by Wayne Rodgers
“Enter
into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful
to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and
His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4,5 NKJV).
While the Bible is full of
commands to be thankful, the Psalmist gives reasons why we should praise God
and be thankful.
First, “the Lord
is good.” To say that the
Lord is good might seem like an understatement. This statement is obviously in
direct opposition by those who say that God is evil. Others claim that God is
manipulative and cite Job as their test subject, but forget or fail to read the
fact that God asked Satan, “Have you
considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless
and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:1, 8). These
statements imply that this “servant”
of God shunned evil and served God.
There are some who claim that
because God took away Adam and Eve’s “eternal life,” He committed the first
“evil.” This is just not true, because sin is evil and unrighteousness (1 John
3:4; 5:17). As the Psalmist claims, “the
Lord is good.” James reminds us that “God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (James 1:13,
KJV). He then tells us that sin (a.k.a., evil;
unrighteousness) is born in the lusts (desires) of men, not God.
“But every man
is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust
hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death” (James 1:14-15).
Second, “His
mercy is everlasting.” Mercy
is defined as (1) leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or
agency charged with administering justice; (2) a disposition to be kind and
forgiving; (3) the feeling that motivates compassion; something for which to be
thankful; (4) Alleviation of distress; (5) showing great kindness toward the
distressed [WordWeb]. Because we (mankind) have offended the goodness and
righteousness of God through our sins, we stand as condemned. However, because
of the compassion, kindness and love of God, those who follow His plan can find
leniency in the justice of God. Paul explains in the letter to the Ephesians:
“But God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye
are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus”
(Ephesians 2:4-7, emphasis, WR).
“And to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God, According to the
eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:9-11, emphasis, WR).
All of this is accomplished
through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Notice the phrases, “…his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7) and “…which he purposed [planned] in Christ
Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11). The Psalmist reminds us this great “mercy is everlasting,” and may we ever
praise God for it!
Third, “His
truth endures to all generations.”
God has always given direction to His creation. The prophet Jeremiah wrote: “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not
in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah
10:23). Throughout creation’s history, God has given His truth as that
direction. The Hebrews’ writer recorded: “God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son…”
(Hebrews 1:1-2a).
Jesus in His prayer to the
Father explained, “thy word is truth”
(John 17:17). It is through our obedience to that “truth” that will “direct”
us in His “mercy.” Luke records the apostles preaching on the
Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus:
“Now when
they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to
the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said
unto them, Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar
off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words
did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward
generation” (Acts 2:37-40, emphasis,
WR).
The apostle Peter spoke of the
endurance of God’s Word [a.k.a. “truth”]:
“Forasmuch as
ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised
him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in
God. Seeing ye have purified your souls
in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man
as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth
away: But the word of the Lord endureth
for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:18-25, emphasis, WR).
May we ever thank and praise
the God of Heaven who loved us so much and has made a way that we might be
saved from our sins. The implication from the Psalmist is that because of the goodness
of God, His mercy and His truth, we should be motivated to worship Him. Jesus
said, “God is a Spirit: and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
