There is something unique about the Psalms. Perhaps because David and the other Psalmists speak out of their inner hearts. The inner heart is where we speak without fear of criticism or embarrassment. It’s what we think: the stuff we struggle with and the words we try to share with God. It’s also where we know it’s okay to be blunt with God.
Thanksgiving isn’t always a holiday of thankfulness for many. Many struggle with the reality of a vacant chair, now empty because of sickness, death, or gaps left from a misunderstanding or a friendship that fell apart. Yet, thanksgiving comes and goes, and we often focus on smiling and putting on a thankful face, and our heart is stuck in the mud of frustration. We spent so much time making others feel good about Thanksgiving that our hearts were tired, our kitchen chaotic, and our attitude somewhat cranky.
Psalm 100 takes us on a different walk regarding being thankful. It’s not about others; it’s about our walk with God. It’s not about relationships on earth but our spiritual relationship. But our walk with God drastically affects our walk with others. Psalm 100: I love the Message version.
Psalm 100
On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
3 Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him. We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.
4 Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
5 For God is sheer beauty all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.
I love to clap and applaud. We jump to our feet to applaud things we love, like soccer, football, concerts, and when someone wins an award. Why not simply applaud God? Then it says to bring a gift of laughter. I have already started looking for the perfect gifts for the grand-babies. (sorry, kids) But to bring a gift of laughter, how special! We sing ourselves into his presence; what a way to look at singing. Perhaps verse 4 brings my heart into 2024. Enter the password “Thank You.”
I don’t particularly appreciate changing my passwords. I can’t remember them. I have a system to my madness of remembering passwords, and when something wants me to change my password, I almost cry. in our modern culture of technology, passwords let us in. It’s the key in our society to enter our shopping, banking, e-mail, and Facebook: passwords are crucial. God wants a password, too. But it doesn’t have to be someone’s birthday, all your kid’s names spelled backward, or the dog’s name you had when you were ten; it’s so simple. To enter, the key to opening the door to walk into God is to say, “Thank You.” Then it goes on to say, make yourselves at home talking praise. When I make myself at home, I take off my shoes, throw my coat on the coat hanger, plop on the couch, and put my feet on the coffee table. I relax, smile, and let myself be me because I am at home. The Psalmist says to make myself at home, to be myself by talking praise. To thank Him, to worship Him, to be at home in his presence, and not simply to be thankful but to say, “Thank You.”
As we anticipate whatever the tradition of Thanksgiving brings to our table, begin with a Psalm 100. Read it out loud, slowly, and with meaning. Read it from several different versions and reword it to make it leap off the page and into our hearts. Take it one step farther and begin to say “Thank you.” Thank each other, thank those who you may not thank, thank the mailman, the cashier, the boy who packs your groceries, thank the pastor, thank the pianist, thank the drummer, well maybe not the drummer :), thank the greeters, the nursery workers, your hairdresser, your son, your husband, your mother-in-law, your grandma, and your brother you haven’t talked to in 6 months. If God asks us to use “Thank you” as a password to enter His heart, perhaps being thankful, living thankful, and saying “Thank you” will do wonders for our relationships below. Most of all, be aware of those having difficulty being thankful and verbalizing, “Thank you.” Give grace, be humble, listen without using words, and love with your arms around them.
I enjoyed reading this. I recently put on my lock screen of my phone, “Start each day with a grateful heart.” I need reminding each day of being thankful to God for what He has done. The worries of life choke me if I don’t focus on being grateful. Thank you for sharing.