1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Our hearts warm up with gladness and thanksgiving as we meditate on God’s goodness and approach corporate worship with His people.
We feel warm sentiments of joy, gladness, and gratitude. When we really feel the true import of the words, “God is good to us,” we can’t help but respond in joyful praise. In a world that is lost without truth, we have found the One we can trust Who is the very paradigm of truth Himself. In a world of terrible sin and condemning guilt, we receive mercy from the God of all mercy. We are comforted to know that we are God’s sheep, and He guarantees for us His feeding, protection, and salvation from the enemies of our souls.
Verses 1–2. As you have noticed, this study guide provides a categorization for every psalm (and there are many “Praise Psalms”). Nevertheless, this is the only psalm that comes with the title “A Psalm of Praise,” which is provided, we assume, by the divine author.
The psalm begins with an invitation to the whole world to join in with glad praise to Yahweh God, the Creator of heaven and earth. This is in keeping with many other psalms (Ps. 67, 96:1, 97:1, 98:4, 99:1). This psalm is part of a cluster of these “international psalms.” Our God is over the whole earth, and nothing short of the whole world giving Him glory and praise is appropriate. But this is more than a general call to worship God. This is a call for “joyful” worship and glad service to God. True believers will always be “glad” servants of the Lord God. In the Parable of the Talents told by Jesus, the fellow with the single talent was condemned to hell, but why? According to his own testimony, he buried the talent in the ground because he considered the Lord a hard and unreasonable Master, “reaping where he did not sow” (Matt. 25:14–30). It was his perception of the Master that produced such miserable, unfaithful service. If we are to provide glad service to our Lord, we must first begin with a right relationship with Him. If we think of God as a slave master or a harsh judge requiring something that we cannot possibly provide Him, our service will be that of a grudging slave and a wretched, damned soul. Surely, our God is not some exacting Master and harsh Judge Who “reaps where he does not sow.” In truth, He is so merciful, longsuffering, and gracious that He sent His Son in order to pay the penalty for our sins and reconcile us to Himself! As this is the case, we have every reason in the world to worship Him with gladness and enter into His courts with singing. This is why merit-based salvation schemes are so dishonoring to God. They reduce millions of people to play the part of the miserable, unprofitable servant who was given a single talent.
Verse 3. The rest of the psalm gives good reasons for our joyful worship. First, we recognize God as our Creator. We look at our hands and know that God made them for us, so we gladly raise them in worship. We think about our minds and voices, and ask, “What kind of a God would have given us these good things?” So we raise glad voices and worship the God of all goodness with the most joyful words we can find!
Not everybody will worship the God Who made them because they are in sinful rebellion against Him. Those who gather to sing this psalm call themselves “the sheep of His pasture” (see also Psalm 95:7). They identify Jesus Christ as their Shepherd (Heb. 13:20), and they confess themselves to be His sheep. They trust that He knows what He is doing as He leads them through trials and tribulations. They submit themselves to His leadership. They receive His words of promise, encouragement, and rebuke through the reading and preaching of the Word. They listen carefully for His voice, knowing that He will one day lead them to glory.
Verses 4–5. Our joyful praise is also laced with words of gratitude and sentiments of thanksgiving. Continually, we recount the good things that He has done for us. We even interpret our trials as opportunities for growth. We see every good thing as a gift coming down from the Father of lights. Is there any other way to approach His courts? Sadly, there are some who discount God’s goodness and instead focus on their suffering and misery. They enter into worship more focused on themselves than on God. They cannot see that every good gift is undeserved because they do not view their own condition from God’s perspective. Their fundamental assumption is wrapped up in one simple statement, “I’m not that bad!” This is a fatally-flawed assumption. In actuality, if Adam’s sinful progeny receive anything better than death and hell, they are recipients of something good from a God of mercy. If they are in God’s fold and yet receive chastisement from His rod and staff, there is good comfort here as well (Ps. 23:4). This is our perspective.
How we perceive God will define our relationship with Him. When Charles Darwin’s daughter Annie died, this tragedy profoundly affected his view of God. He “became more willing to proclaim his theories—and his religious doubts.” Nine years later he published his famous book that redirected the entire world toward a godless naturalistic materialism. If a man cannot believe that God is good, he is in covenant rebellion against Him.
But for us, God’s goodness is the great presupposition of our lives. We hang all our hopes on this basic assumption. Whatever difficulties come our way, we say, “God is good.” Whatever crushing loss is suffered, God is good. Whatever blessing we receive, God is good. When things are at their worst, we are still holding to this great truth. When faced with the monumental problem of evil, we will not surrender our faith in God’s goodness. God is good, and we are sinners. God has a morally acceptable reason for the evil in the world because He is good. But even more importantly, God’s goodness provides a way of salvation for those who recognize God to be good! When sinners finally admit that they are sinners and beg for mercy on the basis of the goodness of God, they obtain mercy from an infinite store. We also recognize the goodness of God in providing us with His truth. We rely on the light of His truth to uncover our hypocrisies, self-deceptions, and sinful behavior. We need His truth to show us who we are, and then we cry out to Him for His mercy to deliver us from our sinful condition. Without God’s truth and God’s mercy we would be forever lost. We thank God that He reveals His truth to us, guides us to Christ’s cross for everlasting mercy, and then leads us on our way by the same light of truth!
1. Be grateful. Be grateful. Be grateful! The sine qua non, or the “essential characteristic,” of the wicked is their ungratefulness (Rom. 1:21). They cannot see that God is good. They eat His food and enjoy His blessings, cursing His name and refusing to give thanks. May God by His mercy keep us from this foul ingratitude! Every day, let us thank our God from the heart for His good gifts, the chief of which is His redemption.
2. May our service and worship be filled with joy. Every single person in the world serves and worships something or somebody. Other people’s gods make promises in glossy brochures which they give to their followers. But we know from the Bible’s promises that service to the true and living God yields the most blessing. Such a God Who is good, gracious, and longsuffering, even to those who hate Him, is worthy of our joyful and enthusiastic service today and for the rest of our lives.
This is a corporate psalm, a “we” psalm. “We” gather as God’s people and call ourselves “God’s sheep.” We do this in unity and humility. Without humility and unity in the expression of corporate joy, there is no church. May the church learn to express joy together! As the Apostle exhorts us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice!” Too often, a third of the church comes to church rejoicing, a third of the church shows up in a grumpy mood, and a third is just disinterested and bored. The goal of the church is to learn to joyfully worship—in unison.
1. Give several examples of “international” psalms that exhort the entire world to praise God.
2. What is unique about this psalm of praise in contrast with the other “Praise Psalms” we have identified in the Book of Psalms?
3. What was the perception of the servant with one talent in regards to his Master? What is the right perception we should have of our Master?
4. What reasons does the psalm give for joyfully worshiping God?
5. Who are the ones who can legitimately worship God, according to this psalm?
6. Is this a “we” psalm or a “me” psalm? What is the difference?
1. How are we aware of God’s goodness? Do we mention it very often? What part do we play in worship? Are we the joyful ones, the grumpy ones, or the disinterested ones?
2. Why should we be grateful to God? Give specific reasons, specific blessings for which our family should be grateful.