Psalm 100: A Song of Praise to Yahweh

The author of this Psalm is not known. Psalm 100 is also a Hymn psalm in a section of Enthronement Psalms. This is the last psalm in this section (93–100) of Enthronement Psalms. It serves like a concluding hymn on this section focused on God’s sovereign rule over all things.

  I. A call to give thanks to Yahweh (vs. 1–2)

     A. The KJV translation jokes made at church services help us misunderstand this text. It is not a          joyful noise made by the tone deaf. It is a loud, celebrative, joyful shout!

     B. See 1 Kgs 1:32–48 

     C. Long Live Melech Yeshua!

     D. Who is surrender to King Jesus? All the earth. Every ethnic group.

And the foreigners who convert to the LORD, minister to Him, love the Yahweh's name, and are His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it, and who hold firmly to My covenant–I will bring them to My holy mountain and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. (Isa 56:6-7 HCSB)

     E. All nations must recognize that Yahweh alone is God

     F. Yahweh’s people exist by His grace and blessing. They trust in Him

     G. The nations are invited to sing hymns to Yahweh and to worship Him

     H. Submission to King Jesus’ rule is a joyous and grateful act in loving response to His            covenant promises

      I. The Bible is about the Promise/plan of God; Promises concerning

          1. Redemption 2. Messiah

          3. Kingdom         4. Revelation (of who God is)

          5. Rescue         6. Salvation, deliverance from sin

      J. “Gladness” is a result of serving, trusting, and obeying the Creator, Redeemer, and King

Through him [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. (Heb 13:15 ESV)     

      K. Worship is service, and it is work, and requires effort. But you don’t have to beg a real             believer to worship the God of the Bible. He/she wants too!

      L. See Ps 95:6, 96:8

 II. A call to celebrate the covenant between God and His people (vs. 3)        

     A. We are commanded to know something, actually to confess it

     B. We are to know and confess that Yahweh is our covenantal master

     C. We are to know and confess that Yahweh alone is the true God of the universe

     D. We are to know and confess that Yahweh is our God, we are accountable to Him

     E. We are to know and confess that Yahweh is our creator, not man or chance

     F. We are to know and confess our privileged position as believers: God is our Father, we 

         belong to Him, we relate to Him with the same closeness a sheep has to its shepherd.

    H. What does a shepherd do for his sheep? Psalm 23; Luke 15:3–6; John 10:1–18 

III. A second call to give thanks to Yahweh (vs. 4)

     A. Come to public worship, you must go through the gate to enter the Temple court

     B. The court of the Gentiles, Women, Israel, Priests, Holy of Hollies

     C. It is assumed a real believer will come to public worship with praise and thanksgiving

a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, and the voice of those saying, Praise the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His faithful love endures forever as they bring thank offerings to the temple of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as in former times, says the LORD. (Jer 33:11 HCSB)

    D. A thank offering was voluntary, set by the individual worshiper

    E. How far into the courts can we go, since Yeshua has come and died?

Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, (Heb 10:18–26 NASB)

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (Eph 2:14 ESV)

      H. Thanksgiving focuses on what He has done for us in prayer (actions), Praise for who He is             (attributes)

IV. A second call to celebrate the covenant between God and His people (vs. 5)

      A. Yahweh alone is good, not any man

      B. Yahweh has (hesed) covenant love for His people that never ends

      C. Yahweh keeps his promises faithfully to every generation of His elect

Then the LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed: Yahweh--Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers' wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. (Exod 34:6–7 HCSB)

       D. Jesus does not lose one of His sheep. Jesus is the good Shepherd

       E. Like His Father, He keeps all His promises (I will never leave or forsake you)

Lessons to live by:

• Grateful statements and praiseful statements go together in our prayers to the God of the Bible. We remember what He has done, and who He is.

• Corporate worship is not optional for a real believer. Those who are not providentially hindered know the importance of corporate worship. Make-believers and Holy day Christians have no idea what a covenant relationship with God looks like.

• The promises are very important in the Bible. They are what we grab a hold of with our faith without seeing the final end.

• We have much to be grateful for and many things for which to praise God

• Long Live King Jesus!

Psalm 92: A Sabbath Song of Worship to the LORD

The author of this Psalm is not known. Psalm 92 is an individual song of thanksgiving used in corporate worship on the Sabbath day. The Jews gathered for worship (Lev 23:3), a holy assembly, as well as resting on this day. This day was intended to be a delight rather than a burden, but those who were consumed with themselves rather than the living God disliked the Sabbath (Amos 8:5; Isa 58:13–14). While the priests were offering the morning and evening sacrifices, the Levitical singers lead the people in song by musical instruments (Exod 29:39–41).

   I. Worshiping Yahweh (the LORD) with music (vs. 1–3)

      A. Praising God is good because He loves us and thus it pleases Him

      B. Praising God is good because it encourages and liberates us

      C. Praise is a grateful vocal response to the acts of God 

      D. The LORD’s covenant Love (hesed) and faithfulness, 24/7

      E. The most high God’s name is Yahweh (the LORD) is to be praised in music

      F. The are using instruments in praising God’s name

      G. The music had a message, it “proclaimed” the LORD’s attributes

      H. No matter what the style of music, if the message is wrong about God, it is not                acceptable worship. Content is King in worship!

 II. A song of thanksgiving (vs. 4–15)

      A. The LORD’s actions are to be praised by His people (vs. 4–5)

            1. Praising God for Who He is, transforms into:

            2. Thanking the LORD for what He has done—mighty acts of deliverance

            3. The Bible is redemptive history, it tells His Story

            4. Praising God in corporate worship bring the believer joy

      B. The fool does not understand redemptive history (vs. 6–8) 

           1. A human who cannot think and analyze God’s powerful redemption is like a bull

           2. When your thoughts are all about you, you ignore the shortness of life and the coming                 judgment by a powerful and sovereign God

           3. The wicked are temporary in their pleasure and power like grass in the desert heat

           4. Their judgment is an everlasting judgment

           5. In contrast God is exalted forever, not just for a short while like the wicked fool

           6. The LORD rules and judges, He is a sovereign king

      C. The Sovereign LORD judges the wicked while exalting His people (vs. 9–11)

           1. The wicked enter judgment and find themselves alone

           2. Yahweh vindicates His people while He punishes their enemies

           3. He will raise the heads of His people and give them authority (horn= symbol of power)                while at the same time consecrating them again for holy service (olive oil, 1st pressing)

           4. Like on judgment day, the righteous see the defeat of those God calls wicked

           5. When God is done, there will be no opposition to His sovereignty

           6. God’s intervention and justice is a vital part of our hope when persecuted

           7. Our hope includes the total elimination of all evil from earth to the lake of fire in the                     future

      D. The wicked are temporary like weeds, but not the righteous (vs. 12–14)

           1. Believers and repenters are like beautiful palm trees

           2. We are like the tall cedar trees that used to grow in Lebanon

           3. Both trees show strength, beauty, and continual durability

           4. We will be placed very close to the LORD our God (house, courts)

           5. We will continue to have meaningful service, purpose, and dignity in our old age on                  earth and in heaven (blessed and valuable)

      E. Exalting Yahweh for His character (vs. 15)

           1. We proclaim in song that God is holy, righteous, just, right

           2. We proclaim in song that we are dependent on God who sustains us

           3. A rock provides stability and daily provision (water out of the rock)

The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. (Deut 32:4 NASB)

           4. God is unlike man, who is born wicked. There is no wickedness in God

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  (1 John 1:5-7 NASB)

Lessons to live by:

• Singing good theology to God and thanking Him and praising Him with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is important. 

• The most important thing about what we sing is what it says about God, not the style which is a matter of taste that changes over time

• God ordained that instruments be used in His worship

• If we oppose the sovereignty of God, we are aligning ourselves with the wrong side

• God is holy. All of the biblical attributes are true of God, and no attribute is greater than the others. They complement each other. God’s love is holy, and God’s holiness is loving, His justice is holy, and His holiness is just

• Praising God for who He is can shift into thanking Him for His redeeming acts in such a seamless way that the one appears to be part of the other