“It is He Who Made Us and Not We Ourselves” (Ps 100)

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. (vs1-3)

God is the reason that we're saved, so be thankful. He says, “it is He who made us, and not we ourselves”, and, “we are His people and the sheep of His pasture”. This isn't mere thanks for creation, though it includes that, but it is praise to God for redemption, recognizing that He has given us all that we have freely through the blood of Christ and by the power of His Spirit.

Salvation is God's work, His gift, and ours only because of Him. There is nothing that we've done ourselves, and there is no way that we'd stand for one second, apart from absolute, 100% grace! Bless His holy name! He could have passed us by and left us under the penalty of sin to pay forever in hell, but He's decided to save us according to His will. He says, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:9-10). It was up to God entirely, and He chose to save you, so be happy, thankful, and count your blessings in holiness before the throne. He says, “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing.” Tell God in prayer and praise that He is great, and you are BLESSED, blessed, blessed!

I've thought that somehow I’ve had some strength, something to make me stand above others, but over time, God has revealed that I'm nothing. If you've been under the power of temptation, seen the failures of your own self, and seen how impossible it is for you to make it, then you know that free grace, full pardon, and power from on high - an outside of you source of strength and peace – is of God.

As a young believer, I was tempted to leave Christ after a long honeymoon with Him, but He recovered me by His grace. Since then, I've had seasons of doubt, fear, and failure, and now I know more than ever that it was Him at the start, and it is Him now. It isn't only, “He got me started, but now I do something myself”; it is totally and continually grace. God's forgiveness is eternal in nature, every day, awakening us to continued mercies in Christ. He says, “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (vs5).

People think, “He talks about obedience. He must be proud and deceived”, but you're stupid to believe a gospel that doesn't make obedience its fruit - that doesn't make you live like what you believe. James 2:20 says, “ But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” Obedience isn't pride, and the apostles didn't preach obedience to praise the flesh, take us OFF of Christ, or move us into self-trust. They point us to Christ's grace as not only the reason that we obey – thankfulness and praise – but they point us to Christ as HOW we obey. We don't love the wife, except we realize Christ's love for us. He says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Eph 5:25). Wives submit to the husband, because they've WILLINGLY bowed to the saving love of Christ. He says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Eph 5:22-23). Everything about obedience is to God's glory and by His power. Praise Him because you bear fruit of your election, and REJOICE that we can do all things through Christ.

This isn't an altar to self, saying, “Praise me. Look what I've done. Look how great and smart I am”. This is gospel praise, and God gets every bit of it. If you have a husband you respect, a wife who treats you right, children who obey, health, a home, food to eat, etc, all of these are reasons to praise God, as you look up to Him through the redemption that's in Christ. He says, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name” (vs4). He gave you all that you have, He keeps it going, and He is worthy of being praised and loved for it. He is God who can do as He pleases, giving and taking, and He's given to you.