His love endures forever

from Psalm 100

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.

As you read these words, do they reflect the positive and enthusiastic response in your life they demonstrate in the life of the original writer?  I like reading positive things, especially when words from the Bible lift me up and allow me to know I can take another step, or move up to a higher level of faithfulness, or even grow spiritually.

Immediately in the first verse I see a discrepancy between the encouragement of the writer and our response.  We don't do much shouting for joy when we gather for worship.  Verse 2 takes us a little closer to our identity because I know there are some who really do worship the Lord with gladness. Still others are obviously not filled with gladness. Ahhh, then verse 3.  We can all come before the Lord with joyful songs.  At least we can have the appearance of participating in joyful singing.

Before you start thinking I am only going to be negative today, I'm simply attempting to start your thinking about worship being more than a weekly or monthly appearance on Sunday morning.  Our presence in the pew doesn't automatically mean we are a true worshiper of God.

Let's read again the 5 verses above, with determination to examine ourselves in the light of our worship experience.  It might even take several more readings for us to grasp the importance of what the psalmist is saying.

I recently picked up a pamphlet which listed some prayers, and one of those prayers was prayed by a man who had just finished a study of these 5 verses from Psalm 100.  Here is his prayer:

Thank you, Father for your infinite goodness to me and to all people.  Thank you for the wonderful way you have so lovingly helped and guided me throughout the years.  In Christ I am one with you and with everyone here on earth and in heaven.  Thank you that as I turn to you, becoming obedient to your will, that I become radiant in your love and that my soul is at peace within me.  Amen.

It's a prayer we can pray when we really learn "The Lord is good and his love endures forever."

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