Psalm 100 Part 2
While the bible does not record who wrote this song of thanksgiving whoever wrote it was passionate about their Lord. This is a wonderful way to live, to be always reminding ourselves of the many blessings that we receive and experience all the time. There is a danger that if we focus on the darkness that is around us that we can forget the goodness of God. Verse 3 says: “Know that the Lord He is God; it is He who has made us, and not ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture”. This verse is the key to having a pleasurable life living with Jesus. It also highlights the fact that you cannot be too passionate about our Lord. It is a good thing to decide that my Christian experience is my number one choice and I will guard against anything that could tempt me to put the Lord second in my life. The verse starts with “know that the Lord He is God”, it is not talking about some fact that we could consider along with a lot of other facts. The word ‘know’ is very decisive – it says that what I believe changes me because the word God means the supreme being the creator. It is important to acknowledge that we love God who is the supreme being – the creator of everything, when we understand this it puts all other aspects of our living in its correct perspective. Another meaning of the word ‘know’ is to “ascertain by seeing”, how we see God determines the influence He has on the way that we live. Psalm 46:10a says: “Be still and know that I am God” this verse declares that there is peace and calmness in the way that we live when we see God. Verse 3 goes on to say “ It is He who has made us, and not ourselves”. This exposes the lie that the god of this world (Satan) that the ungodly believe and teach in our schools that God did not create us, because if you believe God created you then you must live God’s way. May we never forget that we were created by God in His image and likeness. Today we hear about self–made people and they are put up as an example for us to copy – nothing could be further from the truth. One of the biggest issues we face is the importance of self – ‘I am entitled to my opinion’ – we see this all the time on social media. When I understand that I am not important this keeps me humble and God uses those people who are humble. The final thing that this verse says: “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture”. This highlights an area of conflict in our Christian walk, the truth of who is in control of our life. There is an ongoing conflict where we are tempted to be in control of our life. The simple fact is when I choose to be born again I choose to make Jesus Lord of my life and that choice gives me many reasons to be thankful. 1 Corinthians 6:19 &20 clearly states that we are to glorify God because we belong to Him. Finally, the verse tells us that we belong in His pasture this is where He protects and provides for us all the time. We have so many reasons to praise the Lord because He is worthy of all praise.