Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving
Text: Psalm 100
Core Idea: It is God who made us, and we are His – we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Then may this truth now cause us to shout for joy, serve with gladness, and burst out in joyful songs – praising and giving thanks to Him for He alone is worthy of our worship. Let’s give Him the glory that He deserves.
INTRODUCTION
Well, in light of Thanksgiving, we’ll be taking a break from the Book of Genesis – and we’ll look at the Book of Psalms. So, please turn your Bibles to Psalm 100. And I will invite Joshua to the front so that he can read the passage for us.
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. 5 For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Thank you, Joshua, for reading the passage for us – and children, I hope you learned a lot from that video. One thing that stood out to me was that thankfulness is a choice – and that we should choose to give thanks to God in all circumstances. Of course, this is not easy to do especially when things aren’t going our way. Then what should we do? Should we just try harder – force ourselves to be thankful? Well, if you do that, you might be able to be thankful for a bit, but you’ll quickly be tempted to be grumpy again when bad things happen. Then how do we learn to be thankful in all circumstances? By cultivating a habit of reflecting on who God is and all that He has done for us. If we focus only on the things that we want to have but don’t have, then we will continue to be in a bad mood. But when we realize that God made us, that He loves us, so much so that He sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross, that He always wants the best for us, that He will forever be faithful to us, then instead of complaining about the things that we don’t have, we’ll learn to count our blessings and choose to be thankful. So, today and really, every day, remember that our God is our Creator, our Shepherd, and our King because it’ll help you to be thankful whether you’re in plenty or in need.
Well, that really is a good summary of what I wanted to share with the rest of you today. So, we could wrap things up here – but because I love making simple things more complicated and because I love digging deeper into Scripture, I'm going to take a little more of your time to do just that. Then let me share three things from this text.
· THE CALL TO PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
· THE REASONS FOR PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
· THE INVITATION TO PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
1) THE CALL TO PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
Verse 1, “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.” Here, the psalmist draws our attention to three things that we must do as we come into the presence of God – shout, worship, and sing. In fact, we’re told that we shouldn’t do them begrudgingly, nonchalantly – not just because we have to, but because we want to. We’re called to do this joyfully and with gladness. This is important to point out because it teaches us that God cares about how we worship. He could’ve just said, “Come and offer up your worship” – but He didn’t. He actually gave us a clear instruction as to how we should approach Him. Then let’s take some time to think through them one by one. First, we’re called to shout for joy to the Lord. In other words, we’re called to be noisy and loud. Now, this is not to say that this is the only way we should come before the Lord – other passages in the Bible will tell us that we should at times come with quietness to reflect or with grief to repent. So, this isn’t the only way we should approach God – but this certainly is one of the things we should do as we gather together to worship the Lord. We should be eager, excited, and exuberant to come on Sunday knowing that we get to worship God with no condemnation or restriction. We don’t have to hide. We don’t have to be quiet. We have the freedom to raise our voices, blast our instruments, and loudly declare to the world and to one another that our God reigns in this place and that we are His people. Then how can we not do just that? Now, some of you might be thinking, “I don’t really feel like shouting though. In fact, that’s just so not me. I don’t shout. I reflect.” If this is you, let me remind you that I’m not saying this because it’s my preference for our church – I say this because it’s His preference. We should do this because this is what He is commanding us to do – this is how He wants us to come. Then how can we say no? Our obedience shouldn’t be dependent on our own feelings or circumstances – no, we should obey simply because we love Him. James Montgomery Boice writes, “The people of God are to praise God loudly because they are happy with Him.” Brothers and sisters, are you happy with God today? Is your heart overflowing with joy today, so much so that there’s this explosive exultation and jubilation? Are you shouting for joy because you can’t contain this joy in your heart? If so, let’s continue to raise our voices and shout for joy to the Lord for this pleases Him.
Second, we’re called to worship Him with gladness. The word “worship” here in Hebrew literally means “to work.” No wonder other translations have translated the same word as “serve.” This is important because it shows us that our love for God and our joy in Christ must be expressed not only with our voices but also with our lives – actions we take. Then what does it mean to serve the Lord? Last week, we talked about using our work and school as a means of bringing glory to God. But we can also serve the Lord by offering our time, money, and energy to love those around us so that they too will experience the love of God. We can serve the Lord by investing in the lives of children and youth so that they will come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We can serve the Lord by turning our homes into a place of ministry so that those who are hurting and in need will be comforted and healed. We can serve the Lord by boldly but humbly declaring the gospel to those who are lost so that they can be found in Christ again. And we can, of course, serve the Lord and worship the Lord on Sundays by leading the songs, managing the sound and media, welcoming the visitors, setting up and putting away the chairs, providing snacks, helping a parent of a young baby, encouraging someone who is struggling, teaching our children at Tugboat ministry, and so on – which by the way is something that you’re already doing with passion and faithfulness. So, I do want to take this time to say, “Thank you” to everyone who is serving in this community. Your loving sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. I do not take your work lightly. In fact, I’m humbled by your love for God and your love for this community. So, all that to say, thank you, thank you, thank you – thank you for using your gift to serve the people here and thank you for doing life with us here. I pray that God will continue to fill you and strengthen you so that you’ll continue to serve Him with gladness. Now, I point this out because I think that’s what the psalmist is telling us here – this joy we have in God must be discernable in the ways we worship and serve our God. Joy must be evident in all that we do so that everyone who enters this place will unmistakably notice the presence of joy here. Then my prayer for our church is that we would be known for this kind of joy – that it’ll cause everyone who visits us to ask, “What’s up with these people? Why are they so happy?” and hopefully be drawn to our community because they want that kind of joy for themselves as well. Charles Spurgeon said, “Our happy God should be worshiped by a happy people.” May this be evident in our church today and for many days to come.
Lastly, we’re called to come before Him with joyful songs. I remember talking to someone who’s never been to a church before – and this person shared that one thing that stood out to him the most in our service was the fact that we sang together. It was strange to him because this is not what people do unless they go to a concert or something. It didn’t make sense as to why we were raising our voices to sing together. But singing has always been an integral part of our worship – not only because we’re commanded to do so but also because singing is a wonderful way to express the joy of our hearts. Listen to how Bob Kauflin explains it, “Singing has this quality that enables us to remember words. It’s a quality that we see when you can’t forget a jingle. You want it to stop but it just keeps coming back just because it’s set to music – and that’s a quality that’s redeemed in our singing as Christians. Then our songs should be filled with God’s Word – rich with theology, rich with doctrine because that’s one of the reasons why God intends for us to sing. But another reason is that singing enables us to combine doctrine and devotion – head and heart. Singing is meant to stir up our emotions and affections. You’re singing eternal biblical truths and realities – and because it’s combined with music, it will stay with you for a long time.” No wonder God says this when He was instructing Moses to remind the Israelites of His covenant with them – Deuteronomy 31:19, “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it.” Brothers and sisters, when we sing together, we’re not doing this just to fill time or to entertain the people somehow – no, we do this to remember God’s truth, to be moved by God’s truth, but most importantly, to give God the praise that He deserves. Then let me ask you, “Does the way you sing today reflect the love that you have for the Lord? Do you truly sing to glorify Him, or do you just sing just because you have to? Do you pick and choose which songs to sing depending on your musical preference? In fact, do you treat the time of singing on Sunday as optional? Do you say to yourself, ‘As long as I get to the message part, I’ve done enough’?” Friends, let’s not take our time of singing lightly. God has commanded us to sing to Him – which means that to neglect it is to disobey God. I get it – the style of music may not be to your taste. When I was serving as a worship pastor before, I remember someone saying that I sing like a country singer. I think she meant it as a good thing. But it’s true that the songs may not be to your liking – but let me remind you that this is not about you or me. It doesn’t really matter if we like it or not because it’s not for us – it’s for the One who is worthy of our worship. Do we benefit from singing? Absolutely – our joy will grow, our passion will intensify, and our love for God will deepen as our hearts are moved emotionally. But when we sing, we’re ultimately delighting in who He is and celebrating what He has done for us – it is to honor Him. This is why our leaders have been intentional in selecting songs that are not just man-centered but God-centered, gospel-centered, and rich in theology so that our affections may be stirred for the Lord. Then when we gather, let’s learn to shout loudly, serve with gladness, and sing with joy for this is what we’re called to do.
2) THE REASONS FOR PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
Verse 3, “Know that the LORD is God.” Immediately following the call to shout, serve, and sing, we’re called to know that the Lord is God. Why? Because we cannot appropriately do these things if we’re not aware of who God is. Our knowledge of God must precede our response to God because it will guard us from doing these things just because we have to – instead, we’ll engage in these activities because we’ll know that this is the most proper way to relate to the God we love. All that to say, our knowledge of God must inform us how we should relate to God. Then let’s take a look at the two things that the psalmist tells us about God here because they will become the very reasons why we should praise and give thanks to the Lord. First, He is our Creator. Verse 3, “It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” We’re going to look at this in detail a couple of weeks from now but Genesis 2:7 tells us, “The LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Isn’t that just absolutely mind-blowing? God took a handful of dust from the ground, breathed life into that dust, and created a living, breathing, thinking, feeling, singing, loving human being in Adam. I can only imagine how all these things took place but every time I do think about it, it leaves me speechless and in awe of His power knowing that from one divine breath came a fully functioning human being. He is the God who has the power to breathe life into what had no life. And what makes this even more astounding is the fact that this human being who once did not exist will now forever exist in eternity. This is the quote that I shared last week but I think it’s worth repeating here – Pastor Kent Hughes said, “[As much as it is absolutely breathtaking to witness a star’s birth,] you would never see anything equal to the birth and wonder of a human being – for a tiny baby girl or boy is the apex of God’s creation. But the greatest wonder of all is that the child is created in the image of God, the Imago Dei. The child once was not; now, as a created soul, he or she is eternal. He or she will exist forever. When the stars of the universe fade away, that soul shall still live.” Brothers and sisters, that’s what you and I are – we were once not but we will now live forever. And if that’s not amazing enough, all of us, without exception, carry worth and dignity that cannot be taken away just because we were created in the very image of God. If you think that you’re not important, that your life is meaningless, that you’re insignificant, that you’re a mistake, and that no one will love you for who you really are, then know that that is not what the Bible teaches – in fact, that is 100% Satan because his goal always is to distort your thoughts and crush your soul. Friends, you and I are loved by God not because we can offer something valuable to Him or because we have done things to earn His acceptance – no, He loves us simply because we are His image-bearers. But that’s not all – God also created each and every one of us to be unique in every way. We all have different looks, different characters, different personalities, different skills and gifts, different ambitions, different strengths and weaknesses so that we would be in communities to bless one another and help each other worship God to the fullest. I could go on and on about the implications of this truth, but this is just a glimpse of what it means to be created by God. We are His – and He is for us. We belong to Him – and nothing will ever snatch us away from His presence. We are His sheep – and He is our good Shepherd who will guide us, provide for us, protect us, seek us out when we’re lost, and even sacrifice His life for us in order to give life and life to the full. Then, brothers and sisters, remember that we come before God today not as His equals but rather as His creatures. Everything we have is from Him – which means that everything we have belongs to Him. We are not self-sufficient, but He is. We are finite in all that we are and all that we have, but He isn’t. In fact, because we have rebelled against Him, He has all the right to reject us and punish us but because He so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). Friends, this is the God we serve. If this is true, how can we not burst out in songs of thanksgiving? Psalm 100 is wonderfully humbling and liberating for us. It’s humbling because it teaches us not to be preoccupied with ourselves but to be preoccupied with God. But it’s also liberating because it reminds us that our lives are not in our own hands but in the hands of the One who created all things.
The second thing we learn about God from this psalm is that He is good, and His love endures forever – that His faithfulness will continue through all generations. Again, what makes this absolutely amazing is the fact that this unconditional, unending, extravagant love is available for sinners like you and me. If we’re honest with ourselves, we know that as sinners, the only thing that we truly deserve is the righteous wrath and judgment of God – which means that it should’ve been us on that cross, not Jesus, bearing the penalty of our own sins. But because God is good, because He is loving, because He is gracious, He made a way for us when there was no way. On the cross, God’s goodness and love were on full display as Christ became the object of God’s wrath so that you and I could become the objects of His love. And what makes this shocking is that this goodness and love will extend to eternity – His love for us will never end. No wonder we’re called to be loud and joyful. Then let me ask you, “Do you truly believe this in your hearts today? In fact, not just believe it, but are you also blown away by this truth? Is this truth impacting every aspect of your life – the way you speak, the way you act, the way you work and study, the way you interact with those around you, the way you use your money, time, and energy, the things that you pursue after? In other words, is God’s love transforming you today?” The truth is that if you’ve been a Christian for some time, you may be familiar with this because you’ve heard it so many times – “Of course, I know God is good and His love endures forever.” But if we’re not careful, this wonderful truth can be lost in the mundaneness of life – and as a result, praise and thanksgiving will become a heavy burden, not a life-giving privilege for our soul. Then it’s imperative that we intentionally reflect on this truth every single day (that everything that takes place in our lives is a demonstration and a sign of His love that never fails) because it will guard us from complaining. One of the things that I say over and over to my children is, “I love you.” Sometimes, we’ll try to one-up each other over who loves more. So, I would say, “I love you to the moon and back.” Then Eli would say, “I love you to the sun and back.” And we go back and forth until we run out of things to say. But one time, Julian asked, “Daddy, why do you say that all the time?” And I said, “I don’t know. Because I love you.” But it’s not just my words – everything I do is a demonstration of my love for them. When I bathe them, when I cook for them, when I take them to school or daycare, when I pick them up, when I play with them, when I hug them, when I watch them sleep, when I pray for them – every small and big thing I do is a sign of my love for them, telling them that I will forever love them. No matter how monotonous, mundane, and repetitive it may feel, everything I do and say is a sign of my promised love for them. Then, in the same way, every wonder, every goodness, everything that happens in our lives (even if it’s monotonous, mundane, and repetitive) is God’s way of telling us and reminding us, “I love you. My love for you will endure. I will never give up on you. I will never quit. I will never walk away.” Then, take a moment to think about your own lives. In light of this reality, at every turn and every step, are you able to recognize God’s love being expressed? If so, give Him praise and thanksgiving today. But if you can’t, pray that He will open your eyes to see this because this will be the motivation and reason for your praise and thanksgiving.
Now, just before we move onto our last point, one thing I want to point out is that these expressions of gratitude that came from the psalmist weren’t tied to his circumstances or to his feelings – his shouts, service, and songs were independent of what was going on around him or inside of him. Of course, I’m not in any way trying to minimize the painfulness of suffering that some of you may be experiencing right now. But knowing that this world is not our home but that we’re looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven, knowing that one day, He will wipe every tear from our eyes, knowing that He will never leave us or abandon us, knowing that this Creator God is also our Father, despite the troubles that you may be going through, I pray that you would have the strength to declare praises and thanksgiving to the Lord for this is the only appropriate way for us to respond to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Fix your eyes on Him and cling to Him for He will give you peace to comfort you and hope to sustain you. Listen to what J.I. Packer said, “Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul. The healthy Christian is not necessarily the extrovert, ebullient Christian, but the Christian who has a sense of God’s presence stamped deep on his soul, who trembles at God’s word, who lets it dwell in him richly by constant meditation upon it, and who tests and reforms his life daily in response to it. There is no peace like the peace of those whose minds are possessed with full assurance that they have known God, and God has known them, and that this relationship guarantees God’s favor to them in life, through death and on forever.” My prayer for you is that you’ll experience this today – as you meditate on who God is and all that He has done, may these truths offer this unshakable comfort to your souls so that even though you may be walking through the darkest valley, you won’t be fearful but joyful knowing that He is with you always.
3) THE INVITATION TO PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
Verse 4, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” On the surface, this could seem like just an ordinary invitation for us to enter God’s presence with a heart of gratitude. But as I was reading through commentaries, I came across what Derek Kidner said about this verse – he said, “The simplicity of this invitation may conceal the wonder of it.” This got me thinking – and I asked myself, “Why did he say this? What am I missing?” Then it dawned on me – if we were to enter the place where God dwells on our own, our hearts wouldn’t be overflowing with thanksgiving. No, considering that our God is a holy God, considering that our God is a God who hates sin and condemns evil, considering that we are sinners deserving of the righteous wrath of God, considering that we come short of the glory of God in every possible way, it didn’t make sense that we would come with thanksgiving. Instead, we would be coming with guilt and shame, fear and sorrow – pleading and maybe even begging God for His mercy and grace knowing that the gates of heaven are closed to the unclean. Speaking of the heavenly city, Revelation 21:27 says, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful.” But here, the psalmist tells us that we can enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. How? Well, this could not have been clear to the psalmist, but it is to us who live on the other side of Calvary because we know that this has been made possible only through the death of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Brothers and sisters, I pray that the simplicity of this verse will never obscure or conceal the wonder of this invitation today – that we will never take for granted the fact that sinners like us who richly deserve the wrath of God are now invited to come and enter His presence with praise and thanksgiving all because of Jesus Christ who paid the penalty of our sins through His death on the cross. Because of Him, we’re forgiven – and because of Him, we’re made fit to enter God’s presence without condemnation. Jesus did that. He made it possible. Then knowing this, how can we not enter God’s presence with thanksgiving? How can we not shout with joy, serve with gladness, and come with joyful songs? I pray that you would have the eyes to see this wonder so that you’ll enter His presence today with praise and thanksgiving. In fact, let me speak to those who haven’t yet surrendered themselves to Christ. Friends, it’s not too late to respond to this invitation. Give your life to Jesus today and enter His gates with praise because He truly is worth your life. He will satisfy your soul – so much so that your heart will be overflowing with joy.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, it is God who made us, and we are His – we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Then may this truth now cause us to shout for joy, serve with gladness, and burst out in joyful songs – praising and giving thanks to Him for He alone is worthy of our worship. Let’s give Him the glory that He deserves.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) How does singing together as a church help us remember God’s truth and strengthen our faith? What are some ways we can prepare our hearts to shout, serve, and sing with joy, even when life feels difficult?
2) How do joyful communities attract others to God? Can you think of an example where someone was drawn to faith because of the joy they observed in others?
3) How does recognizing God as our Creator change the way we worship Him? What are some ways this truth shapes your sense of identity and purpose?
4) In what ways has God’s love and faithfulness been evident in your life recently? How can reflecting on God’s past goodness strengthen our faith during hard times? What are some practical ways to remind ourselves of God’s goodness in challenging seasons?