Seekers for Jesus: October- December 2021

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

Seekers for Jesus is a quarterly written especially for young people ages 12-14. In addition to introductory material and biblical exposition, each lesson contains a section to help students apply the lesson to life. Questions are interjected to gauge the student’s understanding of the presentation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Aug 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781681678832

Book preview

Lesson

1

10/03/21

Find Delight

Today’s Scripture

Psalm 100

Background Scripture: Psalm 100

CHECK OUT TODAY’S LESSON

NRSV

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.

Today’s Word

We have many things in our lives that give us the opportunity to be thankful and full of praise. Maybe it comes in the form of our friends and family, or the things that we own, like the house that we live in or the car that we ride in. How can we look at those things and choose what has more value and is worthy of all our appreciation and praise? Do you put a lot of weight into the depth of your friendships? Are you obsessed with designer brands and labels? Or are you most thankful when something is brand new, or the latest and greatest? In today’s lesson, we take a deep look at what the writer of Psalm 100 has to say about putting our joy in the Lord. Psalms 100 tells us that God needs to be at the center of our praise, thankfulness, and joy. Stop and reflect on what it really means to put the Lord in the center of our praise.

Psalms is a large collection of prayers, songs, and poetry that shows deep feelings and passions. The writers of the Psalms take us through the high and low points of our lives and experiences as humans, but they always remind us that our praise should be freely given to God, our Creator. Psalm 100 is considered a great psalm of praise. It is placed behind a group of royal Psalms and can be included as one of them as well.

Many people think of Psalm 100 as a Psalm of Thanksgiving, and it was written with praise throughout. This descriptive Psalm even contains a worship response. Because it is known as a Psalm of Thanksgiving it deals with publicly recognizing the Lord’s work and thanking and worshiping Him for it. This psalm begins by telling us that we should worship the Lord, and it ends by telling us that the Lord’s goodness and mercy will last forever. What a great reason for us to celebrate and give thanks! Ponder on the last line, His goodness and mercy will last forever. What does that mean to you on your Christian journey?

Give Willing and Joyful Praise

Psalm 100 is written just like all the other, typical psalms of praise and worship. It begins by inviting us to praise the Lord, then gives the reasons why we should give Him praise. Throughout this psalm, the main thought is to praise and worship. It begins with the instructions to Make a joyful shout and is a clear command for us to praise the Lord in a very public and noticeable way. It does not tell us exactly who should be making the joyful shout, which is very important. That means that this Scripture is telling us that everyone should give a joyful shout.

This command does not list the people of Israel, or call anyone else by name, as the ones who should be making a joyful shout. Instead, it tells us that all the earth should shout with joy to the Lord. God is clearly the Lord over all the earth, and as such, He deserves praise from all the earth not just from a small list of people or the people of Israel only. The Lord did not just create the people of Israel. He created every one of us in His image. This is the reason we should all worship the Lord with a heart full of praise and happiness!

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Before we even get our day started, when we wake up we should thank Him and give Him praise for waking us up. The moment we step into His presence, we should be prepared and happy to worship Him. This psalm tell us this as well. It says that we should come into His presence and already be singing with joy. When we do this, we are acknowledging that the Lord is God, and we are showing Him that we are happy to praise Him. The Lord made us, and we show Him our gratitude by doing this.

The writer of this psalm understood that God created His chosen people, and they should worship and serve only Him. It is wonderful that we are part of God’s chosen people because that means we belong to the Lord. We are His people. God leads us like a shepherd, and we are like the sheep of His pasture. Just like sheep belong to their shepherd, we belong to the Lord. And just like a shepherd looks after and takes care of his sheep, God looks after and takes care of us.

Psalm 100 calls for us to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and enter His courts with praise. This means that the people of the Lord can enter into the Lord’s presence. And when we do this, we need to enter with worship, because it pleases God for us to show gratitude for all His work. When we give thanks to Him and bless His name, we are being obedient to the Word of God and publicly showing our appreciation. Do not feel embarrassed or ashamed to praise the Lord! The psalm reminds us that there is no one more worthy of our praise than God.

Participate in free and willing worship of the Lord, by whose goodness and mercy we are always being blessed. Not only is the Lord good, but His unfailing love will last forever. Every generation is included in the Lord’s faithfulness, and His goodness comes from His unfailing love and His truth. We can put all of our faith in the Lord, and we can be confident that He will never fail us. What a great reason for us to praise the Lord with our whole being!

This psalm is an invitation for everyone to come and praise the Lord; to thank Him for all that He does for us. Don’t be afraid to be loud and proud with your praise, and invite others to praise Him with you! You can start small by just telling the Lord, Thank You. Try it and see what a difference it will