Grateful Praise (Psalm 100)

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Ivan: Well, good morning, Cityview. Please open up your Bibles with me to the Book of Psalms. We’ll be reading from Psalm 100 this morning, as we’ve been reading all summer long. And if you don’t have a Bible, please feel free to grab one of them from the pew in front of you. We’re going to be reading from page 484. Again, that’s page 484. Well, the task that has been given to me this morning is to speak on Psalm 100. Well, this great and wonderful hymn has been a treasure favorite with the people of God ever since it was written, and as Charles Spurgeon noted in his commentary on the psalm, “Let us sing the old 100th” is one of the everyday expressions of the Christian Church, and will be so while men exist whose hearts are loyal to the great King. And indeed, this psalm is simply titled “A Psalm of Thanksgiving, and it is the only psalm in its collection to bear this title. And if you’ve been following along with us this summer, you’ll know we’ve been reading through a series of psalms that begin at Psalm 93 and extends to Psalm 100. And these psalms are known. As the enthronement songs, these chapters celebrate God’s universal reign and faithfulness, and they serve as a constant reminder that the Lord reigns as faithful Judge over all His creation. And this morning at the Old 100th, we are invited. In fact, the whole earth is invited, as we sung this morning, to know and to worship this one true God. But why does that matter, and what relevance does it hold for us today? Well, as I was preparing for this message this morning, I had found that we are living in a paradoxical high era of high average prosperity, paired with widespread, deep-seated anxiety. So, on a global scale, extreme poverty has plummeted and lifespans have doubled, and yet economic polarization, high cost of living, and the pressures of the digital age leave millions leaving financially insecure and anxious about the future. Put simply, today we have more comfort and more stuff, and yet we are the most anxious that we have ever been. This shocking reality is further proof that our hearts will never be satisfied in the comforts and the idols that we create for ourselves, and the reality is that the more that we get, the more ungrateful and discontent we become. Could this be what’s leading to our anxiety that we’re feeling this morning? Do the stresses and sorrows we feel in the depths of our souls stem from the fact that we have forgotten to be grateful for all the goodness that we have received at the hand of our Maker. While studies in neuroscience have shown that the brain generally cannot feel a deep gratitude and intense anxiety simultaneously, this connection between our gratitude and the reduction of anxieties cannot be denied. It would seem then that the best way to battle anxiety and discontentment is thankfulness. In fact, this has been true in my own life. The moments that I have felt the most anxious have been the moments that I have forgotten to be grateful. As I was driving to work one morning, I was listening to Moody Radio, and as it just so happens, the program was focused on anxiety, and in that program, the host was explaining how when he used to race in the Iditarod, and if you’re not familiar with the Iditarod, it’s 100, or excuse me, it’s 1000-mile dog sled race that occurs in Alaska every March. And what he was explaining is that one time in the middle of the night, while he was racing, he would wear a headlamp that would lamp or light the path for him and the dogs while he was riding in pitch-black conditions. Well, this headlamp helped him stay laser focused on the path that was in front of him as long as he had it on. Well, on one occasion, he when when he and the dogs had stopped to rest, he had noticed that the moon was out and that it was a particularly clear night. For just a moment, he decided to turn off the headlamp, and just as he did, he saw the beautiful expansion of the sky with every star lit. He saw the beautiful snow-covered tundra, and was immediately struck with awe and wonder. You see, in those moments when I have felt the most discontentment and anxiety, were the moments where I was so laser focused on getting what I wanted, be it good or bad, the focus in those moments helped me or or or kept me from relishing and delighting in all the goodness that the Lord has already given me. But the moment that I turned off my proverbial headlamp on those things that I had fixed my attention on, it allowed me to see all the abundant blessings that the Lord has given me, and left me with awe and wonder and grateful praise. Well, what we will see this morning from the Old 100th are reasons why we should give grateful praise to our great King. There are three observations that I would like to make for you this morning, and three application points on why we should give grateful praise. And my hope is that you too will be able to turn off the headlamp that’s causing you to focus on all your cares and anxiety, and be struck with awe and wonder in the God who is above all gods. So let us go to the text this morning, and the first observation that I would like to make is that we praise Him because it is commanded. We praise Him because it is commanded. Look at there, in verse one and two, it says, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the.” Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him with joyful songs. And so the text starts out with a command. It says, “Shout for joy and worship the Lord, and later come before Him. These commands serves as exhortations for us to joyfully come before the Lord with service and with worship, and the exhortation-all it means is-it’s just a strong urging, an encouraging, or an earnestly advising someone to do something. All over Scripture, we are commanded to worship. The Bible frames this not as an option, but as a requirement and humanity’s purpose. And if you’re familiar with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, in answer to the question “What is the chief end of man?” it states, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And in fact, when Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan, he quotes directly from the book of Deuteronomy and says, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ Repeatedly, we are commanded over and again to worship God, and like all of God’s commands, it is for our good, namely our joy. Shout for joy! It says, “Notice that term joy. God does not want begrudging, forceful worship to Him, but happy worship. God is a happy God, and for those of us that maybe have a big and high view of God, it is hard for Him, for us to see Him that way. We tend to see Him as sovereign, wrathful, and just, and that would be right. But we rarely contemplate His eternal happiness with His eternal holiness. And we are, and here we are being invited to shout happily in our happy God. So instead of us going to church thinking of coming with dutiful ways, we should be worshiping and coming with gladness as we serve our Lord. It says, “Worship the Lord with gladness. The term here can be translated as service. The psalmist likely had in mind the service of worship or temple rituals. This would have included animal sacrifices or grains, or various other rituals. However, this principle still applies to us today. Those who serve the Lord should do it with gladness. And so, what is our posture as we come to church on Sunday mornings? Is it a grind? Is it just another check on our long list of things to do for the week, kids? Do you come to worship because your parents make you come, or is it your joy to worship the Lord with gladness, brothers and sisters? Is it our great privilege to worship our great God, and it is our joy that we serve Him with gladness. Listen to how one theologian puts it: He whom the religion of Christ has not made happy does not understand that religion or does not make proper use of it. Therefore, worship the Lord with gladness. We should note as well that the command is not just for us, but for all the earth. This would include all of creation, and so every time a bird chirps, and every time a cheetah runs, and every time a blade of grass that grows, and a flower that blooms, and every time that the sun rises and sets in its place is an emphatic proclamation that our God reigns, and we read it this morning that the heavens declare His glory, the skies proclaim the handiwork of His hands. All of it reveals the worship that is due to His name. At the same time, while this would include all creation, this would also include all people, saints and pagans alike, religious or irreligious, whether you consider yourself a Christian or not. This command is an invitation for all the earth to behold the beauty and majesty of the one true God, and this is the mystery that Paul speaks about in Ephesians chapter three, as he refers to the Gentiles as members and heirs of the same body. And the scene that we get from the book of Revelation is that men and women from every tribe and nation and tongue will come and worship the Lamb who was slain and seated on the Throne. So, if this is our God’s desire, as we see this invitation going out to the whole world, should this not also be our desire? This should move our hearts to evangelism, brothers and sisters. We should join with the desire of the. Lord, and invite a dying world to come and know Him. And our psalm this morning tells us how we should come. Says with joyful singing. Notice again the emphasis on joyful. And if you’re anything like me, nothing will gladden your heart more than to hear one of your children singing. Many times I come home and I could hear my girl singing, and and it’s just in those moments that I know that they’re having a good day, and that makes me happy. Many times, though not always, singing can communicate joy, and I imagine that every time we come to the Lord with joyful singing, it glad in His heart. Joyful singing communicates delight, delight in our great God. And what we will see a little bit later is that joyful singing communicates gratitude. This is the command, and it is the right command, for we have all so much to be thankful for, and listen. Other religions sing. In fact, every major religion includes some form of singing or chanted in their religious services. One of the reasons is that it facilitates learning, for better or for worse. Sometimes the best way to get theology in your brain and in your heart is to sing it. And another reason that we do this is because it builds community. And wouldn’t you agree that there’s something unifying as we come to together to sing what we believe? And as we have already saw this morning, that singing communicates gladness, and here is where the distinction between the religions are made. While other religions sing, only Christianity sings about news, and it’s not just any news; it’s good news. Throughout all of church history, we have been singing songs of glory, songs of our Creator God, who did not count godliness as something to be grasped, but humbled Himself and put on flesh and came in the person of Jesus Christ and dwelt among us. This Jesus lived a perfect life that you and I could not. He fulfilled every law and religious duty that you and I seem to break every single minute of every single day, and this perfect Jesus who knew no sin became sin. That is, he took our sin on the cross and died the death that you and I deserve. And in that moment, the rightful wrath of God that was destined for you and for me was placed on him, and his perfect life was given to us by grace to all of us who would believe, not by our own merit, but by his work alone. And three days later, he rose again, declaring himself to be the Son of God, and that our redemption was paid in full. This is amazing grace. Is this not something for us to become to Him with joyful singing? May we all come to Him this morning with joyful singing. My second observation for you this morning is that we praise Him because He is Creator God. We praise Him because He is Creator God. Notice there in verse three. 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. Know that the Lord is God. This phrase here should strike awe and wonder in us. In this small verse, we see a description of God as divine ruler and as creator. As I mentioned earlier, these enthronement songs has focused on God’s kingly rule over His creation. In fact, He is robed in majesty and puts on strength as a belt, as it states in Psalm 93. In this, we see that authority and power belong to him to rule over his creation, and as Creator God, all humanity belongs to him. It is he who made us, and we are his. This verse communicates ownership as God, as creator. He has the right to every being that has ever existed and that will ever exist. And the reason that this matter is that because as Creator, he has right to command our obedience, our allegiance, and as we have already discussed, our worship. And as another commentator rightly puts it, he says, “We must realize his rights over us before we can freely give him his due. God has a right to us because he has made us. Indeed, the Lord has made us, and we belong to him. Therefore, it is right. That all creation give him grateful praise, and while all people belong to him as creator, it is we that are his people. Again, this speaks of ownership, but this time it goes beyond creation. We are his, true, but more specifically, we are his people, the people of Israel that would have read this would have known that God has a chosen people, and it is only fitting that they give him grateful praise. They would have remembered the Exodus, where God delivered them from slavery. They would have remembered Mount Sinai, where God gave them the law and established them as a nation. They would have remembered the countless times that he fought their battles and delivered them from the hands of their enemies. They would have remembered the 40 years they spent in the desert as God provided for them food and water and brought them safely to the promised land. The people of Israel didn’t belong to God just because He created them, they belong to God because He sovereignly chose them and faithfully kept His covenant with them, and God is still keeping His covenant, not an old one but a new one. And and you see the the old covenant and the new covenant are two agreements that God made with His people. It is divided in our Bibles by the Old Testament or covenant and the New Testament. And like I mentioned before, the Old Covenant relied on external rules and animal sacrifices given through the law. The New Covenant, however, is based on an internal heart transformation that God has done for us once we put our faith in Christ, and in this covenant the Lord has delivered us as well, not from slavery but slavery to sin. By His death and resurrection He purchased our freedom by grace through faith we are delivered from sin, and in this new covenant, the Lord fights all our battles as He works in us to actively kill sin. And one day He will deliver us from all our final enemy as He throws sin and death in the lake of fire. And in that day, the Lord will faithfully keep His promise as He safely brings us into the promised land when He brings us into His presence in heaven. In this new covenant, the Lord has sovereign chosen a people, and if you are in Him this morning, then give Him your grateful praise. It it also tells us that we are His sheep. As His chosen people, we are the sheep of His pasture. This speaks of his great care for us. God has not left us to ourselves; He cares for us. In the Bible, we see the term shepherd used numerous times to describe God. Not only that, but some of Israel’s most famous leaders were shepherds. I can think of Moses and David, to name a few. These men were chosen by God to lead and care for His people, and here in our passage this morning, this description of God as Maker and Provider reveals a unique combination of the Lord’s keenly possession over us and His pastoral care for us, and today we see its fulfillment ultimately in Christ Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd, and all that hear His voice know Him and come to Him. He cares for you so much so He died for you. It is only in Christ where you will find your greatest needs met and your soul’s satisfaction. And if that is you this morning, then give Him your grateful praise. Which leads me to my third and final point. We praise Him with thanksgiving, for He is good and faithful. Look at there in verses four through five. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name, for the Lord is good and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generation. Because the Lord is our Maker, our Redeemer, and so wonderfully cares for us, it is only fitting that we enter His gates and courts with thanksgiving and praise. Again, what the writer would have had in mind here was the idea of temple worship, religious duties were required, and only through a representative before he could enter into the holy of holies-that is, where God’s presence was. This service would have been performed by the high priest, and only once a year, as he offered a sacrifice on Israel’s behalf. But here in the text, it’s as if all the gates of the city and courts were thrown wide open, and all the earth was invited to worship Yahweh, to know that He is God, and and to enter into a relationship with Him. Today, it is only in the person of Jesus Christ that we can do that. Under the new covenant. Not only are the gates and the courts open, but even the ways to the holy of holies. Now, by grace through faith, we can know this great God. Through God, through therefore God’s people can approach Him, and when they do it, we can do it with thanksgiving, recognizing how much the Lord has done for us. And in our thanksgiving, it will produce in us a joyful praise. Why? Because gratitude produces praise. Look at it again in the end of verse four. There, give thanks to him and praise his name. Gratitude produces praise. It is only when we have truly understood all that the Lord has done for us that we can truly give Him praise, and as we learned from Junior the Broccoli from Veggie Tales, a thankful heart is a happy heart. I can hear some of you, or see some of you humming the rest of the song in your head. Appreciation and gratitude offer up some of our highest praise. The psalmist has in mind here the Exodus, God’s faithfulness in the wilderness, and His shepherding. They would have remembered all that the Lord has done for them and given him praise that stemmed from gratitude. What about us? Shouldn’t we also remember all that the Lord has done for us, and with gratitude offer up some of our highest praise? I mean, we have so much to be thankful for, and this gratitude is what should produce in us joyful praise. But if it doesn’t, perhaps this is why our hearts are so dissatisfied and anxious. And as I mentioned in my introduction, we are more discontent and more anxious than we have ever been. And while it might not tell the full story, I believe that much of it has to do with the fact that, despite all of our blessings, despite all that we have been given, we have ultimately put our hopes for satisfaction on things and idols that will never truly satisfy. Because of this, we have been ungrateful and failed to give Him praise. However, it is in those moments that we need to battle discontentment and anxiety with thanksgiving. And in case you think I’m making this up, look what it says there in Philippians four, verses six through seven. It states, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Thanksgiving chases away all our fears because it places our focus away from our situation and onto the One who can deliver us. But when our focus is on our circumstances or in those things that we want most, thanksgiving and praise can be the lasting on our minds. And recently, I have found myself in one of those situations, and my journey group is fully aware of this. So to save them the agony of having to hear all the details again. I’ll sum it up for you guys here. My job made some recent decisions for the company that would greatly affect the way my team and I do our work. I had been praying for years, and and I’ve been praying specifically that I would benefit from these decisions. Man, my heart was set on it, and finally, after many years of prayer and hope, they pulled the trigger. Boy, was I happy! I mean, in fact, I was elated. All my hopes and prayers had finally been answered, and I was rejoicing greatly. That is, of course, until I wasn’t. You see, while the decisions apply to many of the people that I work with, including those who work directly under me, those decisions did not apply to me as manager of the company. My heart was broken. Man, was my heart broken. And shortly after, bitterness began to settle in, and before long, anger, then discontentment, and then finally anxiety. And I told my wife and my journey group that day, “I have no doubts that the Lord is good. It just doesn’t feel like He’s being good to me. You see. The reason why I had failed to notice that was because I was so laser focused on what I wanted. I failed to see all the goodness that God has already given me, and I could when I could no longer see His goodness to me, all that was left for me was despair. And if you have ever gone through Journey Group, you will know of this little booklet called the Gospel Primer, and on one of those sections, the one that I love most about that is called the Empty Cup versus the Empty or the Full Cup Scenario. And the point that it’s really trying to make there is that in Christ, our cup is never empty; it is already full. But even if our cup were empty and all Jesus did was to put a small drop of His goodness in there, it would already be too much. You see, because of our sin, you and I deserve nothing more than the rightful wrath of God. Because of the countless times that we have spit in His face, what we truly deserve is death and eternal destruction, but by His death and resurrection, He has already given us more than we already deserve. Listen, if you are in Christ, you have been justified by faith and have peace with God. Christ is enough, and this is what I was failing to realize. God has already been so abundantly generous to me in Christ, and if that weren’t enough, it pleased Him to give me a bit more-a wonderful wife and children, a beautiful church family that loves me very much, a job to begin with-and listen, the list goes on and on. And it wasn’t until I began to shift my focus off of those things that I wanted at the time that I began to recognize and see all the goodness that God has given to me. At that moment, gratitude began to fill my heart, and from that came out praise. And listen, my scenario hasn’t changed. I’m still very much in a in an inconvenient work situation, very much. This message is still preaching to me, by the way. But listen, my focus has changed. You see, by intentionally shifting your focus to thankfulness, even for simple things like breath or a sliver of a positive situation, you can interrupt negative thought loops that add to our stress. So, what about you? What has your gaze this morning? I challenge you to shift that gaze from your situation to the one who can fully satisfy? Then allow that gratitude to well up until it produces a grateful praise, and we can only do that when we are grateful for who He is and what He has done. For the Lord is good, and His love endures forever. The Lord is good, and this is a profound statement, and in our text this morning, the reason why we offer up grateful praise. Again, if you’ve been following along for any amount of time this series, you will know that the Psalms continuously focus on the kingly rule and sovereignty of God over His creation, and as how Shane pointed out for us a few weeks ago, that if God was sovereign and ruler, but not God, we should be shaking in our boots. I know it’s summer, maybe flip-flops. I don’t know. This should produce terror in us, though, brothers and sisters. But this text is intended to provide comfort and joy, to know that the Lord is good, and not only that, but part of what we’ve been learning throughout the series is, and what we will see in our text is that Yahweh is above all gods, and like and unlike all the other pagan gods, our God is good. I love the way James Boy James Boyce puts it in his commentary, the gods of the heathens were not good. He says they were selfish and capricious. You could never know when they might turn against you and do you harm. Not so our God. The God of the Bible is and always has been good. End quote. This should comfort us, brothers and sisters, because God is good. We can trust that He is doing good to us, as it states in Romans 828, and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Notice it doesn’t say that everything will seem good, or that only good will happen to us. It says that He is working all things for the good. And if you remember, when I was in my situation, it didn’t feel very good at the time for me. But God’s goodness is not revealed by the changing of our situations. Instead, is revealed by the changing of our hearts and. He conforms us into the image of His Son, as it follows in verse 29 of Romans. The reason I know that God is working good in me is because He is good, and and that He loves me. Church, how He loves us, and not just that He loves us, but that His love never ends, and you see it right there in our verse. It says, “His love endures forever. Many of us have been loved in our lifetime. At least I hope so. But many times, those relationships that we were in have felt conditional. I love you if, or I love you because. But if you are in Christ this morning, know that His love endures forever. And if you ever doubted His love for you, look to the cross. The Apostle John, in his first epistle, tells us that no one has greater love for us than he that gives his life for a friend. His eternal love is shown to you by the fact that He laid down His life for you. He is the good, and His love endures forever. And it is seen by His faithfulness to us. The Lord is faithful. Look at it again at the end of verse five. His faithfulness continues to all generations, and his faithfulness is not dependent on whether or not you and I are faithful, but because he is. And in case you doubt the validity of that statement, just look at Israel’s history. How many times did he establish them and establish his covenant with them, only for them to break it, and then he would bring punishment or exile, and then he would bring them back and forgive them, and then they would break it, and then on and on it went. Yet through all of it, he was faithful. He always brought them back and provided for them, and we are no different. How many times do we fall into sin and we say, “Lord, I’m sorry, I’m not going to do that again, and and then He forgives us, He restores us, and then we fall again, and then on and on it goes. How faithful has He been to us? Unless we think it’s because we’re just such lovable little sinners. Make no mistake that the reason God is faithful to us is because He is first and foremost faithful to Himself. God has declared that He will save a people for Himself, and that His name would be glorified, and He has determined that nothing or no one will get in the way of that, not even us. And look what it says in Isaiah 48, nine through 11. For my own sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely. See, I have refined you, though not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction for my own sake. For my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. And this is just one example, but the scriptures are full of these sorts of statements, and this should bring us comfort. That means that our salvation is not based on our performance or our own strength to persevere, but on His goodness and faithfulness to preserve us. And just like His love for us, His faithfulness knows no end, for He is faithful through all generations. That means God is faithful, and He always will be. The faithfulness He has for His people in Christ today is the same faithfulness He will have for us tomorrow, and not just for tomorrow, but through all generations to come, to our children and to our children’s children. The Bible is filled with passages reminding us that we should be instructing our children and telling them of all the good things the Lord has done for us. You see it there in Deuteronomy six six through seven. It states, “These commandments that I give to you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down, and when you get up. And so, if God is faithful through all generations, which He is, and if we expect Him to be faithful to the next generation, then we better get busy instructing the next generation, parents. How are you doing with impressing these things on your children? Have you have they been able to see God’s faithfulness in your own life? And believe me, I know it can get messy, but it is in those messy moments when they see God’s goodness and faithfulness in our own lives that it leaves a lasting impression on them, and just how God has been faithful to you, He will continue to be faithful to your children through all generations. This is what should cause us to give grateful praise. This is what should cause all of our anxieties to melt away, and yet, I know it won’t always feel that way. In fact, in those moments when difficulties hit, it may seem like that’s the last thing we want to do. So, what happens next? When we are in the thick of it, what do we do when we don’t feel like giving him grateful praise? Well, as I close this morning, I would like to leave you with three points that you can take home with you. And the first, I would like to address my brothers and sisters who are in Christ. What do you do when you don’t feel like praising? Well, when you don’t feel like praising Him, obey. He is our Maker, and it is right that we praise Him. And even in those moments when we don’t feel like it, do it. The Lord has commanded it, and like all of His commands, it is for our good. God knows us well, and He knows what we need most to be satisfied, and He calls us to look to him in every circumstance because he knows that is what would make him most happy, or make us most happy. So when you come to praise him, especially on a Sunday morning, do it eagerly and do it gladly. God is a happy God. Come to him with gladness. God is not looking for forced compliance, but willful obedience, trusting in His goodness. So just obey. Number two, when you don’t feel like praising Him, remember all that He’s done for you. Remember the cross. The Lord has redeemed you, and at great cost. He died so that you can live. He was raised so that you can have life, and He is working every circumstance in your life so that He can conform you to His image. So give Him praise. Also, remember how He has worked for you in your life previously. Think of all the ways that He has delivered from your past negative situation. Set up altars. In the Old Testament, many of the patriarchs would set up altars as reminders of God’s faithfulness and how He saved them. Whether that be writing in your journal, or posting something on your fridge, or wearing a piece of jewelry that reminds you of this. Remember, if He saved you, then He will most certainly save you again. And number three, when you don’t feel like praising him, remember God is good and always will be. He is not a wicked man. He is a good God. Man will betray you and will love nothing more than to see you fall. Not God, He is a good Father that always wants what’s best for your life, even when it doesn’t seem like it. And like a good Father, He loves you, and we know that He loves you because of the cross. Every bit of goodness you have received from His hand has stemmed from the fact that He loves you. No one can, and no one ever will, love you more than he does, because in Christ he has love that will never end. That is, through Christ he will never change towards you. His love and faithfulness will continue through all generations because of his work on the cross and us being in him. Not one ounce of his wrath remains on us. He is for us, and He will never leave us or forsake us. So, in that moment when you don’t feel like praising Him, remind yourself of these things. Is He not worthy? These things should provide us with more than enough reasons to give Him grateful praise. And now, to those who may be seeking and don’t have a relationship with Jesus? This is my encouragement to you this morning. Come to know this good and faithful and loving God. The invitation of this psalm is for you too. It’s an invitation to know and love this God that has been so faithful, loving, and good. Stop looking to those idols and treasures you made for yourself. Whether it be love, success, achievement, or acceptance from others, those things will never truly satisfy. And at the end of the day, will leave you in your anxious state. He made you and desires for you to know Him. He wants you to know Him through the person and work of Jesus Christ, believe the good news that we talked about earlier. Your status can’t save you. Your stuff can’t save you. Your good works can’t save you. You and I have already sinned and left a stain on our records, and there’s nothing we can do to remove that stain. It is only by what Christ did for us by His death and resurrection –  that the stain of sin and death can be removed. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We can only find peace with God through Jesus, and this is eternal life. That we have peace with God. So, put your trust in Him. Turn away from your way of doing things. Stop trusting in the world to satisfy, and put your trust in what God has done for you by Christ’s work. And once you do, you will be able to join with the rest of the church and all of creation as we shout for joy to the Lord and worship the Lord and come before Him with gladness. Ah, the old 100th. This brief Psalm ends with God’s love and faithfulness, and these are everlasting reasons to give Him praise. Problems and difficulty will arise, distractions and various cares will compete for our attention, bringing discontentment and anxiety. However, it is in those moments, and this is our big idea for this morning. The big idea is when discontentment and anxiety hit. Remember God’s loving faithfulness to you and give Him grateful praise. No doubt, there will be other things that will compete for our praise. And like the Israelites, we may be tempted to return to our idols because we’re just as fickle. And listen, if what you got from this message was you just need to try harder, then you completely missed the point. The point is not for you to white-knuckle your way out of your discontentment and anxiety and just think positive thoughts. My hope for you this morning, and what I think this psalm is trying to get us to realize, is that the beauty and the majesty and the goodness and the loving faithfulness of our God is greater than any circumstances that we face, enough to remove our discontentment and anxiety. And what we have seen through this psalm and all the other passages in our series is that our God is and always will be above all gods. There is no competition; nothing else will ever do. So when discontentment and anxiety hit. Let us remember God’s loving faithfulness, and give Him our grateful praise. Pray with me this morning. Oh, good, loving, and faithful God, we just thank you this morning because of your kindness that you have shown to us, not because we’ve done anything to merit it, Lord. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, Lord. And yet, because of your goodness, because of your kindness and faithfulness, you have loved us. And Lord, I pray that this would be a reminder for us this week, as I’m sure we’ll hit those messy situations and we’ll be tempted, Lord, to put our focus on things that won’t truly satisfy. I ask, Lord God, that it is in those moments that you would remind us of this song, that we would come before you with gladness and thankfulness and offer up our deepest and truest praise, Lord God. We ask that no matter what comes this week, Lord God, you would be glorified in our hearts and in our lives. And we ask this in the name of your Son Jesus. Amen.