A Psalm for [a]Thanksgiving.
100 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the Lord [b]Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and [c]not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.4 Enter His gates with [d]thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.
We live in a world where “self-made” people are praised and celebrated. In the midst of praising God, the psalmist drops this line that can be a bit jarring. In v. 3, he writes “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.” And if that weren’t “offensive” enough, he continues with, “We are His people…” which pushes back against the mindset that “I am my own person, and I am in control of my life.” No, you’re not, or at least you shouldn’t be.
In the first case, the skeptic might say, “well that’s fair enough, I suppose God can take credit for creating us, but whatever I do after that is my own…” Yet whatever the psalmist intended, we cannot escape the truth, that if anything good is accomplished, it is by His hand, not our own. For that matter, even things we would not call “good” are done according to His will, part of a plan that is far beyond our understanding and foresight.
If you want to should joyfully, be filled with gladness, etc. you need to come to grips with the reality that you are not your own. You were fashioned, and are even a masterpiece, created not by random happenstance, but by the hand of God almighty. Let your steps be directed every day by the One who made every intricate detail of your being. Hold nothing back, and see what amazing things will happen–“For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness if everlasting and His faithfulness endures to all generations.”