Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.
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[a];
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.
Many years ago, I had this psalm written in pencil and colored over in crayon and displayed on my dorm room wall. If I went through my college memorabilia today, I think I would even find it tucked in a folder in the attic. We looked at it Sunday in life group, and I thought I would share it today in preparation for Thanksgiving.
I was meditating on it yesterday as I washed dishes. No thanksgiving can come without knowing the Lord. Thanksgiving is a gift from God flowing from our hearts back to His in recognition of who He is.
The Lord is Good
In my time following the Lord, I know that some measure of His goodness includes suffering. I realized that I have come to expect it. Sometimes, I let it cloud my view of His goodness. I don’t pray as fervently. I don’t believe that He wants good for me without the pain. What if it was possible to spare some suffering because I prayed like He was good, like He wanted to give me good gifts, as it says in James
- “The prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16
- “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17
- “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” James 1:5-8
- “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:2-3
Lord, let us learn to trust your goodness, to not stop asking because there is some piece of us that doubts your goodness. Lord, help our unbelief. Give us courage to believe, to ask without doubt, and to ask in the right motive of the heart – for your goodness, glory, and pleasure, not our own. Let us grow in understanding you more and more as we learn to walk in the righteousness You’ve given us that our prayers may avail much. You are a Father who knows how to give good gifts. Let me live as though I believe.
The Lord is Steadfast in Love
Beth Moore has been a gift in my life. After I finished college, I fell into a dark time, and there was no one to disciple me when I began to get back up and out of the dark. I would beg God for a mentor. Lord, please send me a woman. He did not send me the physical presence of a godly mentor, as I believe He sent me Himself instead, but He used Beth Moore to teach me the parts I didn’t understand about who He was. I am indebted to her life and ministry. It was she who taught me that the Lord’s love is a tethered love. Once it begins with you, it never ends with you. It always and forever remains on you.
I started understanding the remaining of God when I realized how He broke covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 15, he put Abraham to sleep to make the covenant with Him. Traditionally, both parties had to pass through the fire to ensure that both parties would be held responsible, but in Genesis 15, only God Himself passes through, only God is responsible for keeping the covenant, as He knows the heart and weakness of man. He promises to be with us in spite of who we are, but because of who He is.
This for me as been the abiding principle to know – the reason why my blog is “Deeply Rooted in Love,” – that His love for me is tethered. When all else fails, Love remains.
As is used in Psalm 100, we see his chesed love as early as Genesis 19, towards Lot leaving Sodom and Gomorrah. Chesed is a love that is kind and merciful.
He weaves it into His covenant with His people too, but His love does not end there. He covenants a hasaq kind of love too – a love as I described earlier that tethers to us. Hasaq is a love that bound to one another – like a husband to a wife and vice versa. It is a love that remains no matter what.
But there is a third kind of love – His ahab love – a love that delights in us, like that of a father to a child. We are His treasure.
“It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love (hasaq) on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves (ahab) you and is keeping the oath that he sore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God who keeps covenant and steadfast love (chesed) with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:7-9 (ESV)
Father, we thank you that your love remains no matter how crazy we become, no matter how far we run, you remain in spite of us. We thank you for the tenderness of your delight in us, that you love us like a parent, wanting good for us. We thank you that when we keep your commands, your face is turned toward us in loving kindness. We thank you for your Son, who said, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” He promised us that through us, through these weak bodies and vessels YOUR love would flow out of us. Not just a human kind of love – a godly love for others that the world may see. Help us to delight in your love over us that we may delight in You and the world would see. We are thankful for who You are. We delight in your glory and pleasure and presence.
The Lord is Faithful
God has never left us or forsaken us. As time as marched on, we’ve only seen the Lord grow closer to His people. He was with us in the Garden, and then we forsook Him. From then on, He continued to draw near to us, through His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through the covenant with His people through the ten commandments, and then ever more, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God is faithful indeed.
Lord, we thank You for being faithful, for being unable to forsake the part of yourself that lives among us, even when we are so very unfaithful. We ask that You would give us hearts that long to be faithful to You. You have been like Hosea, and we have been like Gomer. Let us grow in faith and steadiness to you in all ways for You are faithful.
Let our hearts grow in a Spirit of Thanksgiving for who You are. You are Good, You are Loving, and You are Faithful. You are God. Amen.
Beautiful thoughts on one of my favorite Psalms. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Hope your Thanksgiving is very blessed, Barbie!
Thank you so much for sharing the Scripture from Deuteronomy with the explanation of the Hebrew meaning of the different types of love. Such beautiful truths to hold onto. It’s added so much depth to this Scripture for me.
Funny we have both been reflecting on Psalm 100. My co-pastor talked about it a couple weeks ago and I’ve been reflecting on it since then. I so recognize what you shared about expecting the suffering and not daring to keep expectantly praying for the good things. It’s something He’s been opening my heart too as well: to trust in His goodness and not let the broken trust of humans determine my confidence in Him. Thank you for these encouraging and uplifting words.
Anna, I am so glad that God repeated Psalm 100 to you. That’s the loveliness of God when He does that, letting you know that is telling something to you. Oh how I understand not wanting to pray for good things and those things including suffering. I do not want to suffer, but we can trust Him. Amen for that, Anna!