longer good inherently. God is inherently good.
[20:01] God is good. And out of his goodness. Flows every blessing that we understand and know. And then secondly. He says in verse five.
[20:11] Look specifically in his love. There is steadfast love. Which endures forever. The Hebrew word there is chesed. It's. Cords of loving kindness.
[20:22] And God's covenant love for his people. Endures forever. It's his steadfast love. His settled love towards his people.
[20:35] It's that steadfast love that endures with us. Even when we create a golden calf. Like the people of Israel did in Exodus 33. And why they are not destroyed there. And Moses learned it.
[20:48] Because God says. Here is my name. And I love you. With steadfast love and mercy. And it is that steadfast love. That preserves you. In the midst of your sin.
[21:02] And then lastly. He's not only good with steadfast love. But with faithfulness. And what is this faithfulness? Look what he says. It is his faithfulness to all generations.
[21:13] Do you see how the Lord works? And the Lord breaks into a people. He takes a people. And he gives them children.
[21:26] And the parents. And the friends in their church. Rear those children. And they enjoy the same steadfast love. From the Lord. Generation after generation.
[21:38] And his steadfast love. To his people. Goes from grandparent. To child. To grandchild. To great grandchild. And his steadfast love.
[21:49] Endures throughout all generations. And the psalmist. Had lived long enough to see it. And I've lived long enough to see it. And some of you. Have lived long enough to see it. That God is good.
[21:59] By being faithful. To his people. Through multiple generations. We've talked about it before. With the liturgy. With the liturgy. Of God is good.
[22:11] All the time. And all the time. God is good. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year.
[22:22] Decade after decade. Moment after moment. His faithfulness is there. His reliability. Can we say that? And so.
[22:34] Tonight. With all the saints. Over 3,000 years. We lift up our voice. And we say thanks. Be to God. And may all the earth. Praise him. And may his people.
[22:47] Particularly praise him. For he has done. Wondrous things. And the most wonderful thing. Of all that he has done. Is that 2,000 years ago. He sent his son. Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ.
[22:59] Came as the fulfillment. Of God's steadfast love. And Jesus Christ. Came as the fulfillment. Of his faithfulness. And from Abraham.
[23:09] All the way down. And what Jesus did. Is when he grew up. To be a man. He took upon himself. Our sins. And our sorrows. And when he died.
[23:22] On Calvary. He. Took. And bore. The wrath. Of God. That was rightly. Upon us. Because of our sin. And it was poured out.
[23:32] Upon the Lord Jesus Christ. On the cross. And so that when I put my faith. In Jesus Christ. What I am believing. And what actually happens. Is that my sins.
[23:43] Can be completely. Forgiven. Because they have been. Completely paid for. By Jesus Christ. On the cross. And the Bible teaches me.
[23:54] That when I put my faith. And my trust. In Jesus Christ. Who is the fulfillment. Of God's faithfulness. And the fulfillment. Of God's steadfast love. All the righteousness. Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[24:05] That he rightly earned. Goes to my account. And so that when the father. Looks on me tonight. He doesn't see my sin. And my shame. He sees only.
[24:16] He sees. He sees only. The perfect record. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you understand. That that is what God. Has done for you. In the Lord Jesus Christ. How can you.
[24:27] Not be glad. When you understand. What God has done for you. In the Lord Jesus Christ. What he offers you. In the gospel. How can we not.
[24:38] Make a joyful noise. To the Lord. And how can we not. Call upon all the lands. Of the earth. To praise him as well. Because he has.
[24:49] By his steadfast love. And by his faithfulness. He has forgiven his servants. His willful. Rebellious. Sinful servants.
[25:02] And so let your hearts. Be glad. Tonight. Let your voices. Be lifted up. Because God. Is to be thanks. For his enduring.
[25:13] Steadfast love. And his faithfulness. To all generations. Let's pray.