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. (Psalm 100)
There are a lot of things on the minds of everyone these days. How will I pay for food or housing? What do I do now that I’ve lost my job? When will the lockdowns end? How long until we can visit family and friends again? When can we go to a restaurant again? When will kids go back to school? How will things be different when this is all said and done? Many people are nervous or anxious or worried. Others are enjoying the extra time, extra time at home, extra time with family, extra time to do the things they kept saying they did not have time to do. But I wonder how many of us have worshipping God at the top of our minds at this time.
But the Psalmist tells us in v.1-2, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” The Psalmist commands his readers to shout for joy to the Lord and to worship the Lord with gladness. For the Psalmist, there are no conditions for our worship of the Living God. Our worship does not depend on our circumstances, nor does it depend on how we feel. It does not depend on the quality of the music, or even if there is music. It does not depend on the quality of the sermon or the location. As far as the Psalmist is concerned, worship depends on one thing, that the Lord is God. V.3 says, “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.” When we understand that the Lord Almighty truly is the one and only living God, then we understand that He is the one who made us, that we belong to Him and Him alone and that we are His. And when we understand that the Lord is God, then we should long to worship Him always, regardless of our circumstances, regardless of how we feel, regardless of anything else. Because God never changes. Our feelings and emotions will change as will our circumstances. But the Lord who is God never changes. So if He is worthy of worship at any point in time, then He is worthy of worship always, regardless of what is happening in our lives.
The Lord our God never changes. The Lord who saved Israel time and time again, is the same Lord who sent His only Son to die for us. And in case we are tempted to forget about God’s goodness, the Psalmist reminds us in v.5, “For the Lord is good and His loves endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” Maybe you’ve questioned God’s goodness because of your circumstances. If you have, cling to the words of the Psalmist and find comfort and hope in his words, “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”