Experiencing Joy Now and Forever

“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

Come before him with joyful songs.

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.

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 generations” (Psalm 100)

Psalm 100 is perhaps one of the greatest hymns of thanksgiving and joy in the Bible.

The Psalm contains seven verbs in the imperative. That is, they are commands from God:

Shout (for joy),

Worship or serve (the LORD),

Come (before him),

Know (that the LORD is God),

Enter (his gates),

Give thanks (to him),

Praise (his name).

All people are created to worship and serve the God who created us.

St. Augustine said in Confessions,“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

But do we have to wait until we pass away from this life to enter into that place of rest? 

The answer is "No." By living a life of devotion, we can experience, not only rest, but joy here in this life. We can learn to “Shout for joy to the LORD” now in this life. We can “Worship the LORD with gladness today.” We can “come before him with joyful songs” at any time.

A life of worship is a life that demonstrates the truth that “It is he who made us and not we ourselves.”

You see, that is the definition of God. He is the One who is the Creator, the One who is worthy to be placed first in my life. When we get that right, then we come into alignment with all that He intended when He created us. “He’s God and I’m not. And that’s a really, really good thing.”

But another aspect of God revealed in this Psalm is that He is the Great Shepherd of the sheep. We are the flock of God, tenderly watched over and protected by Him. “We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

The picture of God as Shepherd changes our conception of Him from just a great, all-powerful and impersonal force--to a tender, loving and relational Person.

This is the God that we are called to know and, entering into that relationship, we are called to experience real joy.

And this is why, at the end of our life, we can be assured that our heavenly Father will be there at the gates of heaven to usher us into His loving presence. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.”

Finally, the Psalm ends with the punchline. You see, God is good.

As it says in the other very famous Psalm 23, which talks about God as our shepherd, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

He is God and I’m not, and that’s really really good.

He is the loving Shepherd who will take care of me here and will lead me into eternity.

He is really, really good, the loving and faithful one who can be trusted with my life.

What about you? Have you placed your trust in God? Turn to Him in faith and place your life in His hands today. I guarantee that He will bring you joy that can be experienced both now and into eternity.

“For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.”