Grateful Praise to the Creator and Shepherd

Psalm 100 is different from the ones we have previously studied. It is the only psalm in Scripture with the specific subtitle “For giving grateful praise.” We know we should be thankful and praise the Lord, but the key to thanksgiving, as we’ll learn in today’s psalm, is knowing why we should thank God, even when life is hard and we are tempted to forget how good He really is.

There is an invitation in Psalm 100:1 that calls the entire earth to come to the Lord with thanksgiving and worship. This is not a psalm written just for a private moment of meditation or a one-on-one prayer alone with God. It is a psalm written for the masses to join together in unified thanks and loud praise to the Lord!

So often, we read Scripture as if for our own edification or learning, but this psalm is particularly calling us to think of the greater body of which we are part. The psalmist gives us a powerful reason for this worldwide worship in verse three:

“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

Within this verse, we find two amazing characterizations of God: God is the Creator and God is the Shepherd.

These are foundational to our identity in Him. When we know who we come from (our Creator God) and who we are walking with if we are following Jesus (the Lord our Shepherd), we desire to thank Him because of who He is and because we are His. This is when sincere thanksgiving is born in a believer’s heart.

Knowing about God and knowing God personally produce different responses.

James 2:19 tells us, “even the demons believe ... and shudder” that God exists. But when we truly know we are His and invest in a personal relationship with Him, our prayers overflow with praise and thanksgiving ... and in the case of Psalm 100, loud, corporate thanksgiving together with other believers.

It is incredible to think that the writer of Psalm 100 praised God so fervently even before Jesus came to live, die and resurrect on earth. How much more reason do we have to thank Him today when we open our Bibles and read the entire gospel! Jesus is worthy of loud, resounding gratitude and praise like we read about in Psalm 100.

God is so much more than we can wrap our minds around. While we study His Word and remember who He is, may we always stay in majestic awe of His goodness. He didn’t have to let us into His presence, but in His everlasting mercy, He loves us and allows us to become part of His family forever through faith in Jesus.

Our psalm today ends with another reason to offer worship, praise, thanksgiving, service and prayer:

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 100:5).

Even if life feels difficult right now or circumstances seem dark, we can remember we are created by God and shepherded by Him. Then, in a spirit of thanksgiving, we can come to Him in prayer, declaring the truth about His goodness, unending love and faithfulness. It’s something worth “shout[ing] for joy” about (Psalm 100:1)! This might mean you sing a little louder at church, crank up the praise music, or make more time for praying together with your family. No matter what it looks like, God’s people are called to give Him thanks simply because we are His, and He is ours.

Respond

Finish this prayer, “Dear God, You are my Creator and my Shepherd. With the rest of creation, I join in making a joyful noise to You today. Help me to serve You with gladness because of who You are and what You’ve done for me, knowing that it is an act of worship …