Thanks for being You!

Thanks for being You!

Come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. – Psalms 95:1

Psalms 100:1-5

 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.

Gratitude Matters

Modern psychological research has demonstrated that being grateful improves our outlook on life. It fosters physical and psychological health, even among those struggling with emotional well-being. Studies show that practicing gratitude curbs negativity. It redirects inner attention away from complaining and negative speech and harmful emotions that so often accompany it such as resentment and envy. Being thankful minimizes harmful introspection and reflection which may lead to depression.

Gratitude is an attitude of appreciation. It is often spontaneously generated from within as we recognize and appreciate who and what is in our lives. In addition to being spontaneous, it can be cultivated. How can gratitude be developed? By making a conscious effort to recognize the good that has come into our lives. We are “to count our blessings.” As we recall them to mind appreciation often bubbles up from our hearts.

What steals gratitude from our innermost being? Continual craving for more, envy, cynicism, and narcissism (Psychology Today).

The psalmist invites all children of the King to approach the Father with exuberant joy and gratitude. This is no soft, demure, genteel, whispered call to worship. This is a shout, a joyful noise. Imagine that your favorite team is playing in the Super Bowl and someone gave you a ticket. You are there waiting for your team to be announced and run out onto the field. Suddenly they appear and a loud thunderous roar that erupts throughout the stadium. That’s a joyful noise!

Psalms 100:1 Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth!

The Hebrew word translated joyful noise or shout joyfully is ruwaʿ. Ruwaʿ means to utter a sudden loud cry. A ruwaʿ was to shout a war cry, sound the signal for battle, or shout in triumph or victory.

The psalmist is not calling us to war. He is calling us to celebrate the triumph and victory that the Father has brought into our lives and will bring in the future. This is a call to jubilant, energetic celebration. It is expressed through vibrant heartfelt thankfulness and gratitude.

Psalms 100 celebrates, what are they? First, the Father made us and we belong to Him. We are the sheep of His pasture. Second, He is good, his loyal love endures forever, and He is utterly faithful.

Psalms 100:3-5

 3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Our praises are not to be spoken. They are to be shouted in song like we really mean it.

Imagine a US Marine DI (drill instructor) seeking a lively, loud shout from his recruits. He screams, “Semper Fi, do or die.” They shout back, “Oh yeah.” He says I can’t hear you. They shout louder, “Oh yeah.” He responds I can’t hear you. They shout even louder, “Oh yeah.”

Sing your heart out, shout for joy.

The Father is looking for a few good men and good women to celebrate His triumphal excellence!

Psalms 100:5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

REFLECT & PRAY

“God is the Shepherd; we are His flock. God is the Creator; we are His creations. God is the Father; we are His children” (Stanley).

Father thanks for being You! Thank You for all the wonderful things You are, the wonderful things You do, and the wonderful things You do for me!

INSIGHT

The Father is summoning all children of the King to worship and praise. They of all people on planet Earth can experience spiritual joy because of their relationship with the Father. Spiritual joy only comes through knowing the Father. Spiritual joy is expressed through shouts and songs of praise and thanksgiving.

David showed the way. He is an example of lively, exuberant joy and thanksgiving that comes from his relationship with the Father. He had retrieved the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines. David was transporting it back to Jerusalem.

He celebrated the retrieval of the ark and showed gratitude and thankfulness to the Father, David was all in. His wife Michal thought made a complete fool out of himself. But David danced the night away, leaping and dancing.

Michal confronted him. She thought he was being lewd and acting in a way that was unbecoming of a King. David responded by saying in essence, “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” I will go to any length the celebrate before the Father. He was willing to look even more foolish than what Michal had seen that day, He was ready to be humiliated in his own eyes (2 Samuel 6:22).

David danced for the Father alone. He was not concerned about what other people thought regarding his exuberance and joy.

“When the Lord’s presence makes us joyful, serving Him becomes an untroubled joy. Only when one takes no pleasure in God does serving Him seem like a chore and a burden” (Stanley).

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