God Seriously Wants You To Rejoice! Series

Summer Psalms #10 - God Seriously Wants You to Rejoice!

Psalm 100:1-5

Sermon by Rick Crandall

McClendon Baptist Church - Aug. 5, 2009

*Does God want His people to rejoice? -- Without a doubt, He does! The first time we ever see the word “rejoice” in the Bible is Exodus 18:9, “Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.” God uses this word “rejoice” 257 more times in the Bible. Listen to a few examples:

-Deut 12: 7, “And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.”

-Psalm 20:5, “We will rejoice in your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.”

-Psalm 33:1, “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.

-Psalm 105:3, “Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord.”

-And Phil 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

I. God surely wants His people to rejoice. God seriously wants you to rejoice in Him. So in Psalm100 God gives us some great requirements to rejoice.

1. The first requirement in vs. 1 is to shout with joy.

*“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!” Or as the KJV says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.” That word “shout” or “noise” is an interesting word. The original word picture is to break or split something. So here He’s talking about making an ear-splitting noise.

*It is the same word we see when Joshua fought the battle of Jericho. Listen to Joshua 6:16&20:

16. And the seventh time it was so, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!”

20. So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

*“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!” -- Same word. Have you ever shouted for joy? -- Maybe when you saw that game-winning homerun, or when you saw that perfect pass caught for a game-winning touchdown.

*God says: “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!”

-I am not asking you to do that in church, because God also says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” (1 Cor 14:40) But let me give you this assignment: Sometime this week think about all God has done for you, and give Him a big shout of joyful praise. God’s Word tells us to shout with joy.

2. And in vs. 2, God’s requirement is to serve with joy.

*“Serve the Lord with gladness!” In 2 Thess 3:13, Paul tells believers not to “grow weary in doing good.” But sometimes we do. Don’t give in to that. Trust God to renew your strength, and serve the Lord with gladness.

*In the early 2000’s, Martin and Gracia Burnham were American missionaries serving in the Philippines. On May 27, 2001, Martin & Gracia were kidnapped by Islamic terrorists. At the time, they were visiting a resort, celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary. Hoping for ransom money, the terrorists held this couple for more than a year. On June 7, 2002, a Philippine army unit moved in to rescue the hostages. Martin was killed by a stray bullet and Gracia was wounded.

*At Martin’s memorial service, it was reported that the last thing the couple did before the raid was to pray together. Martin told his wife, “We might not leave this jungle alive, but at least we can leave this world serving the Lord with gladness. We can serve Him right here, where we are, and with gladness.” (1)

*Surely we can also serve the Lord with gladness right here, where we are. God’s Word tells us to serve with joy.

3. Also in vs. 2, God’s requirement is to sing with joy.

*“Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.” God wants us to come before His presence overflowing with joy, as we with sing praises to Him. Yes, there is a place in worship for other emotions, but we can’t leave out the joy. God wants to see obvious joy in our singing to Him.

4. Then in vs. 4, God’s requirement is to joyfully step closer to the Lord.