Psalm 100. This psalm is entitled, A Psalm
of Praise. And in the margin of my Bible,
that word praise is interpreted as thanksgiving. A song, a song,
that's what it is, a song of thanksgiving. Now I want you to listen to the
voice of the Spirit of God as He has moved upon David to pen
what the Spirit of God has exhorted God's people, the bride of the
Lord Jesus Christ, to do. This is the Spirit of God that
has exhorted God's people. Here's the first thing, the first
exhortation. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands. Psalm 95, verse 1 says, O come,
let us sing unto the Lord, and let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. Now you know there is a reason
for us to make a joyful noise. A shout is what that is. A shout in our heart. I think about what Bro. Scott
said that time I heard him. He said, Lord, I didn't shout
out loud, but I did in my heart. And that's the way God's people
are. There's a joyful shout, a joyful noise. Why? Well, according to Psalm
95, 1, he's the rock He is our strength. He is our
refuge. Refuge for safety. Safety from this world. Safety from sin. Safety from
ourselves. If left to ourselves, we have
no hope. We make a joyful noise. This is the way that the Lord
is to be praised. That's a song of praise, a song
of thanksgiving. This is the way the Lord is to
be praised in our heart with joy, joy in the soul. David said, I was glad. I was
glad when they said to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. Where would you rather be right
now? Anyplace you'd rather be than
sitting with God's people, rejoicing, rejoicing in the Lord, rejoicing
in heart, rejoicing with a thought of thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord. All ye lands, Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male, female,
every tribe and nation, come people, you that Almighty God
has given a heart, you that have a heart to rejoice, make a joyful
noise unto the Lord. And with that exhortation, the
believer rejoices in his heart. Obedient. Make a joyful noise unto the
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. Make a joyful noise
unto Jehovah Himself, Father, Son, and Spirit. Make a joyful
noise. Why? Well, I'll tell you the
first reason I think of, unto Jehovah Himself, is because Almighty
God the Father chose you in Christ. Obviously, His choice is according to His
purpose. Now, you think about this. We're all dying creatures. We're going to die. It's appointed
unto man once to die. Lest we be here when the Lord
returns a second time, we're going to die. And I'll tell you,
I'll give you a good reason to make a joyful noise, a shout
unto the Lord, you that know Him, is that the Father chose
you in Christ. Almighty God made choice. Paul said we're bound. I love
this passage of Scripture. If anybody ever asks you, Marvin,
what's your favorite passage of Scripture? I'll tell you this.
All the Word of God is God's Word, but there's some that just...
The Spirit of God just grips my heart. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse
13, We're bound to give thanks to you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit, setting you apart for
holy use. That's sanctification. God sets
you apart. for holy use. He said, You're
mine. I chose you. And the Spirit of
God set you apart through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Let me give you another reason
to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed
you. Paid your debt. Bought you. Ephesians 1, 4-6, according as
He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Oh, can I just stop for just
a second? Make a joyful noise. God chose
you to be holy and without blame before Him. Me, a frail creature
of the dust? One born in Adam? Yes. Born in Adam, but remember this,
no fall in Adam ever supersedes or overrides that everlasting
covenant of grace. He paid it all. He paid it all. What does my people owe? What they owe is death. They owe that debt. They've broken
the law of God. The Lord Jesus Christ so fulfilled
it. He fulfilled it in obedience.
He fulfilled it in suffering. What it demanded, He kept, and
only He kept. He kept it, and that law demanded,
soul that sinneth is going to die. And He paid. Paid by His precious blood. that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good
pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,
wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace." How many places could we just
stop? in what I just read and say,
make a joyful noise to the Lord. Let me tell you one more reason
to make a joyful noise to the Lord. He called you out of darkness. He regenerated you and kept you. Kept you right now and will keep
you eternally. Paul said, under the inspiration
of the Spirit of God, 2 Timothy 1, who has saved us and called
us with a holy calling, a sacred calling, a pure calling. Many
men hear. They hear with a corporeal ear.
They hear. They hear the words. They hear
the words. But only those that Almighty
God is everlastingly loved in Christ, only those that Christ
redeemed by His blood are called with a holy calling, sacred calling,
a powerful calling, who have saved us. Now, as I've said before,
get that placement right. He saved us and then called us. Salvation precedes calling. Don't you ever forget that. He
saved us. Saved us and chose us in Christ.
Redeemed us in Christ. And then told you about it. Well, I thought my faith had
to add something to it. No. No. No, I'm sorry. You're wrong. Salvation is by
grace. And you know it by faith. It's
the gift of God. He gave it to you. not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given us,
who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." We've
got a great reason to make a joyful noise. unto the Lord. Here's the second exhortation,
verse 2. Serve the Lord with gladness
and come before His presence with singing. Serve the Lord. Now, I'll tell you this, too.
Now, here's another truth. This service right here, that
service right there is an act of the heart. And I will tell
you this, all service is bound up in this one thing right here.
Faith. Faith. Faith. Without faith,
impossible to please God. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord.
He's given you faith to believe Him. Service. Service out of
a heart that is made thankful. We don't do what we do begrudgingly. You don't pray begrudgingly. A believer doesn't pray begrudgingly. You don't come to hear the Gospel
preached begrudgingly. Not a believer. No, no, no, no,
no, no. You know why a believer comes?
You know why a believer praise? You know why a believer sings? You know why a believer worships? You know why? Because he wants
to. He wants to. Service is of the heart. Serve the Lord with gladness. I was thinking about the woman,
Mary Magdalene. It broke the alabaster box. Is
that who it was? Whoever it was. Came and broke
that alabaster box in anointing to the Lord. Cyprus. Why wasn't that sold for 300
pence? That's a lot of money. That's
300 pence. You know what the daily wage
of a man was during that time? About a penny. 300 pence. That's almost a year's wages.
Almost a year's wages. That could have been sold. The
Lord said, you leave her alone. She did what she did under my
burial, under my death, in honor of me. And I'll tell you this,
He said, wherever these words, these scriptures are going to
be preached, it's going to be for a memorial to her. She's done what she could.
She did what she could. Do what you can. Do what you
can. Serve the Lord with gladness. It's a privilege and a joy to
be happy in Christ. It's a privilege to be happy
in the Lord, to rejoice in the midst of trial and adversity. This is a privilege that's been
given. to say it's the Lord. Let him
do what seemeth to him good. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, for
saving my soul. We suffer in this frail frame,
but we do serve Him with gladness and thankfulness. But in striving, to serve the
Lord and come before His presence with singing. Our hearts are
made to remember Him. He's the one. He's the one that
has served the Lord with gladness. He's the one. My meat, my sustenance,
my food, my joy is to do the will of Him that sent me. This
whole Scripture, all these, you know, I've said this before,
some people say, well, that's a messianic psalm. They're all
messianic psalms. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, could
it be said, serve the Lord with gladness and come before His
presence with singing. Oh, the joy of His heart to honor
His Father and in Him. in Him with His, by His, in His
imputed righteousness. My, that could be said of me.
Only in Christ. Only in Him. Only in the Lord
Jesus Christ can it be said that the Spirit of God commands, serve
the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with singing.
Can it be said? In Christ, in Christ alone, His
righteousness, His obedience has been charged to my account.
And to hear the Father say in that day, well done, well done. Lord, that is by the grace of
Almighty God. Trusting Him, rejoicing in Him,
we serve Him. Here's the third exhortation,
verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, He is God, and it is He that
hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture." Now, listen to these exhortations. Make a
joyful noise unto the Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Know. Now, this has to do with knowledge. Know that the Lord, Jehovah,
He is God. Has to do with not the knowledge
that I can or this world by my own ability, by my own human
ability. Not knowledge that I can ascertain
by reading and learning and you know, revelation. It'll all be
taught of God. That knowledge. Know, perceive,
understand. that the Lord is God. Now there's
another reason to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, that He's
God, the only true and living God. There is no God but our
God. All other gods are just figments
of men's imagination. It's not God. It's God that men
make up. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord. He's God. He's made us. We're not ourselves. All that know Him, I tell you
this, we're the Lord's. We're His by choice. His choice. We're His by creation. He created
us. For His, by redemption, He bought
us. There's a reason, there's a good
reason. Know that the Lord, He's God. That He has made us and
not we ourselves by our fickle will or what will. We've got one will, and that's
to disobey God. Leave it to us, and that's what
we're going to do. We're His people, the sheep of
His pasture. Your mind is the fourth exhortation. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless
His name. Now here, here's, here's, listen,
these are exhortations that the Spirit of God exhorting us. It's
not, it's not an invitation, you know, it doesn't, you know,
look at the words, look at the first word in the first verse,
make. Look at that first word in that
second verse, serve. Look at that first word in that
third verse, know. The next word, the next first
word and fourth word, enter. These are not invitations. These
are not suggestions and exhortation. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving. Enter into His place of worship,
His gates, His courts. Enter into His realm. Enter into His place of worship." Where is that? In this building? Oh no, it's much more intimate
than that. His gates is the place of the
holiest of all. Enter into His court, into His
gates. Hebrews 10, 19, 20 says, "...having
therefore, brethren, boldness, or that word is liberty, having
liberty to enter into the holiest, I'm talking about into the very
holy of holies, the place of God's presence, the holy of holies. That's so high and above my ability
to comprehend. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the
veil," that is to say, His flesh. Through that flesh that was rent. You remember when the Lord died
and He said that the veil was rent, top to bottom. There was
the Holy of Holies. Nobody had ever seen that place
except the high priest. And that one time a year on the
Day of Atonement. One time a year. One day. One
day. And he would enter into that,
and not without blood. And now, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the veil Himself, who was rent, opened up into the very ability, when I say it like that,
privilege, That's what it says, having therefore the liberty
to enter by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who entered
into that holy of holies on his own merit. That high priest,
remember, one time a year, not him, he entered in. And now we,
by his blood, can have the boldness the liberty in Him who is our forerunner
and representative? He who by Him the sheep enter
by faith into the very presence of God? What reverence is due
that thought? I'm lost. I'm lost in my ability
to Comprehend, when we call upon Him, our Father,
as we come before You in the name of the Lord Jesus, You're
entering into the very holiness and the presence of God Almighty. And when we pray and worship The Lord said, when you pray,
you enter into your closet in secret. And the Father that sees
in secret, hears in secret, knows in secret, will reward you openly. How reverently! We should ask.
We should prayerfully ask, Lord, help me even as I pray. Lord, order my thoughts. Lord, help me. Help me. Keep
me. We don't even know how to pray.
We don't know what to pray for. We don't know what to ask. Oh,
but that the Spirit of God prays for us with groanings that can't
be uttered, I enter into His gates, His courts with praise,
thankful unto Him. Bless His name. Almighty God
has opened that gates and courts of His presence. and entering
into His presence by His means, the hearing of the gospel." That's
to be done with thanksgiving. Praise. The thanksgiving of God's saints. Thanksgiving. A heart that is
made to be thankful. That's the very incense of the
temple. The prayers of the saints. Oh, how reverently. That's that
spiritual sacrifice that's given by a renewed heart. Mercy allows us to enter into
His presence. Praise Him for the compassion
that He's shown us for Christ's sake. Bless His holy name. Bless His
character. Bless His person. Will. Bless His purpose. Bless all
that He is. Bless Him when He gives. And
bless Him when He removes. He's worthy. David said, if He
slays me, yet will I trust Him. That's a heart made tender before
God Almighty. Bless Him for the time that we
have with each other. And bless Him when He takes one
of His own to Himself. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
and in His courts with praise and be thankful unto Him and
bless His name. Lord, You are worthy. And why should we do this? Here
is the last, fifth exhortation. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting, and
His truth endureth to all generations." This is the answer for all of
those blessings that's been mentioned. You might be asked, why has the
Lord made us? Why has He done what we've done? Why has He made us new in Christ?
Was it because we're deserving? Is it because that we're faithful
and just? Is that? No, it's because the
Lord is good. And He's merciful. And His mercy
never changes. I change not. His truth endures
to all generations that His elect might hear the gospel. You know
why God Almighty is long-suffering even now in the midst of this
wicked and perverse world? You want to know why we're still
here? Because God has a people. And He's long-suffering, not
willing that any of His elect should perish. Oh, make a joyful noise unto
the Lord and serve Him with gladness. Know that He's God. Enter into
his gates with thanksgiving because the Lord is good and his mercy
endures forever. I pray that the Lord might bless
these words to our heart, settle our hearts, and cause us to look
unto him, be thankful, appreciative. I do thank him, not as I ought,
but I do thank him for allowing me to be here, be with you, To
be in his presence, two or three are gathered together. I know
they are. For Christ's sake, amen.