“Break forth into exclamations of joy and gladness, you who serve the Lord! God is not dead! He is ever our God! Let the world see our manifestations of joy!” (Psalms Now paraphrase of Verses 1-3)
Out of all the types of psalms, the hymn is my favorite. They bring back good memories when I was a kid of the beginning of Sunday School when we began with a verse from a psalm very similar to this. Call: “This is the Day which the Lord has made.” Response: “Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24) It made me feel fortunate and blessed to be in the house of the Lord able to give God praise.
Now, of course, not able to be in church at worship praising God we appreciate what we had, what we hope to get back to, all the more! But that doesn’t mean that we cannot praise God with our words, our songs, and our life right where we are right now! As Leslie Brandt paraphrases the beginning of verse 3: “God is not dead! He is ever our God!” Now is as important a time to read psalms of praise and join in them with all our heart.
Psalm 100 is a hymn, the second most represented type of psalm, and probably the most utilized in worship. Other examples that we use often are Psalm 103 and 150 (“Let me praise God with harp and cither, etc.”) They all begin with a call (verses 1-2 here), to sing the praise of God. This is followed by actual praise of God (vv. 3-5) where the providence of God in our lives is recalled. Many of them were probably composed for “high holy days” in the temple worship of ancient Israel. Although their use may originally be for the whole congregation together, they are certainly appropriate for individual use. They could well be used at the beginning of each day as our Sunday School growing up did at the beginning of each Sunday School opening worship.
I believe it is especially important to remember to give thanks during these difficult times. We acknowledge that God is good and God’s creation is totally good. What problems and issues that are present in our world (like the coronavirus and racism) come about after God’s good creation. Even though we can ask God “why” as we do in the lament psalms, as we remember being beneficiaries of God’s goodness, even in being born—even being the sheep of God’s pasture—we realize how important it is to be in relationship with God. It is a lot like how even though someone in our family and friends may drive us crazy on that latest Zoom call, it is important to stay connected to them. Even if another sheep of the Good Shepherd disagrees on how we should wear masks or attack racism, that sheep is dependent on the Good Shepherd, as we are. We are not created to go solo—we are created to be God’s people, relate to God and one another.
“For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.”
“God of Steadfast Love, lead us to praise you when we are up and when we are down for we know we are your sheep and need your guiding hand. Amen.”
Pastor Roger
Tomorrow: Psalm 121 “Songs for a Pilgrimage to Zion”
