Sermon Tone Analysis

                Psalm 100:1-5 (NASB) A Psalm for †Thanksgiving.

a Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.  2 a Serve the Lord with gladness; bCome before Him with joyful singing.  3 Know that a the Lord 1Himself is God; It is He who has b made us, and 2not we ourselves; We are cHis people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates awith 1thanksgiving And His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bbless His name.  5 For athe Lord is good; bHis lovingkindness is everlasting And His cfaithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100:1-5 (NIV) A psalm.

For giving thanks.

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.

For the next 2 weeks, we will focus on thanksgiving, not as the holiday, but as the attitude of our hearts.

Each week during our praise and prayer time, we have had Psalm 100:4 on the screen.

Today, I want us to look more in depth at the only psalm, out of all 150 psalms, that is called “A Psalm for Thanksgiving” or “A Psalm of Thank-Offering.”

We need to develop an Attitude of Gratitude in our lives!

*GRATITUDE* (is the) natural expression of thanks in response to blessings, protection, or love. . . .

gratitude is not a tool used to manipulate the will of God.

It is never coerced or fabricated in one’s mind; rather, gratitude is a joyful commitment of one’s personality to God.

In the OT, gratitude to God was the only condition in which life could be enjoyed.

For Jews, every aspect of creation provided evidence of God’s lordship over all life.

The Hebrew people thanked him for the magnificence of the universe (Ps 19:1–4; 33:6–9; 104:1–24).

When they received good news, they thanked God for his goodness and great deeds (1 Chr 16:8–12).

When they received bad news, they also gave thanks, trusting that he was a just God (Jb 1:21). . . .

The people of Israel thanked God for his faithfulness to covenant promises: (1) for deliverance from enemies (Ps 18:17; 30:1; 44:1–8) and from death (Ps 30:8–12; Is 38:18–20; (2) for forgiveness of sin (Ps 32:5; 99:8; 103:3; Is 12:1); (3) for answers to prayer (Ps 28:6; 66:19); (4) for compassion toward the afflicted and oppressed (Ps 34:2; 72:12); (5) for executing justice (Dt 32:4; Ps 99:4); and (6) for continuing guidance (Ps 32:8; Is 30:20–21).

Gratitude was such a vital part of Israel’s religion that it pervaded most ceremonies and customs.

Thank offerings acknowledged blessings from God (Lv 7:12–13; 22:29; Ps 50:14).

Shouts of joy (Ps 42:4), songs of praise (Ps 145:7; 149:1), and music and dance (Ps 150:3–5) all added to the spirit of thanksgiving in worship.

Feasts and festivals were celebrated in remembrance of God’s steadfast love throughout their history (Dt 16:9–15; 2 Chr 30:21–22).

King David appointed Levitical priests to offer God thanks (1 Chr 16:4)

1 Chron 16:4 (NIV) He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel: [i]

Can anyone guess what I’m going to say next?

Who are the priests of today?

We are (1 Pet 1:9)!

So *we* have been appointed by God to *offer thanks* to Him.

 

Let’s look at Psalm 100.

The structure of the Psalm is simple:  There is a call to praise God (v.

1-2; 4), then it is followed by the reason for this praise (v. 3, 5).

This pattern is repeated twice.

The first call to praise God is based on His being our creator.

The second call is based on His character as it is revealed by His works.

This psalm not only tells us to worship God, but gives us clear instructions on how to worship God.

Seven elements of worship are suggested:

*1.                 **Shout joyfully (v.

1).*

*2.                 **Serve the Lord with gladness** (v.

2a).*

*3.                 **Come before** Him with joyful singing (v.

2b).*

*4.                 **Enter into His gates with thanksgiving** (v.

4a).*

*5.                 **Enter His courts with praise (v.

4b).*

*6.                 **Be thankful to Him** (v.

4c).*

*7.                 **Bless His name** (v.

4d).*

A Call to praise God as our Creator (vs.

1-2): 

God created us to worship Him.

In this first call, we see how we have been given the ability to worship Him.

The first three elements of worship take place outside the temple (church).

They are expressions of worship that we can use in our daily life to praise God.

The first element of worship mentioned here, is to* Shout joyfully (v.

1).

*This may make you uncomfortable, but it is one way that God has given us to express our praise to Him.

There are numerous verses in the Bible which tell us to shout unto the Lord.

When the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes comes knocking on your door and announces that you are the winner of $10 million, do you think you will quietly accept it or give out a shout?

We can shout our lungs out at a football~/baseball game to encourage our team, why can’t we as the church shout praises to our God when He does something great for us?

There is the old saying to “shout the news from the housetops.”

Well we are to shout the “good news,” joyfully I might add, to those around us.

People may think you are strange, but that is OK, you are worshipping God and showing them He is real in your life.

The joyful shout is that of a crowd offering loyalty and welcome to a king.

It is not to be given lightly, as it implies a total commitment.

The people of Israel shouted in such a way when Saul became their king (1 Samuel 10:24).

It is a fanfare of human hearts and voices.

[ii]

*7321 **רוּעַ* [/ruwa`/ ~/roo·*ah*~/] v.

A primitive root; TWOT 2135; GK 8131; 46 occurrences; AV translates as “shout” 23 times, “noise” seven times, “..alarm” four times, “cry” four times, “triumph” three times, “smart” once, and translated miscellaneously four times.

*1* to shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast.

1a (Hiphil).

/1a1/ to shout a war-cry or alarm of battle.

/1a2/ to sound a signal for war or march.

/1a3/ to shout in triumph (over enemies).

/1a4/ to shout in applause.

/1a5/ to shout (with religious impulse).

/1a6/ to cry out in distress.

1b (Polal) to utter a shout.

1c (Hithpolel).

/1c1/ to shout in triumph.

/1c2/ to shout for joy.

*2* (Niphal) destroyed.[iii]

So we can shout praises to our God with our voices or with an applause.

Have you ever seen God come through in your life in such an awesome way that all you could do was shout HALLELUJAH?!!

 

          Well, if you are not comfortable shouting, then thank God that it is not the only way we have been created to express our thanksgiving to Him.

The second element is to *Serve the Lord with gladness** (v.

2a).

*Some translations say to “worship” (NIV) which is not a good translation.

The word used here means to work or labor, serve others or to serve God.

*5647 **עָבַד* [/`abad/ ~/aw·*bad*~/] v.

A primitive root; TWOT 1553; GK 6268; 290 occurrences; AV translates as “serve” 227 times, “do” 15 times, “till” nine times, “servant” five times, “work” five times, “worshippers” five times, “service” four times, “dress” twice, “labour” twice, “ear” twice, and translated miscellaneously 14 times.

*1* to work, serve.

1a (Qal).

/1a1/ to labour, work, do work.

/1a2/ to work for another, serve another by labour.

/1a3/ to serve as subjects.

/1a4/ to serve (God).

/1a5/ to serve (with Levitical service).