Turn to the 100th Psalm. Psalm 100. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord. all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with
singing. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. It is he that hath made us, and
not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and unto his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting, and
his truth endureth to all generations." Our gracious, glorious Heavenly
Father, We come into your presence in Christ's name, and we ask
that we might be enabled by your grace to make this joyful noise
unto you. We ask that we would be enabled
by your grace to come into your courts with thanksgiving. Lord, bless us for Christ's sake.
Make yourself known to us for Christ's sake. Cause your gospel to be preached
in the power of your spirit for Christ's sake. Lord, we ask that
you would forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake and cleanse
us for Christ's sake. Lord, everything we do, everything
we ask, we ask in his name. And we're so thankful to be able
to do that. We ask that you would grant us
a time of worship, unite our hearts together to fear thy name.
Lord, we pray for your blessing upon all your people, wherever
they meet together, that your gospel would be preached. We
pray for this nation, this world. We pray that your will would
be done with all of our leaders, that we might live a quiet and
peaceable life and all godliness and honesty. Now, Lord bless
us for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord. I realize that sometimes we do
not feel this joyfulness and this gladness spoken of in our
text. And we don't want to be artificial
about this and try to work something up. But every believer, listen
to this, whether you feel it or not, Every believer right
now has every reason to enter into his courts with praise and
thanksgiving and joy. Rejoice in the Lord always, the
scripture says. Right now, when I leave here
tonight, tomorrow, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Now the title of this psalm is
a psalm of praise. And remember these titles are
inspired, a psalm of praise or a psalm of thanksgiving. I love
the scripture. I love to be reminded of the
scripture in 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, where Paul says in everything,
give thanks. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. In everything give thanks, no
matter what it is. In everything give thanks. For
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Now, he says, make a joyful noise
unto the Lord. All ye lands. Now there's a time
to be still and to be silent. You know, I don't know of anything
more powerful than silence in a worship service where there's
silence. Be still and know that I am the
Lord. I will be exalted among the heathen. That's powerful. And there's
also a time to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, stronger
than the roaring of the ocean. I think of that joyful noise
in heaven. 10,000 times 10,000 in that choir. That's a hundred
million people. And I know it's just a figure,
but there are going to be a lot of people in heaven and they're
going to be making a noise mightier than the roaring of the ocean. Singing worthy is the lamb that
was slain. Now, even when we don't feel
this in the flesh and the Lord said to his disciples, Remember
when he was in Gethsemane's garden, he came back and found them asleep.
Asleep when they should have been awake, praying, but they
were asleep. And he said, the flesh indeed
is weak. He acknowledged that. The flesh
indeed is weak, but the spirit is willing. Oh, how willing the
spirit is. But whether I am encumbered With
the weakness of the flesh, the weakness of my sinful nature,
I'm still called upon by the grace of God to make this joyful
noise and make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lambs. He's calling upon all people
to make this joyful noise. Verse two. Serve the Lord with
gladness. Come before his presence with
singing, gladness, joyfulness. Sing unto the Lord, singing and
making melody in your hearts to the Lord. I love that scripture.
Isn't it a blessing when even as you're by yourself, you're
singing unto the Lord? and you're making melody in your
heart to the Lord. What a blessing of grace that
is. And the following verses will
tell us why we should be singing and making melody in our hearts
to the Lord. Verse three, know ye. You see,
this reason for singing is based upon knowledge. It's based upon
something we know. This is not just trying to work
something up. This is based upon the knowledge
of God. Know ye. Here's the reason to
come into his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord Jehovah,
he is God. Is that enough to make you sing?
Know ye that the Lord Jehovah, he is God. Now this is the knowledge. This
is based upon Jehovah. Every time you see the Lord,
L-O-R-D, capitalized, that's a reference to Jehovah. And I
really love the way the translators, and this came from the belief
that his name is so holy, it ought not even be spoken, Jehovah. The Lord, our righteousness. Does that make you happy? To
know that he is your righteousness? The Lord, my shepherd. Jehovah,
my shepherd. My shepherd's the Lord. Jehovah,
my provider. The one who provides for me all
that he requires. Yeah, it just takes all the pressure
off right now. Everything he requires of me,
he provides. In Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. I am the Lord Jehovah that healeth
thee. Physically, if I'm healed, The
Lord healed me. He uses means, I realize that. Somebody says, well, I'm not
gonna take my medicine because I'm gonna trust the Lord to heal
me. That's foolish. He uses those
means. But if you're healed, who healed
you? The Lord did. If you're healed spiritually,
Him restoring your soul, who's that? The Lord. The Lord, my
banner. The Lord, my message. Know ye
the Jehovah. He is the God. He is truly God. He is God and every attribute
that he exercises is him being God. Now you think of the sovereignty
of Jehovah. His sovereignty in creation when
he spake the world into existence. That's him being God. His sovereignty
in providence where he's controlling every single event. That's Him
being God, most especially His sovereignty and salvation, Him
saving, salvations of the Lord. That's Him being God. Know ye
that Jehovah, He is God. His holiness, His otherness, I love
that definition of holy. His otherness is Him being God,
His omnipotence, all power, whatever He wills, He has the power to
perform. He has no limitations. That's
Him being God, isn't it? Know ye that Jehovah, He is God.
Omnipresence. I love to think that the Lord's
everywhere. He's right here with me, and He's everywhere else
too. And if you go into the vastness
of the universe, the galaxies, He holds it all in the palm of
His hand. He's omnipresent. That's the Lord being God. I
think of His omniscience, how He's never learned anything.
He's never been informed. He's never been surprised by
anything. That's Him being God. How glorious He is. I think of
his eternity. His eternality, however you would
say it. I don't even know. You know,
that blows my mind. He never began to be. His independence. Only God is
independent. He has no needs. This is Jehovah
being God. When I think of his salvation,
oh, I love to think of his salvation. You begin with God electing a
people before time began to be saved. That's God being God,
isn't it? God indeed. I think of Christ's death for
his people. That's successful death. He actually saved them. That's
God being God. Every aspect, regeneration, being
born again. Birth by God, that's God being
God. Know ye, I love this, don't you?
Know ye, this is the reason we can be glad and rejoice in his
presence. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. And look what it says next in
verse three. It is he that made us, not we
ourselves, We're his people and the sheep of his pasture. Now
it's he that made us. Now this is true with regard
to us being his creatures. He made us. That's easy to believe. He made
us. I didn't make myself. That's
ridiculous. He made us and not we ourselves. But this is speaking more than
anything else about salvation. He made us. As a matter of fact, Ephesians
2.10 says we are his workmanship. Every aspect of our salvation
is He made us. Salvation is of the Lord. He made us, now think about this.
He made us, and this is how much, it's gotta be Him doing it. Scripture
says He made us through righteousness of God in Him. Now I want you to think
about the enormity of that statement. He made us the very righteousness
of God. Now, if I'm the righteousness
of God, I don't have anything to worry about on Judgment Day,
do I? He's made unto us, and He's made
us the wisdom of God, the righteousness of God, the holiness of God,
the redemption of God. He's made into us all these things. He said, behold, I make all things
new. Now this is what, I was trying
to think about this and I can't get hold of it, but I love it.
When he said, I make all things new, I'm given a new history
that actually took place. Y'all remember hearing one person
say, you can't change history. God can, God did. He said, I
make all things new. And when I stand before God in
judgment, my history is going to be a history of having never
sinned ever and only pleasing God. That's what justification
is. Not God treat you as if that's
the way it was Justification is that's the way it is. That's
the way it is. That's what God does for his
people I'm gonna have a perfect righteousness before God that
God is pleased with He made us his actual sons and daughters Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. We dare not take credit for anything
in our salvation. He made us. And not we ourselves. And we love it that way because
that way is going to work. If I'm in it, it's going to get
messed up. But this is what he did. Who
maketh thee to differ from another? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? Now, is this enough of a reason
to come into his presence with joy and gladness? What he has made us to be. Now look what he says. Go on
reading. Verse three. Know ye. That the Lord is God. There's a reason to rejoice and
come into his presence with gladness. He's the God of glory. It is
he that made us and not we ourselves. And then he says, here's the
next reason. We're his people. We're his people. What's that mean? If God be for us. Who can be
against us if we're his people? He said, I'll be to them a people,
or I'll be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
That's quoted several times in the scripture. Now, if I'm his
people, that means he's for me. And if God be for us, who can
be against us? I can't be against myself. The
Lord's going to overrule all that. No one can be, his law
can't be against me. His justice can't be against
me. It's all for me. If God be for us, who can be
against us? And then look what he says next.
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Now, I think it is amazing. I don't know why I would say
it's amazing. The best illustration of a believer
is a sheep. A sheep. What about sheep? Sheep are the dumbest animals,
I suppose, alive. That's what I've read. Dumb.
Dumb. They're dirty. They get themselves
filthy. They're defenseless. They cannot
protect themselves. They don't have fangs. They don't
have claws. They are defenseless. They're
utterly dependent on their shepherd. And they go astray so easily. And when they go astray, they
can't find the way back. They're dependent upon their
shepherd to come and get them and bring them back. I love the
last verse of Psalm 119, where David said, I've gone astray
like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. You ever prayed
that prayer? Seek thy servant, for I don't
forget thy word. We're the sheep of his pasture. Now turn to Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. And because my shepherd's the
Lord, I shall not want, I shall not lack anything. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. I love the way it says he makes
me do it. He makes me to lie down. I'm not going to lack rest.
I lie down in the green pastures of his word. A short sheep in
high grass, feeding upon the glories of his word. That's what mine sounds like. He leadeth me beside the still
waters, the waters of quietness. I'm not going to lack peace.
He is my peace. The still waters of quietness,
not turmoil. I'm accepted in the beloved.
What peace there is there. He restores my soul. He's always
going to restore me. Isn't that a blessing of his
grace to be restored? He restores my soul. He leads
me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. With the Lord
as my shepherd, I have his righteousness. He leads me in the paths of righteousness
and he's got a motive for doing it for his namesake. God has
a motive for everything he does for Christ's sake. I've got a
reason to believe that God will bless me because it's for Christ's
sake. That's the only reason that's needed. He says, yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, which
is right now, I'm walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
You are too. Since the day you were born,
you were walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. And here's why. Thou art with
me. You know, one of the names of
Jehovah is Jehovah is there. Jehovah is present at all times. The Lord is present and there's
never a time whether I feel it or not. There's never a time
when I do not have his presence. Now I know what it is to feel
like you don't have his presence. But you know, even when you feel
like you don't have his presence, you have his presence. He said,
I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Every believer always has
the presence of the Lord. And because of that, I'll fear
no evil. Thou art with me, thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me. I'm never going to lack comfort,
the comfort of the gospel that's given to every believer. Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Now, is David speaking of his literal enemies? Yes. Yes. But I have no doubt that David's
speaking of his chief enemy as his sins. And you prepare a table
of blessing before me in the very presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil. I'll never lack the anointing
of the Holy Spirit. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. It's not
half full, it's running over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. I always have God's two
watchdogs following me. His goodness and his mercy. And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. That's what is meant by he is
our shepherd. Let's go back to our text in
Psalm 100. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. It is he that made us and not
we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture enter into his gates with thanksgiving. Oh, I want to always be a thankful
person. Not a murmuring, complaining
person, but a thankful person. He hath done all things well. We're bound, Paul said. I love
this. We're bound to thank God always for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. He doesn't say we're thanking
you. He said, we're thanking God for you because God had from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. Thanksgiving. Enter into his
gates with thanksgiving and to his courts with praise. Be thankful
unto Him and bless His name. Paul said, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now isn't
this beautiful? Enter into His gates with thanksgiving.
Oh, I want to do that right now, don't you? Christ is the door.
He's the gate. I enter into his gates right
now through the door of the Lord Jesus Christ. Enter into his
gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise and be
thankful unto him and bless his name. And then in this last verse,
he gives us three reasons to enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and into his courts with praise and being thankful unto him and
blessing his name. Number one, for the Lord is good. Number two, his mercy is everlasting. Number three, his truth endureth
to all generations. Number one, the Lord's good. He is good all the time. There's never a time when he's
not good. The Lord is good. He's essentially good. When Moses
said, show me your glory. How did he answer? I'll make
all my goodness pass before you. And when somebody says, if God's
good, why does he let this happen? Why does he let that happen?
Now, whenever we think something like that, we're saying he's
not good or he wouldn't let that happen. All of a sudden, we're
becoming God's judge and we're standing in judgment on God saying,
here's what I think he should have done. Now, wait a minute.
The Lord's good all the time, and the Lord always brings good
out of evil all the time. You remember what Joseph said
to his brethren? You meant it for evil. God meant it for good. And everything that takes place
is the goodness of God. Are you telling me what happened
in Hawaii with all those people? God's good. And I don't need
to understand why He does anything. I just trust His character. He's
good. If you know him, you know he's
good. And you don't need to know why he's doing anything. You
just know that he's good and you trust his character. For the Lord is good. Here's
the second reason we're to enter into his gates with thanksgiving.
His mercy is everlasting. It never had a beginning. It'll
never have an ending. His mercy, that's Him not giving
us what we deserve. His grace is Him giving us what
we don't deserve and His mercy is withholding from us what we
do deserve. But because His mercy is in Christ
Jesus, it is eternal. And then thirdly, His truth. Now the word truth is the word
that is generally translated faithfulness. His faithfulness. He's good. His mercy is everlasting
and his faithfulness endureth to all generations. He will always be who he is. And our joy is grounded in his
faithfulness. Though we believe not, yet he
abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is faithful. So what a reason we have to come
into his courts with thanksgiving. and praise and joyfulness. The Lord is good. He's always good. And how his
goodness was displayed in the salvation of his people.