Psalm 100 comes at the end of a group eight psalms - starting with Psalm 93. Psalm 93 that begins “The Lord reigns!” Then Psalm 94 which declares that God is just in His vengeance. Psalm 95: “O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.” Psalm 96: “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth.” Psalm 97: “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice.” Psalm 98: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things.” Then Psalm 99: “The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble.” All of these wonderful Psalms that declare our Lord’s majesty and dominion and sovereign reign. Finally bringing us to Psalm 100 - where we’re exhorted to worship and praise this wonderful God.

Let’s read Psalm 100 together and then look at what’s being declared here.

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name
For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.

There are two parts to this Psalm. You can see that division in how the Psalm is divided on the sheet you have. The first part deals with who God is. The second part focuses on what God does.

First - WHO GOD IS. The Psalm begins: Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

Every year St. Gregory’s church has their Annual Food Festival down the street from Calvary at the Armenian Community Center. Have you been to this? It’s a great festival - food - dancing - stuff to buy - and pretty loud. Loud until late at night.

Somehow the people who live over at Park Merced associate us with them. They see the words “Armenian Community Center” and “Calvary Armenian Church” - and because we’re on the same street they think that we’re related to each other. So, we get these angry phone calls - with words I won’t repeat - late at night - left on the answering machine: “You’re making too much noise. You’re bothering the people around you. If you don’t turn down the volume I’m going to call the police.”

Now, imagine people calling the church on a Sunday morning to tell us we’re too loud. “You guys are worshipping to loud. I’m calling the police.” That’s the idea behind “Shout joyfully to the LORD.” There are times when we need to meditate and be still and know that He is God. But, this is not one of them. We’re talking loud uninhibited worship that boldly declares who God is. God is worthy of that kind of worship.

The Psalm goes on - Serve the LORD with gladness… Some translations put this “Worship the LORD with gladness.” Same idea. The Hebrew has the idea of physically serving God when we worship.

Once a year I get to a 49er game. Football crowds - fans - are different than any other sport. There’s a different intensity - an enthusiasm - all focused on what’s happening on the field. There’s no worship leader - just 70,000 intense uninhibited fans jumping out of their seats - loudly showing their support for their team. Worship of God should bring us out of our seats. Singing - praying - body language that expresses what’s going on in our heart. Joy - gladness - taking pleasure in who God is.

Then: Come before Him with joyful singing. Joyfully - not with long faces - following along through a bulletin - looking forward to the next hymn as an opportunity to stand up. The next prayer as an opportunity to legitimately close our eyes.

Sometimes its hard for us to get enthusiastic about worship. Sunday is a day of rest. Our bodies may be up at 7 but the rest of us wakes up around noon. There are a lot of other things going on in our lives - a lot of things floating through our minds. Its easy to be distracted. We come to the end of the week and think to ourselves, “Let someone else shout joyfully.”

Notice how this first section concludes - our motivation for joyful shouting:

Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

When we worship - so many times we’re tempted to think that all this exists for us. We struggle with self-centeredness - coming to worship demanding a certain kind of experience so that our needs are met. Focused on ourselves its no wonder we’re disappointed. No wonder we tend doze off. Psalm 100 says that we shout to the Lord. We serve the Lord. We come before Him. The focus is not us but on God.

“LORD” is the Hebrew word “Yahweh” - which describes God as the One true and only God who always has been - always is - and always will be. God who is - absolute - unchangeable - holy - sovereign in responsibility and authority over everything. In worship we need to know that. He alone is worthy of worship.

Psalm 100 reminds us that “Yahweh” - God - made us. The point here is not about creation but God’s relationship with Israel. God chose them out of all the peoples of the earth to make them to be a nation. God saved them from bondage in Egypt - covenanted with them on Mount Sinai - led them through 40 years in the wilderness - gave them the land He promised them. They’re His people - chosen by God to be His sheep in His pasture. They can’t take credit for that. God did it.

I recently read in one of our Armenian church publications a question asked by a pastor. “How much room have we allowed our heavenly father in our church?” Its not “our” church. Its His church. He created the church - not us. The question is, “Why should God give us a place in His church?” And yet, Yahweh - the sovereign God - chooses us and gives us the privilege of knowing Him - to glimpse who He is - and to worship Him. Shout joyfully because God is God and we are His sheep.

The second part of Psalm 100 focuses on WHAT GOD DOES.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name

Several years ago I was in Armenia - back in the days before communism fell. I had the opportunity to attend services of the underground church. They’d pick me up and then we’d drive all over the place until we finally got to where the services would be - different locations for each meeting. Once we met in a cemetery. Another meeting was in a forest clearing.

What did this church have to gives thanks for? Running around hiding - the secrecy - the oppression - the persecution - a regime that was against them. Yet hundreds of people came to give thanks - to praise God - to bless His name.

Each month I get a copy of the Voice of the Martyrs newsletter. Month after month - account after account - of brothers and sisters in Jesus who today are suffering and dying simply because they refuse to deny Jesus. Brothers and sisters in Jesus who continue to give thanks to God.

I don’t know all of the circumstances you’re in - at work - at home. As we talk and visit I get an idea of some of what you deal with. What we go through may not be as extreme as the persecuted church. But its real. Sometimes “thanksgiving” is not the first thing on our mind. Psalm 100 says, Enter His gates with thanksgiving…

Whatever we go through we know that God is good. God takes care of His own. He sustains us - preserves us - renews and refreshes us. Leads us through life gently and carefully. Even in suffering and death, we’re never alone.

God’s lovingkindness is everlasting. His love is personal - based on an intimate knowledge of who we are and our specific needs and concerns. His love is sacrificial - whatever the cost - even to the point of His own suffering and death. And, He never runs out of it. We can’t exhaust God’s love for us.

And, God is faithful to all generations. That means that the promises He makes in the Bible don’t come with a warranty period. They don’t expire on a certain date - usually the day before we need them. God is always faithful. He’s absolutely dependable to do what He says He will do.

When I was studying at Western Seminary I had the privilege of taking Hebrew from Ron Allen. Ron Allen is incredible in his understanding of Biblical Hebrew. I recently read a translation that he did of Psalm 23. Listen and think about God and how He cares for His sheep in His pasture - His goodness - lovingkindness - faithfulness.

Yahweh is my shepherd
I do not lack
In verdant pastures He causes me to lie down;
By waters of quietness He gently leads me.
He refreshes my being;
He leads me in well-worn paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I were to walk through the valley of deep darkness,
I will not fear evil; for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You arrange before me a table in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint with oil my head;
My cup is overflowing.
Surely goodness and loyal love will pursue me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.

God is sovereign and yet He chooses us. God, by His actions towards us, deserves our thanksgiving. Powerful reasons for sheep to shout with joy!

In thinking this through - about how this applies to our lives - the image of Shepherd and sheep has stuck in my mind.

In the New Testament Jesus speaks of Himself as the Shepherd. Jesus said, “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. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” (John 10:14,15,18)

Soon after Jesus said this an argument took place. Someone paying attention to what Jesus had claimed would have understood that Jesus was claiming to be the Good Shepherd - God Himself - that He - Jesus - had power over life and death - even the salvation of the sheep. In John 10 we read that, “A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him? Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he? (John 10:19-21)

There are two ways to respond to what Jesus claimed. Two responses that are before us today. Either Jesus was possessed by a demon and insane or He was telling the truth - the truth about life and our relationship with God. Today people face the same options. Some say Jesus is a prophet - a moral man - a revolutionary. Relevant in some ways. Irrelevant in others. What relevancy does the death of a man 2,000 years ago have today?

I can tell you that Jesus has changed my life. Listen to the stories of the lives of those who know the Shepherd. Sins that are forgiven - reconciliation to God - spiritually blind eyes that have been opened. Stories of healing and restoration.

Psalm 100 gives us a choice. Jesus the Shepherd gives us a choice. The question is, how have you responded to Jesus who calls Himself the Good Shepherd? If you haven’t trusted Him as your Shepherd - you need to. If you haven’t reached a decision yet - that is a decision. If you have trusted Him - if you know Him as your Shepherd - shout joyfully.