Psalm 100 Commandments

 

Today is our Thanksgiving service.  Advent starts Dec 1st.  I decided to use Psalm 100 as my scripture reference.  Psalm 100 is one of my favorite psalms.  It is a Psalm of Thanks, but that is not all it is.  Within it's five verses it contains five simple commands.  The first commands is found in verse one.  It is an easy one.  It tells us to SHOUT to the Lord.....not whisper....SHOUT! 

"1Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth!  2 Serve the Lord with celebration!  Come before him with shouts of joy!  3. Know that the Lord is God—he made us; we belong to him.  [a]We are his people,  the sheep of his own pasture.  4 Enter his gates with thanks;  enter his courtyards with praise!  Thank him! Bless his name!  5 Because the Lord is good,  his loyal love lasts forever;  his faithfulness lasts generation after generation."

The first commands is found in verse one. It is an easy one. It tells us to SHOUT to the Lord.....not whisper....SHOUT!  The second command tells us to Serve the Lord with Gladness.  It does not say serve the church, the preacher, the neighbors....it says, "serve the Lord."  The third command is, "Come before Him with joyful songs."   Command #4 is, "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."  You know what I find amazing is that God took every bone, every joint, and He welded them together with sinews & muscles & covered them with skin and gave us eyes that see, brains that think, and fingers that can pick things up. God made us, inside and out. He made you the way He wanted you to be. And He made me the way He wanted me to be.  Command #5 is this, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, & His courts with praise; give thanks to Him & praise His name. For the Lord is good & His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations."  God is everywhere. You know that. He is with you as you drive on the highway. He is with you when you work. He is with you as you care for your children. He is with you every moment of your life.  That is the source of our thanksgiving, isn’t it? But I’m worried. What if God began to treat us like we so often treat Him? What if God met our needs to the same extent that we give Him our lives?
What if we never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the rain? What if God stopped loving & caring for us because we failed to love & care for others? What if God took away His message because we wouldn’t listen to His messenger?  What if He wouldn’t bless us today because we didn’t thank Him yesterday? What if God answered our prayers the way we answer His call for service? What if God decided to stop leading us tomorrow because we did not follow Him today? O Lord, help us to be thankful that you do "not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities" [Psalm 103:10].  In this season of Thanksgiving remember to be thankful for all that we have and love our neighbors.