2 Chron 3
2 Cor 13
Psalm 99; Psalm 100; Psalm 101
July 14, 1789
French revolutionaries storm the Bastille
Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and dismantle the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. This dramatic action signaled the beginning of the French Revolution, a decade of political turmoil and terror in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and tens of thousands of people, including the king and his wife Marie Antoinette, were executed.
This important event resonates today in the struggle between the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789. Our American Revolution had the foundation of the Sinai covenant brought down from the mountain by Moses vs. the collectivist blood bath of the French revolution. In fact, cancel culture for the French landed at the Guillotine.
Psalm 100
This Psalm is the grand finale of that wonderful little cluster of psalms that began with Psalm 94 and closes with this psalm. In this section we have seen the Lord Jesus Christ as King. Jehovah is King. In Psalm 93 we saw that, “The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty …” (Psa 93:1). This phrase speaks of the future and the time that the Lord will come again to earth. The first time He came to earth He did not come in majesty. He came, as George Macdonald put it, “a little baby thing that made a woman cry.” He is coming to earth the next time, as we are told in this psalm, “clothed with majesty.” Psa 94:1 begins, “O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth….” When the Lord comes to earth again, He will make things right. We could not do it because we would be vindictive; the Lord will not reign that way. He will vindicate, but He will not be vindictive. Then Psalm 95: “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” Psalm 96: “O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.” Psalm 97: “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice….” Psalm 98: “O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things….” Psalm 99: “The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble….”
Now we come to the great doxology, Psalm 100.
This is the hallelujah chorus at the conclusion of this series. It is the glorious finale of this very precious cluster of psalms. Listen to it:
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing [Psa 100:1-2].
Once again I would emphasize the fact that God does not want you to come before Him to worship with a long face. There are times when we have long faces; problems beset us, temptations overcome us, or we come to God in repentance, asking Him for forgiveness. We cast ourselves upon Him. But none of that is worship. You worship God when you come to praise Him. He wants you to be happy. At the time of this writing most of the bars have what is called a “happy hour.” I wish we had a “happy hour” in church, without the liquid. Let's tune up and get ready to worship the Lord. “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.” That includes everybody. That is universal praise. There is a time coming when the entire world will be able to sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”
“Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” This is a wonderful psalm of praise—praise Him, worship Him, glorify Him. Now that I am a retired preacher I find myself becoming an expert on telling young pastors how they should conduct their services. There is one criticism I want to make concerning my own ministry, and that is that I did not have enough praise included in the services. We ought to praise God more. We ought to worship God more. We ought to come joyfully into His presence.
This psalm is just like a great doxology. There are many doxologies in the Word of God. Believers can sing the one in Eph 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” God has been good to us. He has given us all spiritual blessings, but some of us do not avail ourselves of them; we are keeping them in cold storage, waiting for a rainy day. Well, it is a rainy day today—regardless of how bright the sun is shining. Start using the blessing God has for you! Here is another wonderful doxology in the first chapter of the Revelation: “… Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever” (Rev 1:5-6). My, I don't know about you, but that just carries me into the clouds! The whole world is called upon to shout aloud their praises unto Jehovah and to sing the mighty hallelujah chorus, because in that day the whole world will know Him.
In this next verse is something quite interesting—the homogenizing of God as the Creator and as the Redeemer.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture [Psa 100:3].
Jay