One day I phoned a friend of mine who is in the ministry and asked, “How is it going?” His quite reply was, “Well, I am having one of those days.” The next time you’re having one of those days when everything seems to be going wrong read this Psalm 102. What kind of a day was the Psalmist having? A day of trouble.. In fact, he compares himself to a lonely bird (vv.6,7). That’s the way he feels—like a bird alone on a housetop. He wants to go into the house and enjoy some fellowship, but he is alone.

The Psalmist enemies were approaching him (v.8). But in a day of trouble and reproach, he says, “God, you are the only One who can change things.” The day of trouble becomes a day of prayer. God can change things for you also. He may not change the circumstances on the outside, but He does change your feelings on the inside. Then the day of trouble becomes a day of triumph.

*****^*****

Everyone has days of trouble. When circumstances entrap you and trouble closes around you, pray to the Lord. He knows how to turn your trouble into tramp. Although He may not answer your prayers the way you expect, He will do what is best for you and for His glory.

Once an elderly couple went to the pastor and said, “Pastor, we have moved into a new house, and we‘d like you to come and dedicate it.” So pastor and his wife went to the house, read the Scripture, prayed and dedicated that house to the glory of the Lord.

What is the most important part of a house?

At first you might say the foundation,. But the most important part of the house is the home. And the most important part of that home is the hearts of the people who live there.

That’s what David said when he was dedicating his house to the Lord (v.2). If you want to wreck your house, start wrecking your home. And if you want to wreck your home, start wrecking your heart. But if you want your house and your home to be all that God wants them to be, then make your heart perfect.

What is a perfect heart?

It’s one that has integrity, wholeness and oneness— a heart that is not divided. You need to have a heart that is integrated and united. “Unite my heart to fear Thy name,” David said (Ps.86:11). He walked around his new house and said, “I want my heart to be perfect, to be wholly fixed upon the Lord. I want Him to reign supremely in my home, because He reigns supremely in my heart.

Can you say the same?

*****^*****

Your heart affects your home. Both need to be dedicated to the Lord. Are you fixed upon the Lord? Does He reign in your home? Determined to walk with integrity always and to make yours a united heart that serves God.

Praise is the highest use of man’s faculties. When we contemplate the attributes of God, we can’t help but thank and praise Him. Psalm 100:5 speaks of three of God’s attributes that makes Him worthy of our praise.

We see His goodness. It’s a part of God’s nature to be kind and benevolent. We see His goodness in creation (Gen.1:31; Ps.33:5), even though man has wrecked it (Rom.8:19-23). God even shows His goodness to the unsaved nations of the world (Acts.14:7). His goodness ought to lead to man’s gladness.

Next, we see His mercy (Ps.23:6). When God is merciful, He does not give us what we deserve, which is eternal death for our sins. Mercy is forever a part of His nature (Heb.4:16; I Pet.1:3; Ps.107).

Last, we see His faithfulness. This attribute speaks of God’s reliability and stability. He is faithful to chasten us (Ps.119:75). He is faithful to confirm us (I Cor.1:9), and to care for us and give us victory over temptation (I Cor.10:13). He is faithful to forgive us (I John.1:9). God is not going to change (Heb.13:8). He is faithful in all He does. Share with your friends, and your family and you’re near and dear ones that God is good, merciful and faithful.

God’s goodness, mercy and faithfulness reveal much about Him. The more you contemplate His attributes, the more you can praise Him. Praise ye the Lord.

In old Testament days, God’s people brought animal sacrifices to the altar. Today, instead of bringing the Lord dead sacrifice, we present living sacrifices to Him. The Bible speaks of several sacrifices that praise God.

We have the sacrifice of praise (Heb.13; 15). When our lips thank God for what He has done and for who He is, our praise pleases Him. We have the sacrifice of a broken heart (Ps.51; 17). We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him (Rom.12;1-2). There is the sacrifice of good works (Matt.5:16; Heb.13:16). And there is the sacrifice of finances (Phil.4:18). When we share our money, time, possessions and energy with others, we bring a sacrifice to God.

Examine your life to see if you are making sacrifices for His glory. Many jobs are waiting to be done, and you might be the person for a specific job.

Have you found a place of ministry God has for you? Are you using the gifts He has given you? Offer your sacrifices of praise to God, that you may bring glory to Him and minister to others.

Psalm 100 is God’s instructions sheet for praise. Praise is both an action and an attitude with the heart, and one way we praise God is to submit to Him. This passage suggest three acts of submission but bring praise to God.

# We submit as creators to the creator (v.3). Satan wants us to think he is God. Some people behave as though they are God. But only Jehovah is God. We are not self made. God, in His wisdom, power and patience, has made us in His image.

# We submit as children to the Father. We are chosen by grace (Ex.19:5-6). When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, we enter into a spiritual family with God as our loving Father. As we develop in our relationship with Him, we submit to His authority.

# We submit as sheep to the Shepherd. Jesus is the Good Shepherd (Jn.10:11) and a Great Shepherd (Heb.13:20), and we are the sheep of His pasture (Ps.73:13). It’s important to feed on the green pastor of the Word of God.

When you submit to God the Creator, God the Father and Christ the Shepherd, you are praising God. Submitting to Him is aligning your will to His will and obeying His Word. Submit to God—He will love and guide you.

Serve the LORD with gladness; come before his presence with singing.

— Psalm 100:2

Joyful noise leads to joyful service. If we are to serve the Lord joyfully, our words must become deeds. Jesus warns against hypocritical worship (Matt.15:8). How are we to serve the Lord genuinely?

We serve willingly. We are redeemed to do what God wants us to do. We serve exclusively. We cannot serve the Lord and someone else at the same time (Matt.6:24; Ex.20:2-3). Our goal is to please Him alone. Our power, wisdom and the plans for our lives come from Him alone. We serve joyfully. Sometimes we’re like the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal Son; we may do the Father’s will and work, but we are far from His heart. God doesn’t want our service to be drudgery or to be done grudgingly. That tears us down. When we serve Him and joyfully, we enjoy growth, development and excitement. Are you happy serving the Lord?

We praise God most effectively through our service to Him. Are you engaged in service to the Lord in your church or community? When you offer your service to the Lord willingly and joyfully, you glorify His name. Let your words of praise lead to acts of praise!

The next time you sing the doxology in the worship service, remember that you are singing Scripture, a version of Psalm 100. This Psalm is a digest of instructions on how to worship the Lord.

Who should worship the Lord? God wants the whole world to worship and give thanks to Him (v.1).

How should we worship the Lord?

1. By serving (v.2). We are to serve the Lord with gladness because there’s joy in our hearts and because the joy of the Lord gives strength.

2. By singing. I fear that too often in our services, singing becomes routine. We hold the hymnal and sing the songs that we know so well, but our hearts and minds are a million miles away. Think about and rejoice in the words you sing.

3. We also worship the Lord by submitting to Him (v.3). Submit to Him. Follow Him. Obey Him.

Finally, 4. We worship the Lord by sacrificing (v.4). You don’t need to sacrifice animals on an altar, but you can give your time, talent and your skills.

Why should we worship the Lord?

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations (v.5).

The highest occupation of the Christian life is worshipping the Lord. Never allow your worship to become routine or artificial. Worship Him with a joyful and thankful heart by serving, singing, submitting and sacrificing.

One of the greatest joys in the Christian life is the joy of answered prayer. The Psalmist writes about Moses, Aaron and Samuel (v.6). Moses called upon the Lord many times when he had the burden of the people on his shoulders. Aaron, as the high priest, also called upon the Lord. Samuel had some disappointments in his life. His family was not all it ought to have been, and Israel was not all it ought to have been. So he cried out to the Lord as well.

If we call upon the Lord, will he answer us? Yes, if we have met the conditions that Moses, Aaron and Samuel met. They listened to God’s Word (v.7). “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, You will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John.15:7). We want to talk to God and tell Him about all our problems. He wants to talk to us and tell us about all of His promises. We should listen to Him first, and then He will listen to us.

Secondly, they obeyed Him. They kept His testimony and the ordinances (v.7). Obedience is important to answered to prayer. If we are abiding in Christ, we will obey His word, and then we will be able to call upon Him. Finally, they confessed their sin. God forgave their sins, and He enabled them to do what He wanted them to do. As a result, they wanted to exalt the Lord. The purpose of prayer is to glorify God (v.9).

How glad I am to know that my High Priest in heaven is interceding for me. I can come to Him any time for the grace that I need.

Meet God’s conditions for answered prayer and let Him bless you.

This hymn praises God as Deliverer, as King, and as Ruler.

The Christian faith is singing faith. Christians ought to be singing people. We are admonished in the Word of God to sing to the Lord (v.1).

Sing about God’s victories. If you think you have no victory in your life, start singing about the victory of the Lord, and you will be surprised what He will do for you. Sing about His salvation (v.2). We should proclaim the message of salvation to people today. Sing about His mercy and faithfulness (v.3). The Lord has been merciful to us and His faithfulness and endures to all generations. Sing about His coming (v.9). Sing about is coming, for Jesus may come back today!

Are you singing the praises of God in your life? If you have lost your song, it may mean that you have lost something else—your vision of God, faith in His Word—or perhaps Sin has come into your life. Follow the instructions of this psalm and “sing to the Lord a new song.”

A friend of mine likes to quote a beatitude that he has either invented or borrowed; “Blessed are the balanced.” It’s a good point we can easily walk unless we are balanced. When I was learning how to ride a bicycle my friends put me on one and gave me a push but I could not keep balanced.

This is also true of the Christian life. There is a balance for you. Christians are not supposed to hate one another, but they are supposed to hate evil (v.10a). We can have one of several attitudes towards the evil in the world today. First, We can defend it. I don’t see how Christians can do that, but there are those who do. There are even those who promote it. Like a priest and the Levite in the parable of Good Samaritan, who passed by on the other side. Or we can endure it and say, “Well, it’s here, and I’ll just grit my teeth and clench my, fists and our up with it”. But the Word of God says we should hate it and oppose it.

We hate evil because we love the Lord. If we love Him, we love the things He loves and hate the things He hates. This is also true in human relationships.... When God judges evil, we want to be on His side. “He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hands of the wicked” (v.10). God is on our side. And if God is for us, who can be against us.

What is your attitude towards evil in the world? If you love the lord, you cannot remain neutral. You must hate evil and opposite, for it is dangerous to tolerate it. Ask God for the strength to take a stand against evil and be a witness to those who practice it.