Numbers of the Bible

Day 5 – Sevenfold Praise – Part 2

Psalms 100:1-5 A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 100 is a short Psalm, but one of the most powerful. In it we find the psalmist listing seven ways to praise the Lord, then giving seven reasons why God’s people should do so.

Seven Reasons to Praise God – these will never change if you are saved (so you can always praise Him!):

1. Know ye that the LORD He is God:
2. it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
3. we are His people,
4. and the sheep of His pasture.
5. For the LORD is good;
6. His mercy is everlasting;
7. and His truth endureth to all generations.

Reasons for rejoicing indeed! If there has been a time and place in your life when you turned from your sin and received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, then all seven of these reasons are just as true for you as for any other true believer. And the wonderful thing about each of these reasons is that they will never change, regardless of our circumstances.

I really appreciate Matthew Henry’s subpoints in his commentary on this chapter, so I will use them here:

1. That the Lord He is God.

He is still your God. There may be times in our lives where we don’t let Him hold the reigns to our lives, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Lord, the God of the Bible, is the only true and living God. That He is God should have special meaning to each one of us; if we have been adopted as His children and have Him sovereignly working out all things in our lives, there is reason for great rejoicing!

Adam Clarke makes this comment, “Acknowledge in every possible way, both in public and private, that Jehovah, the uncreated self-existent, and eternal Being, is Elohim, the God who is in covenant with man, to instruct, redeem, love, and make him finally happy.”

2. That He is our Creator.

The Lord has made us – we didn’t make ourselves. As Albert Barnes has stated in his commentary on this verse, “All that we have and are, we owe to him.”

John Gill adds this, “It is he that hath made us; as men, without whom nothing is made that was made; in him we live, move, and have our being; and, as new creatures, we are his workmanship, created in him, and by him; regenerated by his Spirit and grace, and formed for himself, his service and glory; and made great and honourable by him…”

3. That therefore He is our rightful owner.

The Lord has bought us with a price; therefore we are to glorify Him in all we do (see 1 Corinthians 6:20 and 10:31).

4. That He is our sovereign Ruler.

We are His people and He is our King; therefore we owe our complete loyalty and devotion to Him each day.

5. That He is our bountiful Benefactor.

We are the sheep of His pasture; therefore it is His job to lead us and to provide for us each day. He is faithful to do that – and it is up to us to walk in right fellowship with Him and do His will.

6. That He is a God of infinite mercy and good.

Matthew Henry also adds this here: “The Lord is good, and therefore does good; his mercy is everlasting; it is a fountain that can never be drawn dry. The saints, who are now the sanctified vessels of mercy, will be, to eternity, the glorified monuments of mercy.”

7. That He is a God of inviolable truth and faithfulness.

His truth endures forever! You can always rely on your Saviour to preserve His Word, to keep His promises, and to always be faithful.

If your spirit has been quickened (ie. if you have been born again through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ), these reasons should stir you up – if not, check your pulse or your walk with the Lord, because something is wrong there! If these seven reasons given by the inspired Psalmist are applicable to you, then the trials and afflictions you will experience in your life can never compare to them or cause them to diminish. These are truly reasons for rejoicing, reasons for praising – keep praising the Lord!

To cap off this devotional, here is one of the versions of Psalm 100 in Metre put together by the hymnist, Isaac Watts:

Psalm 100
A plain translation. Praise to our Creator.

1 Ye nations round the earth rejoice
Before the Lord, your sovereign King;
Serve him with cheerful heart and voice,
With all your tongues his glory sing.

2 The Lord is God; ’tis he alone
Doth life, and breath, and being give:
We are his work, and not our own;
The sheep that on his pastures live.

3 Enter his gates with songs of joy,
With praises to his courts repair,
And make it your divine employ
To pay your thanks and honours there.

4 The Lord is good, the Lord is kind;
Great is his grace, his mercy sure;
And the whole race of man shall find
His truth from age to age endure.

May 24th/05
(Preached May 19th/07)
Jerry Bouey