Thank God!

Thank God!

Psalm 100:1-5

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Nov. 24, 2013

*I love this time of year. But as Christians, we could celebrate Thanksgiving every day.

*Donald Davis says that his kindergarten teacher liked to celebrate holidays more than once a year. Her name was Mrs. Rosemary, and her class celebrated a different holiday every Monday morning. In a typical year, the children might celebrate Memorial Day, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving and Easter two or three times each! And every child in Mrs. Rosemary's class had their birthday celebrated at least three times a year. (1)

*Don't you know those children loved her spirit of celebration! I'm sure they did. But that's just a small taste of the celebration going on in this Psalm of thanksgiving.

*In vs. 1: "Make a joyful noise or shout to the Lord!" The original word here for "noise" was "roo-ah." It had the word-picture of breaking or splitting something apart, so this word "roo-ah" meant "ear-splitting sound."

*And it sounds like a word made for shouting: ROO-AH! It is the same word we see when Joshua fought the battle of Jericho. Listen to Joshua 6:16: "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!'"

*"Make a joyful noise, make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!" -- Same word. It's more like what we would hear at a football game on Friday night than we would hear in church. And most of us won't shout like that 'til we get to Heaven. But that's O.K., because God is more concerned with the joy than He is with the shout.

*Angry people can shout, and they often do. I'm glad to say that I have pretty much given up on that. The only thing I ever got out of it was hurt feelings and a sore throat.

*Some people can't talk at all. But they still overflow with joy, and so can we. I think that's one of the things David was talking about in the 23rd Psalm, when he said: "My cup runneth over."

*You see, when our cup of joy runs over, it's got to go someplace. And this joyful gratitude will be expressed in our lives:

-Sometimes by a shout like we see in vs. 1.

-Or in vs. 2, by "serving the LORD with gladness."

-And by "coming before His presence with singing."

*Somehow, some way, we can all overflow with joyful gratitude for the Lord. We can all thank God. And Psalm 100 shows us why.

1. First: Thank God for His revelation to us.

*The first part of vs. 3 says: "Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves." There is a healthy dose of humility in this verse as we realize that God is God, -- and we are not. But there is also great honor in this verse, because our gracious God is willing to reveal Himself to us!

*What an honor! What a blessing! -- But how do we get this knowledge, this great revelation from God?

[1] One way is through God's creation.

*God reveals Himself to us by His creation. As Psalm 19:1-3 says:

1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

2. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.

3. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

[2] God also reveals Himself to us by His Word.

*Mike Crews explained that God reveals Himself in His Word by showing us how He interacts with people, showing us what He thinks, and telling us how He feels. That's one of the main reasons He gave us the Bible -- to reveal Himself to us. So in John 5:39 Jesus said: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." (2)

[3] God reveals Himself to us by His Word, and by His only begotten Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

*That's why Hebrews 1:1-3 says:

1. God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets.

2. has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

3. who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

[4] God reveals Himself to us by His Son Jesus Christ, and by His Holy Spirit at work in the world today.