Simon Cox Blog: Psalm 100: A Call to Give Thanks

Friday, 25 November 2016

Psalm 100: A Call to Give Thanks

Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

One of the first chapters of scripture I memorized was Psalm 100. It was actually easy to memorize because it was put in the form of a song. It started, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye, all ye lands.”

This psalm reminds me of the importance of thanksgiving in general, and perhaps more so, thanksgiving today, on American Thanksgiving Day. This time of year gives us the opportunity to be thankful for so many things. We look, for example, to the words of the Psalmist, who tells us to “make a joyful noise,” “serve the Lord,” “come into His presence,” “know,” “enter,” and “give thanks to [and] bless His name.”

I find, however, that thanksgiving is one of the first things to be smothered when life deals us hard blows and the world seems to be crumbling around us. Our prayers, if they exist during times like these, take the form of pleas instead of praise. We lose sight of God’s goodness in the midst of the dark.

But the Psalmist’s words were a call to shout triumphantly because they were not fighting for victory, but they were fighting from victory. The same is true today.

It may not seem like it, but the Lord has won the battle. Our battles. We put on His armor and follow Him into the hard places. Yes, when we’re in the midst of uncertainty, it may not seem as though God has won, but scripture reminds us over and over again that He has. That’s a promise we cling to.

So what do we do with this knowledge? We are called to serve the Lord with gladness, to come before Him with joyful songs. We do so because God has made us new in Christ. He has transferred us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved ...