The “Thank You” that Can’t Be Silenced
“Give thanks to him…
for the Lord is good.”
Psalm 100:4-5 (KJV)
Psalm 100 with its opening line of “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord” is easily one of the most recognizable Psalms in scripture. I was 9 years old and in the fourth grade when I first committed those words to my memory.
Sword drills, books of the Bible, and scripture memory comprised our class curriculum in Mr. Riley’s Sunday night fourth grade Training Union class. Mr. Riley was a big man who laughed easily but was serious about training the students entrusted to his care. His “secret sauce ingredient” for success wasn’t candy, but currency. Mr. Riley awarded silver dollars to those who successfully completed memorizing the names of the books of the Bible (in their order of course!) or memorized scripture.
“Drill, baby, drill” would have been an accurate description for Mr. Riley’s weekly Sunday night classes. His operative word was “training,” but he made it fun with his creativity and generosity. Each week Mr. Riley divided us into two teams. We then lined up on opposite sides of our classroom standing straight at attention with our Bibles held firmly at our sides as we anxiously awaited Mr. Riley’s instructions.
“Attention! Draw swords! Charge!” Mr. Riley barked.
With those words we all quickly scrambled to find whatever reference had just been called out. Team points were awarded. The competition was fierce!
Psalm 100 is a short Psalm comprised of only five verses, but it contains seven imperatives plus two explanations of why we should give thanks.
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: give thanks to him, and bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
While we don’t know the author’s name or when this psalm was written, we’re not left to guess what the Psalm’s subject is about. It is the only Psalm in the Psalter explicitly identified as “a Psalm for giving thanks.” The Psalmist then tells us how to do just that.
He begins with “make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Our worship pastor says this means “No soft singing!” “All ye lands” includes all creation- everyone, everything, everywhere- giving thanks to God for who he is and what he has done. Charles Spurgeon writes, “Our happy God should be worshipped by a happy people; a cheerful spirit is in keeping with his nature, his acts, and the gratitude which we should cherish for his mercies.”
The Psalmist then follows his joyful singing instruction with a command to serve the Lord with gladness. We worship God rightly when we serve him cheerfully and gladly, not begrudgingly, angrily, or under compulsion. We worship him rightly as we follow Christ’s example by having an attitude of humility, making ourselves nothing, and taking the form of a servant (Philippians 2:5-11).
A number of modern translations use the word “worship” instead of serve, but the original Hebrew word “abad” included the ideas of service, work, and worship. Worship is first commandment obedience. It is the thank you that can’t be silenced!
Moving onto verse 3, the author reminds us that God is God, and we are not. We are God’s people because He made us. He is not only our Creator; he is our good Shepherd.
Finally, we are to enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and come into his courts with praise for his goodness, mercy, and truth. Gates and courts were the public places where business transactions typically occurred in ancient Israel. Our worship is not only to be done individually, but also corporately as we gather together in community with other believers.
I’m not sure whatever happened to Mr. Riley or my fourth grade silver dollar, but I still cherish the words he encouraged me to memorize. Those words are more precious than gold (Psalm 19:10). This Thanksgiving I am grateful that Mr. Riley served God gladly and invested his time and talents in training children to love and memorize God’s Word. For all those follow his example, “May the Lord reward your work and your wages be full from the Lord.” Ruth 2:12 (NASB)
Give thanks to the LORD for he is good!