Give GLORY to God

Scripture:

Psalm 100:1-5 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! (2) Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! (3) 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. (4) Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (5) For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Observation:

David tells us to acknowledge that the Lord is God! How can we do that? We acknowledge him when we shout our praises, appreciate his status as our Creator, accept his authority in every detail of life, enthusiastically agree with the guidance he gives us, and express our thanks for his unfailing love.

God is our Creator; we did not create ourselves. Many people live as though they are the creator and center of their own little world. This mind-set leads to pride, greed, idolatry, and if everything should be taken away, a loss of hope itself. But when we realize that God created us and gives us all we have, we will want to give to others as God gave to us (2 Corinthians 9:8). Then, even if all is lost, we still have God and all he gives us.

God alone is worthy of being worshiped. What is your attitude toward worship? Do you willingly and joyfully come into God's presence, or are you just going through the motions, reluctantly going to church? This psalm tells us to remember God's goodness and dependability, and then to worship with thanksgiving and praise!

Application:

This Psalm is teaching us to honor and recognize God's PRESENCE. To honor and give GLORY to God.

I believe “the glory of God” is the great unifying reality of the Bible and the universe. All is springing from and flowing toward the glory of God. All that is, is for the glory of God. The ultimate value in the universe is the glory of God, not the soul of man.

In Romans 1:21-23 you can see that two times Paul says that the fundamental, bottom-line, root problem with the human race has to do with what we make of the glory of God. In verse 21 Paul says, "Even though they knew God, they did not honor him [literally: glorify him]as God." That is the fundamental problem with the human race. We do not acknowledge, value, treasure, savor, honor, or make much of the greatest value in the universe, the glory of God. That is our wickedness and our disease and our great mutiny against God.

And then in verse 23 Paul puts it another way: "we exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image." So the great problem of the universe concerns what humans are making of the glory of God. This is the issue of your life and this culture and this country and this century and every century, and the issue of all the nations of the world. When Paul reaches to describe the depths of man's sinful condition under the wrath of God in Romans 1, he does not first deal with the sexual sins of verse 24-27 or the list of 21 sins in verses 29-31. He deals first with the fundamental problem: What do we make of the glory of God? Do we magnify it by treasuring above all things? Or do we belittle it by preferring other things and exchanging it for created things?

That my friend is what Psalm 100 is all about. Recognize, honor, give thanks to, praise, worship, declare the glory of God. To do this, we must be constantly aware of His Presence in our day to day life. Give Him Glory today!

Prayer:

"Lord, again forgive me for the times I have not recognized or honored Your presence in my life. Forgive me for the times I have not given You glory by failing to recognize worship, praise, or give thanks. This Psalm has convicted and taught me what I need to do every day to put my focus back on You. In Jesus' name, amen!"