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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.
-Psalm 100
Psalm 100 came alive last week during VBS. Pictured below is Karla Arnold, our in-house Psalmist.
Have you ever noticed how often children roar with shouts of joy?!! Their roaring is a playful reminder that joy is one way to approach a wild and dangerous world. I'm reminded of the classic children's book, Where the Wild Things Are written by Maurice Sendak. In the story, Max has thrown a tantrum. A child's tantrum (as well as our adult tantrums) accentuates that life is wild which most often is met with angry and aggressive impulses. Max traveled to the land where the Wild Things are and along with the Wild Things, he roared his terrible roar and gnashed his terrible teeth through play. In the book, you can see the joy he expressed and experienced and it was his joy that tamed his tantrum and his rage.
When we have our wild days it's important to remember Psalm 100. This reminder that God is good, at all times and in all things, especially in our troubles, can ground us in the knowledge that this too shall pass. Realizing this expression of faith often takes shouts of joy and here's a mind bender. Often, we have to roar our terrible roar and gnash our terrible teeth to tame our inner beast and when we do, we remember again that the Lord is good, and his love endures forever.
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