2009-11-15 Sermon Title: Give thanks to Him and praise His name
Fri, 01/22/2010 - 19:33 — hpcbc
Sermon 11/ 15/ 2009
Sermon Title: Give thanks to Him and praise His name
講道題目：你們要稱謝耶和華
Sermon Text: Psalms 100:4
講道經文：詩篇一百篇四節
Scripture Reading: Psalms 100:1-5
讀經：詩篇一百篇一至五節
Psalms 100 is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. It is a processional hymn that the people sang as they entered the temple to begin their worship. It is a short but powerful Psalm of homage. The Psalm begins with an exuberant proclamation, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.” Or in the KJV, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.” Shouting with joy is not the same kind of emotional excitement when Long Horn wins the football game; nor is it the same as the joyful noise in a carnival. It is a call for all the earth to pay homageto the King. It is more like shouting “Long lives the King!” by his subjects. It is all inclusive, all ye lands, that is everything on earth; I like the Chinese translation that describes a kingdom as its lands and the people. “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” In the KJV the word worship is translated as ‘serve’; ‘Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing.’ In fact in Hebrew it is one and the same word; service is an act of worship. In Romans, Paul also emphasizes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship (reasonable service, KJV)” Coming before the presence of the Lord is worship; we are to come before the Lord to worship him, to serve him, with gladness and with songs in our heart, not with sadness and burdens. The Psalmist gives us the reason to be exuberant and enthusiastic in worshipping the King—we owe it to God for our existence. “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalms 100:3) In a brief space of one verse, we are told who God is; who we are and the privileged relationship we stand before him. It is this knowledge that the Lord is God and we are created by him for a purpose that calls for celebration and worship. Without that knowledge there is no real purpose in living; one would even question the very reason of his existence. We are his; we belong to God—his jealous possession, precious to him. We are his people; the sheep of his pasture. In the Old Testament, a king is often depicted as a shepherd and his kingdom, the pasture. In this favored relationship, God takes care of us; feeds us; protects us; leads us and comforts us. Another well known Psalm says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me besides quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalms 23:1-4) The knowledge of that privileged relationship calls for worship with exceeding joy and gladness in our hearts.
“Enter the gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (Psalms 100:4) In the first glance of this invitation, its simplicity does not convey the wonderful reasons for thanksgiving. In careful reading of the verse, it spells out the wonderful grace of God. The gates of the temple were closed to the gentiles; it is shut for the unclean (Rev. 21:27).The gentiles took no part in the worship of God. Today when we read this Psalm, it is God’s invitation to all the people of the lands to worship him. In Solomon’s temple and later the Herod’s temple there were many courts. Outside the East gate there was the Court of Israelis Women; Women were not allowed to enter the inner courts. Inside the East Gate and before the Temple Porch was the Court of Priests; on the peripheral were the Court of Israel (or the Court of Men). The temple was divided into two chambers: the outer chamber called the Holy Place and the inner chamber the Holy of Holies. These two chambers were separated by a heavy veil. The Holy place was reserved for the priest; other worshippers could only gather for prayer and sacrifice in the temple courts. Insides the Holy of Holies, there was once the Ark of the Covenant symbolizing the presence of God in the midst of His people. No one could come into the presence of God except the high priest. Even the high priest could only enter the Holy of Holies once a year to sacrifice for the remission of the sin of Israel. Today we read this psalm with a fresh awareness of the grace of God. When we read the account of Jesus’ death on the cross, the last word he said was, “It is finished” (John.19:30成了). He did not say, “It is over.” The love of God is far from ‘over’; the blood of Jesus Christ had sealed the New Covenant of grace. At the very moment Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple that separates the Holy place from the Holy of Holies was torn into two from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45) The barrier between the people and the Holy God was removed; all those who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus can now approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we can receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrew 4:16) Jesus had accomplished salvation for mankind on the cross; the job was finished. It calls for exceeding joy and celebration because the New Testament saints, redeemed gentiles like us, can now come to God boldly without fear because of God’s grace. It calls for thanksgiving and praise because we are no longer excluded from the court of worship, Hallelujah, praise his name!
We thank God and praise his name, “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Psalms 100:5) The psalmist could not find words to describe the love of God; but he had experienced it and the Lord is good. He could only tell us that his love reaches to the heavens and his faithfulness to the skies. (Psalms 36:5) His love is all encompassing; and his faithfulness enduring. Love is God’s attribute. God is love and he cannot be anything less than that. (1ohn 4:8) It is not we first love God; it is God who first loves us and sends his son to die for our sins on the cross. (John 3:16; 1John 4:10) There is no greater love than that. James says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly light, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17) We thank God that his goodness and love never change; they cannot change because God is good and God is love. What is more, God’s faithfulness never changes either. It is also his attribute. People make promises and break promises; people make contracts and covenants and break them for convenience. God never breaks his promises; “He is faithful that promised.” (Hebrews 10:23) God made a covenant with Abraham; he also made sure that the covenant promises are all fulfilled. In weakness the descendents of Abraham had broken the covenant several times; yet God never let his promises to fall through. Paul Reassured Timothy, “We are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” Faithfulness is God’s attribute and he cannot deny himself. Thank God, he is faithful. He promises to all who receive him and to those who believe in Jesus’ name, the right to become children of God—he never turns back on his promise. There are more reasons for thanksgiving and praises; he is not only faithful, he is also a forgiving God. The children of God are not perfect, but he promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9)
In November Americans celebrates thanksgiving. We all know that it is time for turkey and pumpkin pies; some of us who study American history can also tell you the story of how the pilgrims came to this new land seeking religious freedom. Many of them perished in the harsh winter in New England and the survivors thanked God for blessing them with a good harvest the following year. The first thanksgiving was most likely celebrated with games like wild boar and the fruits of the land like corn and the likes. But when asked, “What would you thank God for in your life?” we very often scratch our head and are hard pressed for an answer. We have a job; we have a good standard of living in America; we own two to three cars; we work from 9 to 5 and we are in general good health. We would not be presumptuous to say that we are perfect but at least we are not bad guys. We are just a middle class citizen; nothing unusual happening in our routine life to thank God for! We always think that we need to have a special blessing to give thanks to God. In our routine thinking something has to be dramatic to be worthy of giving thanks: such as when we have a new baby we thank God and forget to give thanks for the older sibling that has just finishing a time-out punishment; we would certainly thank God for helping us find a job after being unemployed for a while but forget to thank God for the humdrum, boring job that we are holding on. How many of us would feel excited and shouting with joy and thanksgiving just at the thought of being the sheep in God’s green pasture? How many of us in our busy lives would sometimes pause and give thanks to God for our salvation, for his enduring love and unfailing promises? Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly light. Do not take our blessings for granted; let us give thanks to God and praise his name in joyful songs in this Thanksgiving season!
