A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Psalm 100 is entitled “A Psalm of Praise,” or literally “A Psalm of Thanksgiving.” This is the only psalm bearing this precise inscription. The psalm itself shows us how to give thanks to God. The words are all ablaze with grateful adoration, and for this reason this psalm has been a great favorite with the people of God ever since it was written. It also tells why we should be so thankful. It exhorts the entire world to receive the Lord as its sovereign God and to give Him praise continually. It does this through a series of commands we are to follow in our worship.

The first command is straightforward: “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!” (v. 1). It is a highly charged command for public praise. It speaks of God as the song and His people as the singers. The command goes out to the whole earth. Joyful abandon best describes the mood of this worship. The Hebrew word translated “joyful shout” signifies a glad shout, such as loyal subjects give when their king appears among them.

Two more commands follow: “Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing” (v. 2). He is our Lord and therefore He is to be served; He is our gracious Lord and therefore He is to be served with joy and gladness, that shows itself in our joyous singing.

A fourth command speaks of God as our creator and points out especially that we are His creation. “Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (v. 3). The Lord alone is God. He is the one who made us. Therefore as His unique creation we owe Him our all. The ESV says, “It is He who made us, and we are His.” We belong to God in Christ. He is the owner, His heart clings to man, His unique creation, and man owes himself entirely to Him. We owe our whole being to God. So He is described as the shepherd, while we are His sheep. We are to follow Him.

Two more closely related commands follow: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name” (v. 4). Here God is seen as the blessed one and we are His blessed ones. We may actually come into the Lord’s presence and bring Him worship that pleases Him. Let the praise be in your heart, as well as on your tongue, and let it all be for Him to whom it all belongs. He has blessed you, especially with the free gift of salvation; bless Him in return. Bless His name, His character, His person. Be thankful for all God has done for you.

The reason for obeying these commands of praise and thanksgiving is given in verse 5: “For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” God is love and we are His loved ones. Praise the Lord because He is good, gracious, kind, bountiful, and loving. God is love, therefore praise Him with joy and gladness. The mercy of God is both everlasting and unchangeable. It is the reason we turn to Him in faith and it is the reason we continue steadfast in His love. That truth is also the reason for unceasing praise, both now and throughout eternity. Amen.

Pray! Pray! Pray!

So much has been happening, I am late on my post again. My many apologies. Barb is doing real good, but she still gets exhausted easily. Her numbers, when they test her new liver, are excellent. The doctors are very pleased. Pray for her strength and stamina to improve.  As for her health? She was very sick and fading fast. She likely would not have made it more than a few more months. We were told her liver was in complete shutdown mode. That's why she received a liver when she did. And praise God, she is no loner sick; tired, but not sick. If all goes according to plan, we will be home on December 2. So in keeping with today's theme: Pray! Pray! Pray!

How often do you pray? When do you pray? For what do you pray? All good questions. Our problem is that we do not pray as we should. We pray only when we run into trouble, when times are hard and things are going against us. Then, with our backs to the wall, we remember the Word, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you” (Psalm 50:15). But we would be spared many troubles if we were “praying always,” in all things and at all times. We would be spared many troubles if we would pray faithfully when everything was going well, just as we do when things are against us. Pray “always with all prayer” (Eph. 6:18).

We have been instructed to “put on” (Eph. 6:11) and “take up” (v. 13) “the whole armor of God.” We have been told to “put on the breastplate of righteousness” (v. 14) and “shod (our) feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (v. 15). In other words, live a life of righteousness according to the gospel. Having also “girded (our) waist with truth” (v. 14) and “taking the shield of faith” (v. 16a) we are “able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (v. 16b). With “the helmet of salvation” (v. 17a) we can go into battle with boldness because we have the assurance of our own salvation through the finished work of Christ. Then with confidence, we take in our hand “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (v. 17b) and know that victory is ours because the battle belongs to the Lord.

Get to know the Word. Quote it often. It is an armory of truth upon which to stand against the enemy. But always keep in touch with the Lord. Always keep the line of communication with God open. Prayer is the power behind God’s armor. When you practice prayer faithfully, you begin to experience that power. And that power comes from God through the indwelling Spirit. God provides the armor for the Christian and He also provides the power to make it work.

But just because you have all these resources at your disposal, do not assume that you can now live the Christian life without any further help from God. God's armor is not mechanical. It cannot be made to work on your own power. Nor is it magical. You cannot just put it on and watch it work. Our gifts from God are great but they are empty without the Giver. The power of our armor is in the power of God.

Prayer is not listed as armor but is still an important part of the Christian’s arsenal. Verse 18 suggests that the believer be in constant prayer, “praying always.” He is to pray in preparing for battle, as well as when engaging the enemy. “Praying always” means to be God conscious at all times. It means to live in a deep awareness of God. It means to make prayer a habit. It means to always maintain an attitude of complete surrender to the Lord.

When tempted, ask the Lord for help. When something good happens, thank Him. When you see evil around you, pray God makes it right and be willing to be used by Him. Should you meet someone who needs the Lord, ask God to draw them to Himself and be a faithful witness. When you encounter trouble, turn to God for help. Pray at all times, wherever you are, at every opportunity. Constantly set your mind “on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2).

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication” (Eph. 6:18) means to take everything to the throne of God. “Prayer” refers to approaching God in general, while “supplication” refers to a special form of prayer, namely specific “requests” (NIV) or “petitions” (NASB). The use of both words together is a clear indicator that we are not only to pray in general terms, but also to bring specific requests before the Lord.

Prayer is powerful and accomplishes much because God is in it. Praying “in the Spirit” means to line up our mind and our desires with His. Then we find ourselves praying in the will of the Father and the Son, and we find our prayers empowered by the Spirit to accomplish God’s will. Be constant. Persevere in your prayers “for all the saints,” and your prayers will be effective and will accomplish much. Amen.

Battle Ready

Hi everyone! I missed my entry yesterday because my routine changed. Friday morning Mayo Clinic called at 3:00 am to tell us to head to the clinic because they had a liver available for Barb. We were in shock, but we headed to Rochester, Minnesota and she was in surgery by 9:30 am. Barb is doing good and is ahead of schedule as far as normal recovery is concerned. Pray that all continues to go good and that her body does not reject the liver. It came from a young man and was declared by the doctor to be a very healthy liver. In his words, it was "a beautiful liver." Now on to today's Bible Insight!

Spiritual warfare is an everyday reality for the Christian. You may not realize it, but a battle is brewing over you. Satan and his demons, the "principalities" and "powers," "the rulers of the darkness of this age," the "spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12), however you refer to them, are after your soul. This enemy comes against you in any way possible to prevent you from following and remaining faithful to God.

But you have an advocate, one who battles for you in the spiritual fight. Jesus Christ is your advocate with the Father. He intercedes on your behalf and He leads the battle as His angels bring the fight against Satan in the heavenly places. If you could roll back the screen between heaven and earth, as you go through hard times and face a spiritual battle on earth, you just might see a parallel battle in the heavenly places where the angels of God are battling Satan and his demons on your behalf. And as the battle is won in the heavenly places, so too you begin to see victory in your battle on earth.

That is where Ephesians 6:16-17 comes in. Verses 14-15 introduced the first three pieces of God’s armor that He has provided for every believer to equip them for this spiritual warfare. With the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the boots of the gospel of peace you can take your stand against the enemy forces and hold the fort of faith, so to speak. Standing on the truth, living in righteousness, and resting in the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, you can stand firm in the faith.

Now, when the battle heats up in life, there are three more pieces of God’s armor that He has provided for us to help us in the fight. Note verses 16-17: "Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." "Above all," in addition to the first three attributes of truth, righteousness, and the gospel, take up three more attributes: faith, salvation, and the Word of God.

Through thick and thin, no matter what, take up faith. Live by faith. In this context, faith refers to more than simply belief in basic Christian doctrine. It refers to a basic trust in God. It is faith in action. It is taking the doctrines we say we believe and living them out in your life. It is faith that trusts in Christ for daily provision and help. It is faith that lives in obedience to God and His Word. It is faith that trusts God completely in all things and at all times. It is faith that seeks to become more like Jesus. It is life lived in righteousness by faith. It is the protective shield of faith. And this faith is reliable because Christ is reliable.

This is the only piece of armor for which its effect is given. With the shield of faith you are "able to quench all the fiery darts" the enemy might throw at you. Every temptation Satan fires at us, his "fiery darts," is an attempt to get us to distrust God. He seeks to drive a wedge between us and Christ at every turn. He even tempted Jesus to distrust God in the wilderness (Matt. 4:3-10). In every instance, Jesus fought back in faith by quoting Scripture. Faith is the shield that extinguishes all the "fiery darts.”

 "Take the helmet of salvation" (v. 17a). "The helmet" is related to salvation, indicating that Satan directs his attacks at our eternal security, our assurance of salvation in Christ. Like the soldier’s sword, Satan’s broadsword has two sharp edges: discouragement and doubt. He points out every negative thing in our life in order to make us lose heart, to become discouraged, and to take our eyes off of Jesus, putting our focus only on our troubles. He swings at the head trying to decapitate our faith. His blows are deflected as we stand secure in our salvation in Christ.

Finally, "the sword of the Spirit" is identified as "the word of God" (v. 17b). The context reveals that it is a spiritual weapon to be used in our struggle against spiritual enemies. Literally, it is "the words that come from God" (NEB). It is the God-breathed Word that is our guide and our best weapon. Learn the Word, know the Word, quote the Word, and win the victory. Amen.