A Psalm for Shouting Thanks

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness!  Come into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with Praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the Lord is good, His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.

I don't know where the exclamation marks came from. They are in this Psalm in my Bible .It is my understanding that the Hebrew language didn’t use punctuation. But since the Hebrew words say to shout the joyful noise I guess the exclamation marks make sense in this song of praise.

We need to be vocal about our thankfulness. We need to joyfully shout it. Thanksgiving is not isolated to the historical time of year in this country. Our thanksgiving is to be shouted over all the earth. I don’t thinks it is to be relegated to a Thursday in November. It is meant to be a heart response all of the time.

My mother had this philosophy down pat. She had osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and was in constant pain. But when anyone looked at her deformed hands and feet and asked with sympathy, “How are you doing?” She would smile and say, “I’m thankful.” Some days were harder than others but that did not stop that precious little stooped shouldered lady. She was thankful. She was thankful all the time.

We use this Psalm a lot in churches during the Thanksgiving season. We think over the past year and how God has been faithful with His blessings to us.  Wouldn't it shock all of us if someone stood up while we were saying this Psalm and said, “Excuse me, aren't we supposed to be shouting this?”

 No, no, don’t worry. I don’t have plans to do this. 

But I’ll be thinking of it.

Psalm 100

A Psalm for Shouting Thanks!