Week 25: Psalm 100

Psalm 100

Have you ever read the Bible as something to check off of a checklist? 

Do you believe you can still “get something out of it” when you do? 

I believe God can absolutely interrupt our linear, nose-to-the-grind attitude with His Word, even if we start out reading it as another tick on our task list.

Take, for example, my recent drive on the way to take my daughter to school. It was still early, and my mind was still bleary. And yet, I turned on my Bible reading audio plan despite my daughter's protests.

“It will just be one chapter for now,” I reassured her. There are many obstacles to reading God's Word, including your loved ones not always being in alignment with you on that particular habit. 

However, any word of the Word is always worth it. That day's reading was Psalm 100, the one I've associated with as the quintessential Psalm of praise. 

Just as my mind started wandering to How am I going to schedule that meeting today? my thoughts were interrupted with the invitation to Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 

This Psalm felt like a command, and I'm usually good at following directions. Was this a command to work harder? Get more done? Read more Bible verses? 

No! David, who wrote Psalm 100, aks us to make a joyful noise! I'm not a great singer, so I was thankful for the low bar described here. Make a beautiful song? Unlikely. Make a joyful noise? Now that, I could do.

Praising God is the healthiest thing a human can do. Praise redirects our heads bent low over our phones, necks sore from checking task lists, bearing the weight of our adulting role. Praise invites us to open our chests and arms and faces to the uplifting lightness of praise. 

This Psalm invites us as a people, from generation to generation, to “serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (note the exclamation points in Psalm 100:2)!

God is exciting! He is good! 

“His steadfast love endures forever,” says Psalm 100:5, and “his faithfulness to generations.” We are the generation that gets to testify to this truth, over 2,500 years after David wrote it. 

As you ponder on Psalm 100 today, enter his gates with thanksgiving. Literally, start with giving thanks to God for who He is, and feel your heart grow lighter and your burdens float like feathers. 

Know that the Lord, he is God. And you are not. Amen to that! Let us join the psalmist and praise Him with your life today. This is both an invitation and an exhortation, the most important action you can take for your day today. Be blessed and go with praise.

-Kasey