Psalm 100: His

We have probably all heard someone tell the joke that they might not be a good singer, but they can “make a joyful noise”. The Hebrew word that begins Psalm 100:1 is found in the Old Testament 42 times, seven times in the psalms it is translated “make a joyful noise”, but ironically, its meaning has nothing to do with singing. The word is “ruwa”, its literal meaning is “to mar (especially by breaking)”; figuratively it means “to split the ears (with sound)”. The psalmist is not calling for a song to be sung, but for a sound to be made, a sound that is not just heard, but that shakes the environment, that changes the atmosphere; he is calling for an alarm to be sounded; he is not directing a choir, he is leading an army. 

Psalm 100 is described as “A Psalm for Giving Thanks”. The title seems to refer to public praise or acknowledgement of the LORD, many believe this was probably sung regularly as worshippers arrived at and entered the temple in Jerusalem or in connection with temple sacrifices. I believe the psalm was meant to be loud, to set the tone, to shake the hearts of those who were entering God’s house and God’s presence. I think there may be a paradigm shift happening here. We often want God’s presence to do a work for us, but what if the Holy Spirit, through the Scriptures, is calling us to prepare ourselves for God’s presence? What if the “breaking” needed is not in our circumstances or our culture, what if the “breaking” that needs to be done is in our hearts, our minds, and our lives? What if it is our ears that need to be split so that God’s voice can be rightly heard? 

None of our effort ever needs to be on getting God’s attention. Jesus said that if we believe in Him that we are His sheep, that He gives us eternal life and that no one will snatch us out of His hand (John 10:28). Peter wrote in I Peter 1:5 that we are “kept by the power of God through faith” (NKJV). Our hairs are numbered, our lives are valued, our voices are heard. We have God’s attention and His affection. He is Immanuel, God with us and He has given His Holy Spirit to live in us. If we are told to make a joyful noise, it is not so that God will listen to us, it is to prepare ourselves to listen to God. 

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” Three commands for coming into the house of God: shout with joy, serve with gladness and come with singing. This description makes God’s house a place of thankful reverence, a place of grateful action, a place of infectious joy. We gather, not from lack or in desperation to have our great needs met, but in abundance, overwhelmed by the great love that the Father has lavished upon us. We come not as servants, enemies, or those hoping to be heard, but we come to God’s house and into God’s presence as God’s children. 

I am not unaware that our lives and our hearts are often filled with things that seek to rob us of this joy. Jesus prepared us that “in this world you will have trouble”. We have all tasted, probably even drunk deeply, from that cup. Our hearts have been broken, our lives have been changed, our disappointments have been real, our losses have been great. And yet, Jesus told us how to face our troubles, “but take heart, I have overcome the world.” (NIV) 

What does it mean to “take heart”? The Greek word means “to have courage”. It does not mean to dismiss our trouble, to overlook our pain, or to minimize our disappointment. It also does not mean to be positive, to declare our desired outcomes or to not claim the current reality. It means to be brave in trouble, to have faith while afraid, to cling to consistency in chaos. I believe to “take heart”, “to have courage” means to gather ourselves in what we are certain of even while we are surrounded by uncertainty. 

The psalmist wrote, “Know that the LORD, he is God!” When life becomes unsure, we have a choice, to run with the unknown or to sit down with what we are sure of. Sometimes the joyful noise does not push us forward, it slows us down. Often, more than we need answers to our questions we need reminders of truth we have forgotten. It happened to Moses, as Israel stood with their backs to the Red Sea and Egypt’s army charging toward them, he cried out to God and God responded, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.” It was God who had led them that far and God who would keep leading. Rather than worrying about what had changed, God called them to remember what had not changed. It happened to John the Baptist. While in prison and unsure of whether he would live or die, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus a question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Jesus responded to the question, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Jesus did not answer the question directly, but He did remind John that what he had known to be true before prison was still true while he was in prison. There are so many things we do not know, but in the midst of them, the psalmist reminds us to be settled by what we are sure of, “Know that the LORD, he is God!”

But the truth that unfolds from knowing that the LORD is God is where the true beauty lies. “It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” If the LORD is God, then He created us in His image. If the LORD is God, then He sent Jesus to bear our sins, destroy the works of the devil and give us salvation. If the LORD is God, then in Jesus, because of Jesus and by Jesus, we are God’s children. When I know that the LORD is God, I know everything necessary to live in peace and in hope because of this one truth, I am His. 

In the last three verses of the psalm the possessive pronoun “His” is used nine times. It is used to describe our identity, God’s house, God’s character, but above all else, it is used to give us a place to settle into and to live from. When the questions are loud, we can make this truth louder. When our worries are driving us, we can find sure footing in this one thing we know. When we are not sure about what is happening to us, around us, sometimes even in us, we can find our rest in this thing God has said about us—we are His. 

That is what the joyful noise, the glad servanthood and the singing are all about! In the face of my fears, I take courage, not by my strength or my effort, but by my position, I belong to God. In my days of sadness and grief, my songs are not about better days, but the eternal assurance that I am held in God’s hands. When it seems that I have lost everything, I can remember, I can know, that what God’s given cannot be lost and what God has taken hold of He never lets go. There is much we cannot see and much we will not know, but there is a truth that we must learn to hear and sing louder than all the rest—God is good; and in His goodness He has promised, that in all things and at all times, we are His.