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I have shared with some of you that I grew up in a church where we were encouraged to memorize scripture. We would get some equivalent of “a gold star” whenever we did. The Bible verses we memorized ranged from the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept” -- to complete psalms. In addition to memorizing the 23rd Psalm, which many people know by heart, I can also remember memorizing Psalm 100:
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.
Later this week, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. I remembered that Psalm 100 is often called “A song of Thanksgiving.” I wondered if there were any other Psalms that were called “A song of Thanksgiving” -- so I looked through the Psalms and found that this was the only one that has this inscription at the beginning. I think it is a wonderful song for us to remember, maybe even memorize, as we look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving later this week.
Psalm 100 reminds us to be thankful to God, to worship God, and to come before God with joyful songs. We are to remember that the Lord made us, and we belong to God. We are like sheep, and as another Psalm reminds us, God is the Good Shepherd. So, we can enter into God's presence with Thanksgiving and praise. We can remember that God is good, and that God's love endures forever. That love does not stop with us. It began in the generations before us, it continues through our generation today, and it will continue for generations to come!
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