Active Praise

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.  
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.  
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.  
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; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

In this very familiar psalm, there are seven actions we should take in praising the Lord.  They are listed for us in the first four verses.  Praise is not passive.  It is very active.  In fact, our lives should constantly be living out an anthem of praise to our Heavenly Father.  That praise should be audible, visible, and experiential.  In other words, our life of praise should be tangible to those around us.  Let us consider these active elements of praise.

1. Create – make  Everyone can do this.  There is no talent required to create noise.  The only stipulation is that it must be joyful.  What we think is noise is beautiful doxologies of worship in the ears of God.  Isn’t that wonderful?  Doesn’t that make you want to praise Him?  
2. Contentment – serve  Christianity is a “get to” lifestyle, not a “have to” lifestyle.  Is it our duty to serve Him?  Yes, of course it is.  But, when we do it with gladness, it becomes our desire.  That is where our true contentment is found.
3. Come – come   We can bow before Him anytime, anywhere.  We know that He is always with us, but we are constantly in His presence as well.  Sing your way in, praise Him, and shout your way out.
4. Consider – know  He that cometh to God must believe that He is.  Several facts must be settled in our hearts in order to properly praise Him.  He made us, not ourselves.  I worship my Creator.  We are His people.  I worship my Savior.  We are the sheep of His pasture.  The Lord is my Shepherd and I worship Him.
5. Commitment – enter  Over and over in the Book of Psalms, David makes the conscience decision to praise God.  Repeatedly he says, “I will praise Thee”.  We should be committed to praising God.  We need to start out praising Him.  Enter in thanking and praising God.
6. Courtesy – be thankful  Being thankful is being courteous.  We should always show our appreciation to others when they do something to benefit us.  How much more should we say “thank you” to our Heavenly Father Who has blessed us beyond our capacity to comprehend.
7. Celebrate – bless  His name is worthy to be blessed. This is an interesting word.  Obviously, it is a word of praise, but its meaning has to do with glorifying God for benefits received.  It goes hand in hand with being thankful.  Too often we celebrate the gift from God, but what we need to do is celebrate the Giver of the gift. 

In my humble opinion, the key verse to this psalm is the last verse.  I like to read it after every command that is given to us concerning our praise.  No one who has ever trusted Christ as their Savior will argue the fact that the Lord is good.  He is good all the time.  He never stops being good.  He never runs out of mercy.  He has an everlasting supply and showers it upon us daily.  I am so glad that His truth never changes and is available for all generations.  When we meditate on the final verse of Psalm 100, we cannot help but come to this conclusion – HE IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED!!!  Praise Him privately.  Praise Him personally.  Praise Him publicly.  Praise Him powerfully.  Please, child of God, whatever you do, make sure you PRAISE HIM.