Call to Worship
Psalm 100:1-5, A Psalm for giving thanks
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
You may not have realized it, but the call to worship we are using this month is actually the entirety of Psalm 100. The superscription at the head of the psalm tells us that this is a psalm for thanksgiving.
Like all our calls to worship, this psalm contains commands – seven of them. We are commanded to: 1) shout (make a joyful noise), 2) serve, 3) come, 4) know, 5) enter, 6) give thanks, and 7) bless. Notice how these commands correspond to each other, forming a sort of chiasm:
This structure reveals that the command to “Know that the Lord, He is God” is the central command of the psalm. Moreover, this command is expanded with an explanation of our relationship to God – we are His creatures, His people, His sheep.
Unlike most psalms of thanksgiving which devote most of their time to detailing the reasons to give thanks after the initial call, this psalm is the opposite. Most of the space is given to the call to praise God, and the last verse supplies the reason: God’s eternal goodness, love, and faithfulness.
This psalm is an excellent one to learn and sing with your families, as it has been adapted into a hymn! “All People that On Earth Do Dwell” (#20) is Psalm 100, with an additional verse added on at the end. See how closely the hymn follows the psalm:
| Psalm 100 | All People that on Earth Do Dwell |
| Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! | All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell; Come ye before Him and rejoice. |
| Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. | The Lord, ye know, is God indeed; Without our aid He did us make; We are His folk, He doth us feed, And for His sheep He doth us take. |
| Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! | O enter then His gates with praise; Approach with joy His courts unto; Praise, laud, and bless His name always, For it is seemly so to do. |
| For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. | For why? the Lord our God is good; His mercy is for ever sure; His truth at all times firmly stood, And shall from age to age endure. |
| To Father, Son and Holy Ghost, The God whom Heaven and earth adore, From men and from the angel host Be praise and glory evermore. |
Benediction
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
This benediction is different from our usual benedictions in that it doesn’t come from the end of one of Paul’s letters but from the middle! In 2 Thessalonians, Paul spends most of his time writing about the second coming of Jesus and in chapter 2 he warns the church against the teachings of some who said that Jesus has already returned – and they missed out!
Paul warns them that many are deluded into believing what is false, with the implication that they will be condemned when Christ returns (1:8). But Paul is confident of the Thessalonians’ faith (2:13-14) and exhorts them to stand firm in it (2:15). And as they await Christ’s return (as we still do), Paul offers this benediction.
Notice three things:
First, the subject of the verse is twofold: our the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father. Don’t overlook those possessives – Paul is speaking of a blessing that comes from our Lord and our God!
Second, Paul identifies God (probably both the Father and Son), as the one who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope through grace. Notice the past tense of the verbs – God has done this, it has been accomplished.
Third, the benediction is that this God, our God, would do two things “comfort our hearts and establish them in ever good work and word.” The bestowal of comfort does not contradict what he just said, that God has given us eternal comfort, but rather an indicates that God is continually applying that comfort to us – it is new every morning! And not only that, but God will establish us in every good work and word.
What a wonderful way to leave the service – being assured not only of God’s eternal comfort given to you but that God will also do the work of applying His word in your life. He will establish you in every good work and in every good word.
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