Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 100: Worship!

Part of a series on selected psalms.

Hymns or choruses? Psalm 100 is a good place to stop and consider how worship styles have changed from the original Hebrew melodies and worship postures. As Christianity spread to Europe, the psalms were often chanted to plain melodies. Then came earnest reformers like Martin Luther (1483-1546), who felt the common people ought to have sing-able and memorable hymns based on scripture truth, like his “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”

After Luther’s death, John Calvin rose to leadership in France’s Protestant movement. Anti-Reformation riots drove him to settle in Geneva. Besides writing huge volumes of theology, Calvin took a psalms-only stance that only the Bible texts were appropriate for church worship music. Thus his followers set to work versifying the ancient psalms into metrical (poetic) English. One of his colleagues was William Kethe (?-1593), who had fled his native Scotland during the persecutions of Queen Mary. His rendition of Psalm 100, “All People That on Earth Do Dwell,” was published in a 1516 hymnal and became known as “Calvin’s Reformation Hymn.” Also called “Old Hundredth,” it’s perhaps the oldest hymn of praise in the English language still in regular use.

But the story of Kethe’s hymn also requires the story of hymns by Thomas Ken (1637-1711), who didn’t believe “psalms-only.” An orphan who rose to the role of bishop and confidante to royalty, he boldly condemned immorality in royal courts, leading to several years’ imprisonment in the Tower of London. He also ministered to students in Winchester College, writing three hymns for their morning, evening and midnight devotions. (Few, it’s believed, stayed up to sing the “midnight” hymn!). His morning devotional hymn, “Awake my Soul, and with the Sun,” is still in many hymnals, though not all fourteen verses of it. All three hymns ended with this stanza, which we sing today as “The Doxology” (the name from Latin and Greek for glory/praise+speak):

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him, above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Both Ken’s three devotional hymns and Kethe’s “Old Hundreth” use a melody written by Louis Bourgeois (published 1551). And it all goes back to Psalm 100, probably written a thousand or so years before Christ.

THE PSALM”S “DO’S”

When I first memorized Psalm 100, I found it helpful to use hand motions for its imperatives (“do’s”). “Shout” was hands to mouth, “serve,” palms out and up; “come,” beckoning gesture; “know,” hand to head; “enter,” pointing; “give thanks,” hands together; and “praise his name,” hands upward in a praise posture. Later I realized that the psalm is built around these action “imperatives” (“do” phrases) and two “why” verses. First, the “do’s”:

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth (v. 1)—The KJV renders this, “Make a joyful noise,” but “shout” is closer to the original Hebrew rûa‘. It comes from a primitive root meaning “to mar” (especially by breaking), and by association to “split the ears with sound.” It’s a “glad shout,” like loyal subjects give when a king appears. I’ll remember the “ear-splitting” meaning the next time my church’s guitarists and drummer ramp it up! Seriously, we don’t come close to the exuberance shown in worship in Bible times. I grew up in a traditional church in which the organist tried to rev up the tempo of hymns, but the congregation inevitably dragged behind. The peppy hymns that grew out of the revivals of the late 1800s and those after the “Maranatha!” infusion of the 1970s have given us a livelier collection of worship songs.  Be glad of that!

Serve the LORD with gladness (v. 2)—Translated “worship” in the KJV, the “serve” chosen by other translations is closer to the meaning of the original ābad, which refers to working. It’s one thing to express our faith in a worship service, it’s another to work it out in service to others. Jesus clarified that in Matthew 25:35-36 when He said works of service and love done do those in need (the hungry, thirsty, strangers, those needing clothes, sick) were done to Him. 

Come before Him with joyful songs (v. 2a)—For those physically able, there’s no “Mattress Methodist,” “Bedside Baptist,” or “Pillow Presbyterian.” We’re to come together in formal worship. James Montgomery Boice, in his commentary on Psalms (Baker, 1996, Vol. 2, p. 812), remarked: “Silent belief is not enough. I am struck by the well-rounded nature of these terms—shout, serve (“worship”), and come—for they embrace our verbal witness, our humanitarian activities, and worship, three necessary parts of Christianity.”

Know that the LORD is God (v. 3)—From the Hebrew yāda, “know” refers to perception and understanding. We don’t “guess” or “assume” there is a God, we know, and He wants us to know Him. Yet even today, people have their own “gods.” Some worship “nature” or the god of success. Many make “gods” of their own beings, thinking they are the highest creation. In Paul’s days, men debated over which might be the greatest god from all that grew up in their legends. They even had an altar to an unknown god. Preaching in Athens to these so-called intellectuals, Paul said, “Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). Then he proceeded to preach about a God who could be known, in whom “we live and move and have our being” (v. 28).

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (v. 4). This verse echoes the declaration of David: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD” (Psalm 122:1). It’s a reprimand for those who approach Sunday worship grudgingly, feeling forced by a parent or culture to come, not really connecting with the God who is worthy of our praise or with fellow believers. Notice there are two steps to worship, gates and courts. They could be a reminder to us that as soon as we see the church (the “gates” of its location), we begin a worship mindset. When we enter the courts (the sanctuary and beginning of the worship service), the “outside” distractions (including electronic devices for calls or games!) are to cease.

 “Give thanks to Him and praise His name (v. 4c). To make sure we get the message, “thanks” and “praise” are repeated. Yet some come to worship with a bag full of complaints. Warren Wiersbe, in Be Exulted (Victor, 2004, p. 41) remarked on this verse, “A spirit of thanksgiving helps us overcome” sins like complaining, idolatry, pride and ingratitude. There’s something purifying and humbling in thinking about the names of God. In the back of my prayer notebook I have begun an A-Z list of the names and attributes of God, for meditation and praise. Like glasses, they correct my vision of the Holy One who created me to love and serve Him.

THE PSALM’S “WHY’S”

The middle and end of Psalm 100 give us the “why’s” of thankful praise.
“Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; We are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (v. 3). “Knowing” God means we acknowledge Him as creator of the world as well as each of us. It also means recognizing our subordination to Him (“we are his”). Even more, we are in His care, “the sheep of his pasture.” As a former shepherd, King David previously used the analogy of God as shepherd in his Psalm 23. Jesus used it, too, calling Himself “The Good Shepherd” (John 10).  More than a caretaker, He is our Redeemer: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Sheep, inherently dumb, must be gently led by the wisdom of the Shepherd. We, too, must trust that He has only our best interests in mind. Few of us will endure, like the apostle Paul, multiple imprisonments and abuse for our faith. But even in these trials, Paul was able to say, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:12b). The secret was trusting the Shepherd.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations (v. 5). The psalm concludes with three key attributes of God: His goodness, His love, and His faithfulness. What God inspired the authors of this psalm to write thousands of years ago is still true. The best way to contemplate the psalm’s conclusion may be to repeat it with certain words emphasized: The Lord IS.  He is GOOD. His love is FOREVER. His faithfulness CONTINUES to ALL generations.

Or, go back to the beginning of this posting for the words of the Doxology and sing them:  “Praise God from whom all blessings flow….”

 

Next: Psalm 103