Psalm 100 1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. 2Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. 

Not been a lot to laugh about in lockdown ! ** Here’s a few covid-cartoons that only resonate because of 2020! 

We’re going to dip into the Psalms today… our first day for a long time of broadcasting from this sacred space – a place that hold a special place in the hearts and faith lives of many who have inhabited this space over many years… it has been a sacred, worshipful and even sacramental space – where lives have been transformed, hearts changed and faith discovered and renewed… 

Commentators also talk about “the sacramental nature" of the Psalter, with its "ability to mould and transform the believer." Others have spoken of the importance of the Psalms in community as they remembered and as they prayed… it seems appropriate that as we emerge from lockdown that we can once more hear these well-known and richly-filled words. The ancient psalmists remind the community to praise God with song, shouts, musical instruments, raised hands, loud voices, dance, twirling, and in silence. Worship throughout the ages affirms that integral connection between God and humanity. Worship hold a unique place in our experience… 

You can almost hear the outbreak of jubilation described in this summons to praise in Psalm 100. This psalm calls the entire community to lift praises to God. On this, Christ the King Sunday, This psalm is the last of a group of what are known as enthronement psalms (93, and 95-99). These psalms celebrate with an understanding that the LORD (Yahweh) is God. The psalm begins with a note that this is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. In ancient Israel, the thanks offering was a voluntary offering given as a sign of gratitude to God. Worshippers are admonished not just to praise God, but to offer praise in a spirit of thanksgiving. 

The psalmist uses seven different verbs to call to the community to worship: make, serve, come, know, enter, give thanks, and bless. Although there are moments when we need to be still and quiet in the presence of the LORD, this is not one of them! Surely the psalmist was imagining what it might sound like when all the earth is praising the LORD at the same time. What a joyful sound, indeed, that would be!

 ** I can remember years ago when we invited the local Pentecostal congregation to join us for a prayer meeting… As we started, all the Baptists were seated around the circle, and all the Pentecostals immediately got up out of their seats and began praying loudly – and all at once!! ** This psalm resonates with sound! This is the kind of praise that so frightened an attacking army it began attacking itself instead of attacking Israel during the reign of King Jehoshaphat. (See 2 Chronicles 20.) On this occasion, the choir was in front of the army. What an awesome reminder of the power of praise. What an awesome reminder of the responsibility of the worship leader for the Church! The psalm reminds us that the sound of joy that arises from deep within cannot be stifled. This is the sound that conveys the wonder of simply being alive.  

The four verses which make up this little psalm, pack a punch. And, because these four verses are so rich and deep, there are so many things that can be said about them. 

The Psalm begins: 1Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2Worship the Lord with gladness 

Affirming this sense of joy, the psalmist encourages those assembled to worship and serve God with gladness. (In Hebrew, “worship” and “serve” are the same verb.) This is the gladness that breaks forth fully aware of the realities of life. This is the gladness that enables one to come into God’s presence with a voice raised to sing praises to our Creator. Just as there is time for silence before God, there is also time for lament, but this is not it. The praise of this psalm reminds us of a familiar spiritual which says, “If I don’t praise him the rock’s gonna cry out glory and honor, ain’t got time to die!” 

When I hear the word gladness, I cannot help but think of the gift of LAUGHTER I can’t help but wonder if laughter - in church, in conversation or even in private -part and parcel of making a joyful noise unto the Lord? We need to laugh! Laughing is honest in the sense that it's so natural, physiological, as if reminding us that laughing is supposed to happen. When we laugh we our mind has been somehow jostled into clarity. When we smile, our muscles loosen and our mood lifts. When we laugh, we feel the physiological results of it. Without a disclaimer about how we ought not anthropomorphize God, I'd like to imagine God's response to our laughter quite similar to our response to our kids and grandkids… 

 Here's the thing - to get a giggle out of us sometimes takes a lot of work. We are fortified against laughter sometimes, the fort built up by disappointment, disease, and daily news. (or lockdown, isolation and loneliness) Sometimes we think we must first get through the serious stuff before we can laugh (Baptists were once described as God’s Chosen Frozen!) -

** Living in USA – I used to make the mistake that people my age would love Monty Python as much as I do! I found it that much of the satire went straight to the keeper! 

** Characters like Barry Crump (Search for the wilderpeople) gave rise to comedians like John Clarke aka Fred Dagg, who was another of my early formative influences… I can still hear the quirky “If you ain’t got your gumboots… where would you be! If you think about it, we as a culture are often looking to satire to give us a lighter take on the news these days… Clark and Dawes, The Office and other classics appeal to our antipodean sense of humour – we like to take to see the funny side of ordinary situations… Of late we’ve been starved for laughter amidst the disappointment, disease and daily news. During Lockdown Stand-up comedians were more appreciated than ever… 

• I wonder if the psalmist would find his or her rank alongside these satirists? 

 • I wonder if the psalmist was surrounded by laughter? 

• I wonder if the psalmist wished to be surrounded by laughter? 

 • I wonder if you wish to be surrounded by laughter? And I wonder what might happen if God attempted to get a giggle out of you sometime this week? …come into his presence with singing 

The other gift embedded in this Psalm is SONGS OF JOY 

When we come before God in worship, why do we sing rather than merely think or talk with one another? 

 • singing can lift our hearts to adore God, 

 • awaken and engages our emotions 

 • and inspires us as we remember God's transforming love for the hurting world. 

This great psalm calls upon us all—all lands—to approach God. We’re to come near. And, we’re to come near with joy. With a song. Kids often like to sing for no other reason than they want to make a song, and make a song for us. They want to bring us joy, and they want to experience the joy on our faces. 

** Our youngest, Jonathan, loves to sing… we’d often hear him through his open windows (as would our neigh bours!) He doesn’t always sing exactly in tune… and it doesn’t really matter!! Not to him , nor to us!! 

I think that’s very close to what the psalmist is getting at here. We’re to come before the Presence of God—who has made us, and we are his—and we’re to sing him a song. Maybe it’s a song we know. Maybe it’s another psalm. Maybe it’s one of the great hymns of the church. But…maybe…it’s one we just make up on the spot. That barely rhymes. A song that doesn’t even fully resolve. And is out of key. But, nonetheless, a song that is sung with pure joy by a sheep of the pasture of God—in His Presence, square in the middle of one of his courts. 

Now, that’s good stuff! THAT’S what a relationship with God looks like—a relationship full of self-abandon and joy. 

FINALLY… This threefold call to praise (make, serve, come) is followed by an explanation of the reason behind this outburst of praise. The community is to give praise to God simply because God exists, simply because God is. 3Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. With this reminder, the psalmist acknowledges that life begins with God. God created us. God is to be worshipped because God is the Creator who calls Israel into covenant. In other words, God is to be worshipped for who God is, not just for what God has done. God is a powerful God! The psalmist is glad to be counted among God’s people. The reference to sheep conveys an assurance that not only is God present, but God provides for His sheep, including the psalmist. In other words, God is to be worshipped not just for what God has done, but for what God will do for humanity now and into the future. And why? 

For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his faithfulness endures from age to age.