Matters of the Heart

Psalm 100

“Make a joyful noise to 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 was recently talking to my 10-year-old daughter about our country’s laws and leaders.  We discussed various presidents and political views.  We talked about why people vote the way they do and what it truly means for us as Christians.  She talked much more than I did as she is ten, loves to talk, and has an opinion about everything.  But she ended the matter by saying, “I wonder why they don’t just make it a law to worship God.”  Now, besides the fact that she had clearly not been listening closely when we were discussing our leaders, it was a great segue into a welcomed and much more beneficial discussion.

It's comments like these that remind us of godly kings in the scriptures!  It would’ve been amazing to be in Jerusalem the day that the Ark was brought into Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs. 8; 2 Chron. 7).  To see the glory of God fill the house of the Lord.  To hear Solomon’s words of praise and admonition.  To celebrate with God’s chosen people. The scriptures say, “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.   And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house.   When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever’” ( 2 Chron. 7:1-3). Can you think of a more wondrous time in the history of God’s earthly people?

In Psalm 100:1, the psalmist says,” Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!  Come into his presence with singing!”  The term “joyful noise” comes from the Hebrew word rua, meaning to raise a shout.  It is a term that is often used in the old testament as a war-cry or a shout in triumph.  It is an outpour of overwhelming emotion.  It reflects the hearts and motivations of its proclaimer and seems to mirror the worship during the dedication of Solomon’s temple.  

But it wasn’t too many years later that Isaiah prophesied a siege on the great city Jerusalem explaining that Israel’s punishment was a result of a lack of sincerity of heart rather than a lack of worship or sacrifices.  In chapter 29 verse 13, it reads: 

“ And the Lord said:
‘Because this people draw near with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men’” (Isaiah 29:13).

This prophecy was given during the time of Hezekiah.  Temple worship had been reinstated and the people had just celebrated the first Passover in many years.  But we see from this passage - while the fear and commandments of God had been taught, passed down, and honored - their hearts were far from God.  These words are a powerful warning to religious people.  It becomes clear what is needed in godly worship – along with service and sacrifice - is a joyful heart!  Jesus quotes this very passage to the Pharisees when addressing the contrast between “breaking the traditions of their elders,” and the importance and evidence of a fruitful heart (Matt. 15:1-20).  He continues to address this throughout His ministry through parables. 

But this was not a “new covenant” concept. In Deuteronomy 27, Moses and the elders address the nation of Israel in order to prepare them for worship in their promised land.  As the passage continues in chapter 28, the congregation is reminded of the blessings that would come to the faithful and - in contrast - the curses to the unfaithful.  Beginning in verse 45, it reads, “All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. […] Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart…”. We can see, a joyful heart AND obedience are both vital to faithful worship.

So, returning to Psalm 100, why make a joyful noise to the Lord? Why serve the Lord with gladness?  Or come into his presence with singing?  Because verse 3 tells us, 

“...He is God!

It is He who made us, and we are His  

we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” 

We cry out in triumph because our creator still claims and cares for us.  Why enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise?  Why give thanks to Him; bless His name? Because, as the psalmist says,  

“…the Lord is good; 

His steadfast love endures forever 

and His faithfulness to all generations!”  

We give thanks and bless His name because it is the only appropriate response to His steadfast love and faithfulness.

If any world leader took my daughter’s advice and commanded their nation to worship God, would it change the hearts of its citizens?  It didn’t under Solomon.  Bit by bit, his magnificent temple was slowly stripped and altered to serve the needs of an idolatrous people until ultimately demolished and unrecognizable – just as Moses warned.  

So, why do we serve?  Is it because we must?  Because we have been taught to fear God and go to church?  Do we go through the motions each week to avoid being ostracized by family, friends, or a bossy 10-year-old girl?  Or do we understand who we are in relation to God?  Is HE the heart of our worship?  Traditions and routines are easy to invest in, but sisters, let us always keep Paul’s words with us.  “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,  that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 2:14-21).