‘A Call to Worship’
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
Psalm 100
What is your attitude toward gathered worship? Is it understood to be essential to your spiritual well-being? Is it approached out of a sense of joyful Christian duty, or is it an intrusion keeping you from doing what you really want to do? Palm 100 should help us properly order our attitude toward worship.
General Observations
I want to make some general observations before we consider this Psalm more closely. First, in terms of structure, this Psalm consists of two short hymns, each of which includes a call to worship and an affirmation. What this suggests is that a biblical call to worship is always tied to an understanding of who God is and what he’s like. Worship carries theological implications. In other words, we’re called to worship the true God - the only God - who is revealed in the Bible. It’s crucial that our worship not be misdirected and part of a false religious system. This would be an expression of idolatry which is a serious sin against God and a violation of the first commandment. Rather our worship is to be a response to Truth (with a capital T) - biblical truth. This is why the calls to worship in this Psalm are tied to affirmations of biblical understanding. We’re to worship only the God who is revealed in Scripture.
Also, there is a sense in which this Psalm is a ‘Creed’. It’s a statement of what we believe is true. There are six creedal statements in the Psalm. ‘The Lord is God’ - the Lord (YHWH), the self-existent one, is the only God. This establishes the radical idea of monotheism. Then, the second line in verse 3 - “...It is he who made us…”. God is the Creator, the source and sustainer of our lives. We’re dependent on him for everything. Third, “we are his people,...the sheep of his pasture.” Our self-understanding is determined by our understanding of our relationship with God. We’re creatures; we belong to him, we’re accountable to him. Then, in verse 5, we have three references to God’s character - “...the Lord is good”..”his…love endures forever, and his faithfulness [extends] to all generations.” This Psalm, then, has a creedal feel to it and is very confessional in nature.
There is a final general observation to be made; there's a strong possibility that this Psalm was part of a liturgy used on a major day of public worship at the Temple. This accounts for its structure, the fact that we have two similar hymns sung antiphonally by two choral groups, one positioned outside the Temple gate and the other positioned inside the Temple gate. The first group sings the first hymn outside the gate - “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!’ This is the call to worship. Then the affirmation - “Knowing (acknowledge or confess) that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” In response, the choir inside the Temple wall sings the second hymn; first, the call - “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” This is then followed by a confessional statement (an affirmation) - “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” What we have in this Psalm is a beautifully orchestrated invitation into worship. It’s formal, structured, well-executed, and it conveys a spirit of joy and eagerness in worship.
Content of the Hymns
Let’s now consider the content of these two hymns. The first hymn underscores three things: the spirit in which we’re to worship; the results of our worship; and the reason for our worship. These are the how, what, and why of worship. The spirit (the how) of our worship is described by three words in verses 1 & 2: ‘joyful’, ‘gladness’, and ‘singing’. There’s eagerness here; there’s beauty here. Worship is an expression of our godly passion.
There’s a key word in verse 2 that needs to be noted; it’s the verb ‘serve’. This is a technical verb used in reference to the service to God that is offered in public worship. It speaks of worship expressed through liturgy and religious ritual. It’s formalized expressions of corporate praise. The word identifies the topic of discussion. The Palmist isn’t talking about the service we offer to God through our acts of mercy (doing good to others), or by the use of our ministry gifts to encourage each other in the faith, or the worship that’s expressed through an obedient moral life. As important as this whole of life worship is to the integrity of our Christian witness, this isn’t what the Psalmist has in mind. He wants us to see how vital public worship is to our call to serve God with gladness. Every time we gather with other Christians and join our hearts and voices in corporate praise, we’re serving God in a very important way. Do you see public worship as an important form of giving service to God?
Worship from a biblical perspective is to be marked by joy and gladness. It’s not dependent on happiness, which tends to be superficial and passing, nor is it dependent on emotional stirrings; rather, there’s an element of eagerness associated with public worship. When we think about gathering with God’s people for worship, we’re joyful and glad, not reluctant or feeling ‘put upon’. Rather, we’re like the Psalmist who writes - “...I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise…(Ps.42:4).” There’s eagerness here; there’s gladness here; there’s expectancy! Is this how you approach worship? Hans Lietzmann, in his book, The Founding of the Church Universal, writes - “The heart of the Christian life is to be found in the act of public worship.” [1]
The ‘What’ & ‘Why’ of Worship
We’ve considered the ‘how’ question; let’s now think about the ‘what’ question. What’s the benefit of corporate worship? What’s special about these gatherings? Verse 2 speaks to these questions - “....Come into his presence…”. There’s a unique kind of coming into God’s presence when we gather for worship. This isn’t to suggest that we’re ever out of God’s presence, for it’s “in him [that] we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).” But the environment created by the corporate worship gatherings of the church is one in which the Holy Spirit abides and moves using the Word preached to convict, comfort, and encourage those who attend. This is the unique ‘what’ of corporate worship. This self-conscious presentation of ourselves to God is an amazing privilege!
What, then, is the ‘why’ of corporate worship? The answer to this question is found in verse 3 - “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” The answer to the ‘why’ question is stated very straightforwardly; we’re to worship because ‘the Lord is God’, he ‘made us’, and we’re ‘his people’, ‘the sheep of his pasture’. When we understand who God is and who we are in relation to him, then we understand that he is the only proper object of worship. He’s God, the infinite self-existent One; we’re man, finite and dependent. God is the ‘necessary Being’ and we are ‘contingent beings’. He’s the Creator, we’re the creatures; he’s the Lord and we’re his servants. The very nature of our relationship tells us that we should worship him.
The Second Hymn
The second hymn is structured the same as the first; there is a call to worship (v.4) followed by an affirmation (v.5). We’re to enter God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise because he’s good, loving, and faithful. Our worship is grounded in our understanding of God’s character. This means that our worship is not circumstantial; we’re to worship him even in the tough times. During the hard times in life we have a decision to make; we can either hold tightly to the biblical witness that God is good, loving, and faithful, and worthy of our praise, or we can allow the tragedy to distort our understanding of God’s character and refuse to worship and be crushed by life. This can be extremely challenging at times, especially when the circumstances of life seem to be saying that God doesn’t care. It’s only as we look beyond our circumstances and worship the Lord for who he is that we’ll find a stable reference point for our lives. When we understand that our goal in life is to live for God’s glory, then we will worship in all of life’s circumstances.
Footnote:
Hans Lietzmann, The Founding of the Church Universal, (London, E.T. 1950), p. 124.