His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
A Psalm for giving thanks.
100 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.
Reading this Psalm always reminds me of how good our God is, and what an opportunity we have been given to serve Him. Girls’ Brigade gives us the chance to carry out this calling. Verse one invites all people to praise God. The Psalm invites both those who know God, and those who are yet to turn to His saving grace, to respond to Him with praise. Girls’ Brigade (normally) allows us to do this on a week to week basis: to meet with other believers and non-believers to think about God’s word through the Scripture course, to sing His praises in company worship, and to spend time in fellowship by baking, crafting, dancing, and chatting.
During these weekly meetings we have the opportunity to make a joyful noise to the Lord and reflect His glory. However, even when we can’t meet, we can still make this joyful noise to God! We can spend time reading God’s word, delve into good books, pray to God, listen to sermons or podcasts, we can call our friends, send encouraging letters, or organise a video call.
Verse two tells us that our calling is to serve God gladly and come into His presence. How are you going to do that during this period of lockdown?
The Psalm gets even better! Not only are we invited to worship this amazing God, but verse three helps us to remember that we can do that because we are God’s creation.
We are His handiwork, and we have been called by Him to be part of His family. Wow! We are not only His family members; He calls us His sheep and, as our Shepherd, He will guide and protect us. This beautiful image is one that we see repeatedly in Scripture because God knows that it is so nourishing for our hearts to know that God is One who cares for us so deeply. Take heart, then, in thinking about exactly who our God is: He is the God who made us, calls us, and tends us as His much-loved sheep.
Recently, reading this Psalm has made me think about how thankful I am…or, more accurately, how thankful I should be (v4). I am so quick to turn to God in prayer and ask for an endless list of things; but how grateful am I for who He is and how He has blessed me already in His Son? So, as I settle down for my daily devotions, I’m trying to grow in thankfulness by consciously thinking of five specific things that I can be thankful right now. This has been a really useful tool, because it makes me pause and consider the real goodness of God, in my life, every single day. So: I encourage you to try this, too! Take time to remember the goodness of God, and to give Him thanks and praise for all the blessings He has poured out on your life, every day.
Personally, being intentionally thankful every day has really reaffirmed verse five for me: the Lord is good! I encourage you to spend time dwelling on His character, how He is generous in His goodness to us, how His love has been steadfast through all generations, and how He promises to continue to be faithful. In an ever-changing world, God has promised to be the same: a rock on which we can depend. His love won’t run out, and it is so sure. Be encouraged today, wherever you are on your walk, that God loves you, and He sent His only Son to die to remove your sin, and He raised His only Son to give you hope of eternal life. This life is life spent with our perfect Shepherd who is worthy of all our praise, both today and forevermore. Psalm 100 reminds us, again and again, that God has blessed us richly because of His great love for us.