Psalm 100:3
“Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”
Have you ever heard the phrase, “you should have known better?” We use it when we view evidence so compelling that a particular conclusion is obvious. “I didn’t know that would happen!” This statement, a response to throwing a firecracker into the barbecue pit, or bringing a handgun through airport security, is an unreasonable response, “You should know better.” It seems equally as surprising to me, that the Psalmist would need to remind us that man is a creative work of God and did not spring into being as a result of his own innate ability. As surprising, and even preposterous as it may be, we hear all of the time, how highly intelligent and well-educated people will choose to believe that man is not a byproduct of an intelligent and loving Creator, but the consequence of random chance.
How good it is to be reminded, that God created us, and did so with a devine purpose in mind. He created us to know Him. We live up to the height of that relationship when we walk in step with His Word. Each day, as you read your Bible and seek to put it into practice in your life, you are working towards the purpose for which you were created. On the other hand, each time you choose to ignore His word and do things your own way, you are one step farther from His design for your life. It is possible to step so far away, and be so removed from His presence in your daily life, as to begin to doubt His presence and even existence. Let’s take steps toward Him today, and everyday, until our faith becomes sight, and we reap the great reward of trusting Him.
Pastor Jim
Questions for Psalm 100
- This psalm is entitled a Psalm of Thanksgiving. Go through the psalm and identify all of the different ways that we are to express our thankfulness.
- Notice especially the truths in verse 3. We did not invent God, He made us. How does this view differ from that of the world today?
- Although we cannot make God, we do make gods, things that we worship. These are called idols. What are some of the gods of the men of this age?
- In verse 5, we are told three very important things about God. What are they?
The final chapters of 2 Kings tell the story of the death of a nation. After having a glorious beginning, and being miraculously sustained for a thousand years, the nation of Judah is defeated, the Temple destroyed, and the people taken as prisoners of war. These chapters record their collapse from heaven’s perspective. It was not caused by economic failure, a weak foreign policy, or because Babylon was a superior foe. Judah’s demise was simply a consequence of national sin, “…because of the sins of Manasseh…”
Imagine sitting on Mount Scopus, just a little northeast of Jerusalem, as the Babylonian forces surrounded the city. Before long, the walls were penetrated, and the city taken. First the leaders were gathered and executed, then the city was plundered and burned. What had once been a glorious testimony to the goodness of God, now told an entirely different message. All who watched the city fall should have learned the devastating effects of sin. Even after a contingency returned to rebuild the temple, Jerusalem would still bear scars from its fall.
I find it striking that the Psalmist declares that hate is a necessary expression of true love. He explains that part of being in a healthy love relationship with Jesus is having a hatred for evil. Why is it necessary to hate evil? Why should we hate evil? I can think of at least three pretty strong reasons.
Josiah was the youngest king to reign over the nation of Israel. At eight years old, his father died and he ascended the throne. We read very little of the early years of his reign, but at eighteen, he began a campaign to reform the nation, and turn the people back to the Lord. Josiah would go on to become one of the greatest kings in the nation’s long history. His success is summed up in three simple statements: he did what was right, he walked in the ways of the Lord, and he did not allow himself to become sidetracked by other things. As his story unfolds, we see the application of each of these points.
Paul declared, all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable. Every page of God’s Word has a purpose in the life of the believer. However, there are certain passages that have greater meaning to each of us, because of the impact they have had upon our lives. This is a particularly important text to me.
Manasseh, king of Judah, will go down in history as the king who caused the fall of the nation. It was not his foreign policy, his economic plan, or his tax code, that killed the nation. Instead, it was his view of God and his stance regarding sin that would weaken the nation, and lead to its collapse. Later we read,
Imagine what this promise meant for Hezekiah. First, he was ill, so it meant he would be healed. Second, it meant he would have more time. Third, it meant a clock started that night, giving him an expiration date. Fifteen years from this promise, Hezekiah would breath his last. This promise has often made me wonder, “What I would do with fifteen more years?” How would you react, if suddenly you were given an expiration date? Let’s take a look at what Hezekiah did.
Assyria was on a campaign to conquer the world. Their armies were sent out to defeat any nation that showed the least resistance. Judah had watched as their neighbors Israel and Syria were defeated, and the people taken away as slaves. Now, with the Assyrian army at their doorstep, it seemed as though Judah would be the next to fall. Delegates, representing the king of Assyria, came to Jerusalem and openly threatened the people, in order to destroy what little confidence they might have had in the Lord. These delegates reminded the people that no other nation had been able to resist the Assyrian conquest, and Judah would be no different. It was here, they made their biggest mistake. They thought Israel’s God was no different than the manmade gods of other nations.
It seems to me, if one thing is certain in life, it is that things are constantly moving. We live on a moving planet. At the equator, the Earth is spinning at 1000 miles per hour, moving at 67,000 miles per hour around the Sun, and our entire Galaxy is moving at about 185 miles per second. Since this motion is constant, we cannot feel its effects. However, there is other movement that we do notice. The United States Geological Survey website lists dozens of earthquakes that have happened around the world in the past seven days. Earthquakes happen because the earth’s surface is like a thin crust. This crust is made up of many pieces, like a puzzle, and the pieces keep moving around and bumping into each other. This causes the surface of the earth to move like waves rippling in a pond. Also, about 70% of the earth’s surface is water. That means almost three-quarters of the earth is too unstable to stand upon. As far as I know, Jesus and Peter are the only two people to successfully stand on the surface of the water, and that did not last too long for Pete.
Jim Gallagher 