Psalm Meditation 302

Palm Sunday

April 9, 2006

Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.

3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.

5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

(NRSV)

There are so many times that we feel the joy of God’s presence in our lives and hold it in for fear that it is not appropriate or that people will think less of us for our lack of seriousness. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, warned against excessive ’enthusiasm,’ what we call charismatic behavior. He was concerned that enthusiasm can distract from God’s presence as we become too aware of our actions and the actions of those around us. There are times when seriousness is important. This psalm is not about those times.

This psalm is about those times when celebration is the best response to the presence of God in our lives. This is about the times when jumping around and dancing is worship, when sound says more than words, when the light in a person’s eyes touches those who are otherwise in darkness. This is about the times when the presence of God is so real and so strong that we can’t imagine what it would be like not to feel this way and we can’t feel this way for very long at a time or we would explode. This psalm is about those times when we unselfconsciously throw ourselves into praise of God.

The Hebrew word that is translated as ‘steadfast love’ is transliterated as ‘chesed’ and means something close to the Greek word, ‘agape’.’ This is the love that is unfettered, unconditional, undeserved and unearned, as if any love could be deserved or earned. This chesed is the love that comes to us no matter what and every now and then fills us and spills out of us in such a way that folks know we have something that is worth having — the chesed, agape’, steadfast love of God.

LCM