Lately, I’ve found myself spending a lot of time studying and connecting with David’s heart for the Lord. Last Monday we looked at a portion of Psalm 142 which we know was a time when David was in “darkness”, and he was hiding and crying out to the Lord. Today we will look at Psalm 100, which David wrote as a psalm of thanksgiving. David knew that no matter our circumstances, the Lord is our Shepherd, and that His goodness and unfailing love will never stop pursuing us, because it is gravely important to God that each one of us resides in His House for all eternity.
In John 10, Jesus uses a parable about how He is the Good Shepherd, and we are His sheep. At the end of John 9, Jesus was debating with those who objected to Him giving sight to a man who was born blind. Jesus is still speaking to those criticizers, but they tell Jesus that they do not understand what He is saying. “So, He explained it to them: ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.’ Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through Me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10:7, 9-10) We see that Jesus will never stop pursuing the hearts of His creation, and for that we must give great thanks.
Today’s psalm invites all of the earth to shout with joy to the Lord. Pastor Mary continuously shepherds and leads God’s flock at C2C Church to grow in our understand of the Word of God, so we know His voice. She makes it very clear that the enemy will do anything to steal our joy. But, handing over our joy is a chose each one of us has, because we chose Jesus to live within us. Remember, Jesus became our joy when each one of us chose salvation in Him. So, even though the enemy is always around, he has NO power to take your joy, unless you give it to him; because Jesus, Who is divine and holy, lives in you and me. Allow Psalm 100 to encourage your heart today as you acknowledge and praise God for, He is our Good Shepherd and we as His people want to be prepared now to enter His Gates for all eternity.
Psalm 100 (NLT)
A psalm of thanksgiving.
1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for being our Good Shepherd. Help us to hold firmly onto our joy. We do not want to hand anything that is of You over to the enemy. Thank You for being our gate, the One Who welcomes us into our eternal Home. I ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.