Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

INTRODUCTION:

“A Psalm of Thanksgiving”

No other psalm is designated by this simple introduction. The student of the subject of ‘thanksgiving’ must begin here with the instructions of the anonymous author.

I HE MADE US - 1-3

The composer begins with 4 directives of thanksgiving praise before explaining the underlying rea- sons behind the actions. Exuberant praise is not emotionally based; there are concrete reasons for our exceedingly great joy! • 1st Directive- “Shout with joy to the Lord, O earth!” (1) This is the final command in the book of psalms to ‘shout’ to the Lord with the same musical shout that Joshua and the Israelites sounded at the walls of Jericho. It is no longer just a single city that will be affected by this jubilation, but the entire earth. The shout of praise is always connected with the expansion of God’s universal reign among mankind: • “Shout to God with joyful praise!” (Ps. 47:1) • “Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth!” (Ps. 66:1) • “Shout to the Lord, all the earth;” (Ps. 98:4) • 2nd Directive- “Worship (serve) the Lord with gladness.” (2) It is interesting that gladness is a command and we can choose the inner disposition of our heart. Serving God joyfully in our daily work is a valid expression of our worship. The Israelites were rejected because of a poor inner attitude: “Be- cause you have not served the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received…”(Deut. 28:47) The New Testament tells us: “Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Col. 3:23) • 3rd Directive- “Come before him, singing with joy.” (2) The ‘Message’ translation captures the essence of this verse when it says; “sing yourselves into his presence! ” There is a vital connection be- tween singing and the presence of God, it is the eternal atmosphere in the heavenly realm and should be no less here upon earth among his people. “Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts.” (Eph. 5:19) • 4th Directive- “Acknowledge that the Lord is God.” (3) This is more than a casual agreement that Yahweh is God, as the Bible in Basic English puts it; “Be certain that the Lord is God…” Our decisive- ness about the existence of God is a reflection of faith and is the basis for true worship. “Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Heb. 11:6) • Reason #1- “He made us,…”(3) We can identify our origin. ‘ Who made us’ is one of the central questions of mankind and the answer determines our eternal future. God claims the role of creator in the 1st chapter of the Bible: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, to be like ourselves…So God created man in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.”(Gen. 1:26, 27) The gospel of John reveals that God created all things through Jesus Christ: “He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make.” (Jn. 1:3) Jesus is the one being ad- dressed in this psalm 1st as creator and later as redeemer. • Reason #2- “and we are his.” (3) We can identify whom we belong to. Here God claims all those who have been made new in Christ ‘as his’. Being born again into his new creation links us eternally with Christ: “You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness-right- eous, holy and true.” (Eph. 3:24) • Reason #3- “We are his people…” (3) We can identify whom we belong with. While salvation begins through the conversion of individual people, it is ultimately a ‘corporate’ event, involving the re- deemed of all ages being gathered unto Christ. We are his people, living, serving and worshiping to- gether in his church under the same grace, the same Word and Spirit. “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters.” (Rom. 8:29) • Reason #4- “…the sheep of his pasture.” (3) We can identify our Shepherd and our pasture. Jesus is the ultimate Shepherd of his flock: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep, and they know me.” (Jn. 10:14) As his sheep, we are assured of his care and protection; a deep sense of be- longing, love and acceptance surrounds us as we daily feed in the pasture of his word and presence.

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