THE LORD IS GOOD AND HIS MERCY IS EVERLASTING

Proclamation:

“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 loves endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”  Psalm 100:4-5 (NIV)

Explanation:

Most Bible scholars agree that the words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Believers are encouraged to shout and make a joyful noise unto The Lord. (Psalm 100:1)  He should be approached with reverence and with a thankful heart.  He is our maker and our creator, and we belong to Him. (Psalm 100:3)

Application:

In addition to our private prayer and praise, we are encouraged to publicly and loudly praise The Lord.  We are also encouraged to worship Him gladly. (Psalm 100:2)  When we approach Him in prayer, we should do so in a spirit of thanksgiving.  When we enter His temple, we should do so with praising Him on our mind and in our heart.  For He is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory.  He has shown us His goodness, His mercy, and His grace and we should be grateful. (Psalm 100:5)  He is the good shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. (John 10:11)  His love for us is eternal and we should love Him with all of our heart and soul. (Joshua 22:5)

See The Goodness Of The Lord

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of The LORD in the land of the living.  Wait for The LORD; be strong, and take heart, and wait for The LORD."  Psalms 27:13-14 (NIV)

This psalm of King David was written to encourage the believers to be patient and wait for The Lord.  He knew that The Lord does things in His own time frame.  However, David was confident that he would see the goodness of The Lord before he died.

Believers know that God is in control of everything.  However, we tend to want God to act for us when we want Him to act.  When we pray to God for help, we need to do so in humble submission, realizing that we are totally dependent upon Him, and then we need to be resolved to keep the faith and wait for Him to respond.  Whatever He says for us to do, we need to be obedient and do it.  Then we shall behold the goodness of The Lord because all of His goodness is not reserved for heaven. (Psalms 33:5)

He Is Worthy Of Our Praise

"Praise The LORD.  How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!"  Psalms 147:1 (NIV)

The author of this psalm told the people of God that it is good to praise The Lord, and it is good to sing praises to Him.  He said that it is good, fitting, and appropriate to praise The Lord.  After making this statement, he goes on to give a number of reasons to justify praising The Lord.

The Word of God exhorts us to praise The Lord often and continually. (Psalms 34:1 and 145:2)  We should praise Him where ever we are, in church (Psalms 107:42, Psalms 150:1, and Hebrew 2:12), in our homes (Joshua 24:15), alone and among the people. (Psalms 35:18)  We should also praise The Lord in all that we do. (1 Peter 4:11)  He is worthy of all glory and praise. (2 Samuel 22:4, Psalms 18:3, and Revelation 5:12)  We should not have to be told to praise The Lord, we should do it spontaneously on our own.

O Taste And See That The Lord Is Good

"Taste and see that The LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.  Fear The LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing."  Psalms 34:8-9 (NIV)

Here King David is encouraging the people by telling them that they ought to try The Lord God because He is good.  He is good to them and good for them.  He said blessed is the man who comes to The Lord, who hides himself in Him, and who allows The Lord to shelter and protect him.  David exhorts them to seek and worship The Lord and to reverence Him with awe.  The Lord God will provide for those who do this, and He will supply all of their needs.

"O taste and see that The Lord is good" is an invitation to try Him.  Not in the sense that we sample a little bit of food, but more like jumping into deep water and getting totally immersed in Him.  Accepting The Lord is an all or none type of situation, there is no "little bit" or going half way.  We need to believe in Him and ask Him to come into our lives.  Then we need to start acting Christ-like. (John 14:15 and 14:23)  If He is not in your life, it is because you have not invited Him in. (Revelation 3:20)  He will knock at the door of your heart, but He will not come in without an invitation.  Once He is in our lives, do not relegate Him to a seat at the back of the bus, let Him take charge and direct out path. (Psalms 37:23 and Proverbs 3:6)  If we do this, then He will supply all of our needs. (Philippians 4:19)