The Hundredth Psalm

This psalm is one to be sung before the Throne of God. It is an expression of worship designed to be uttered in the Divine Presence. It is not given to us, as it was to Isaiah, to see in vision the Temple of God opened in Heaven, and to behold the Lord, high and lifted up, His glory filling the sanctuary. It is given to us to approach and worship Him in the beauty of holiness, to draw near in spirit and behold him by the eye of faith. This Psalm is one of those 'spiritual songs' written aforetime for our encouragement and strength. and it is in the spirit of songs such as this that we can, each one of us, "appear before God in Zion".

Now it is because this is a Psalm to be sung in God's presence that it opens with praise, and more than that, with jubilant praise. No restrained, subdued harmony of quiet notes. this. No softly sung solo, audible to the ears of the faithful few and reaching no farther. This is a universal acclamation of joy, resounding to the ends of the earth, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with thanksgiving". The call is a general one; all peoples, nations and languages are bidden to join in this anthem of praise. Gladness and thanksgiving form the keynote; sorrow and sighing have fled away. The day of the Kingdom of God upon earth, the day when "the trees of the wood shall rejoice before the Lord, for he cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world in righteousness, and the people with his truth". (Psa. 96.13). Then will be fulfilled the words of Isaiah "It shall be said in that day, "Lo, this is our God: we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation" (Isa. 25.9). That day is to be one of universal rejoicing and the words of this Psalm will find their richest fulfilment in its light.

Although the words are specially applicable to that future day of blessedness, they also have a rich fulfilment now. True, the nations do not now make a joyful noise unto the Lord neither do all peoples come into His presence with thanksgiving. It would be more correct to say of them that they make a discordant noise unto the god of this world and enter into his slavery with lamentation. But in this world of today, dark and evil as it is, there do exist outposts of the new Kingdom, communities of God's ministers of reconciliation. Those ambassadors represent the new world that shall be, they must accept the obligation and privilege of fulfilling the exhortation in this psalm, of making a joyful noise before the Lord and coming into His presence with thanksgiving. In the literal sphere audible praise occupies a very important place in Christian worship. There are many who cannot discourse or contribute to discussion; nor able to lead in prayer but who can join with all their heart in the voicing of praise. A Praise Service, where the entire congregation joins in the singing favourite hymns, is a very important and profitable form of corporate worship and fellowship. Such a service, well conducted, is a spiritual stimulus to many devoted souls whose voices are otherwise rarely heard in the assemblies. If those voices are sometimes a little out of tune, or grate somewhat harshly upon the ear of those trained to appreciate the technique of good music, of what real consequence is that? We may be sure that by the time those imperfectly rendered songs have mounted the heights and echoed through the halls of Heaven all the harshness and lack of tune has been smoothed away and only the perfect rhythm of pure praise remains,

We need not be afraid of heartiness in our songs of praise. There is a dignity about God's Word but it is not the dignity of a cold, lifeless statue. It is the dignity of a warm, vibrant, living thing, animating all with which it comes in contact and ennobling all that it touches. So when the situation calls for praise to be loud, then let the praise be loud, "Praise him upon the loud cymbals" said the Psalmist, and then, upon reflection, decided that he was not being thorough enough, and so wrote "Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals"(Psa.150.5). It was something of this that the Apostle must have had in mind when he spoke of our "singing and making melody in your hearts unto the Lord"(Eph.5.19) for there are high-sounding cymbals in our hearts too, and even although they are of a kind that only God can hear, they are there to be used.

It is now that a new note of urgency appears in the Psalm. "Know ye", cries the singer, "know ye, that the Lord, he is God. It is he that made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture". These sentiments do not command general acceptance to-day. To an increasing degree people endeavour to persuade themselves that they owe nothing to God, no need of gratitude for the blessings of life, no acknowledgment of the rightness of His laws, no service and no praise. They will not know the Lord, that He is God, and as they gather together to worship at the shrine of Darwin they chant in unison "it is we that hath made us, we ourselves". God looks down from His Heaven upon them. Who can doubt that there is a gentle, indulgent smile of tolerance as He watches these self-opinionated and so ignorant children whose whole world revolves around their own constricted circle of vision. They will know better one day, and God is quite content to wait. These verses point to the future Age as the time of their application. It is then that men will know that the Lord is God; then that the manmade theories of modernism and humanism and every other "ism" that at present "darkens counsel without knowledge" will dissolve and vanish away like the early morning mists before the sun, and men come to realise at last that they live, and move, and have their being, in God. Then they will become conscious of the great truth that they are the sheep of His pasture. The symbol of the shepherd is a predominant one of that Age. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd and shall gently lead those that are with young" (Isa.40.11). Men will appreciate that relationship between themselves and their God, and will come willingly under that rule of the iron rod which is the rule of the shepherding rod, firm and wise, yet loving and benevolent guidance towards God's way of life.

What wonder then that the Psalmist, seeing these things, sings exultantly "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, and his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations". There are several 'gates', metaphorically, by which man may enter and come face to face with God. In the days of Israel there was a Tabernacle, a tent of curtains with a surrounding enclosure, and at the eastern end of that enclosure a 'gate', a way of entry to the sacred mysteries that lay within. But not everyone in Israel could enter by that gate; only Levites. Thus was pictured the great truth that "he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he rewards those that diligently seek him" (Heb.11.6). That gate represented the entrance to the condition of justification by faith enjoyed by those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour. To such the world has been left behind; they are pressing forward to a life of service for God. It is with thanksgiving and praise that the advance is made and such can very truly "enter into his gates" in that attitude of mind. But inside the "court" of the Tabernacle another "gate", the "porch" or "door" of the tent itself, stands before the believer, and entrance through that door denotes consecration unto death, a presenting our whole selves living offerings, holy, acceptable to God, our reasonable service (Rom. 12.1). Even here the progress is not ended, for the sequel to that consecrated life is entrance into "Heaven itself' through yet another door, the "veil" in the Tabernacle dividing the Holy from the Most Holy. The believer, progressing from sin to righteousness and from time to eternity, must pass these "three" gates in succession, but he has good reason to pass through them all with thanksgiving and praise.

There are gates, too, through which mankind will be invited to pass, when the time has come. "Open ye the gates" cries the prophet (Isa. 26. 2) "that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in". What gates are these? They are the gates of the Age to come, the portals through which men will pass from the darkness of this present evil world to the light and warmth of the future Kingdom. John the Revelator in his vision saw the new Jerusalem come down to earth and those gates flung open that all mankind - save the unclean, the wilfully wicked - could enter in. They will enter with thanksgiving and praise. "The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isa.35)

. So, at long last, men will realise that "the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations". Goodness, mercy, and truth; these are the distinguishing characteristics of the Divine dealings. One great song of universal praise and thanksgiving will ascend to the Father when at length all men have tasted of His mercies, sin has been driven away, and the Lord Jesus has said to His redeemed ones "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world".

BJD