Do you enjoy reading the Psalms? I find each time I read a psalm I learn something new and exciting. I was recently reading Psalm 100 and made an interesting discovery I’d like to share.
It’s only five short verses, but there is a powerful message hidden in it for us. Take a moment and read it.
Psalm 100: “A psalm. For giving thanks. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Did you see it? It is so simple, if we’re not careful we’ll miss it. Psalm 100 is a psalm of praise and celebration. It is an expression of deep rooted joy. Nowhere in the psalm does the writer mention good or bad things happening to him. His total focus is on the Lord and His splendor. Simple! Complete joy is rooted in focusing on the Lord and His splendor…not on what He has or hasn’t done for us…. not on what He has called us to do or caused us to walk through. The complete and total focus of the psalm and the psalmist is the Lord.
No matter what you’re walking through, what God has or hasn’t done for you or through you, if you want to experience deep rooted joy, there is only one way. You must cast your eyes upon the Lord, “the author of our faith” [Hebrews 12:2]. It is in Him we find complete joy [John 15:11]. Anything else is just a poor man’s substitute. Nehemiah 8:10 tells us “the joy of the Lord is our strength” and it is this strength that will carry us through any circumstance in life.
If you aren’t feeling very joyful, you might ask yourself “What am I focusing on?” Turns your eyes upon Jesus; you’ll never be disappointed.