"For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." — Psalm 100:5

I spent the morning praying through Psalm 100. 

I meant to read through it, pray through it, move on to commentaries, and then get started writing this post. But I got stuck, like really, really stuck. And I want to tell you why. But first I need to confess something:

I haven’t felt close to God lately. 

Like here I am, doing this work where I’m constantly interacting with God’s words—reading and studying his words, then writing or speaking about them. How, then, do I feel so far away from him? How has my relationship with the God who loves me and rescues me and speaks to me become rigid and cold? How has every interaction become sterile? Perhaps because I’m not really relating to him, it seems I’m only dissecting him like a dead thing under a microscope. 

But the truth is: I’m the dead thing. And I know it. I’ve been faking it—not dealing with it, thinking, “Maybe this will fix itself.” And I swept all my dead feelings under the rug, skirting around them, as if there wasn’t a whole mountain of rot “hidden” in the middle of my living room. 

Then, I read Psalm 100, and everything was uncovered. 

God laid me bare with his living Word—exposing me under his microscope—joints and marrow, soul and spirit, thoughts and intentions, all naked, all seen (Hebrews 4:12-13). Would he dissect me like some dead thing? Like I had done to him? All my falseness was revealed by his truth in Psalm 100.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Do you hear these words? Words of genuine praise and joyful intimacy with God? How could they not burn like judgment on my false lips? Joyful songs? Praise and thanksgiving? Gladness and worship? I didn’t feel any of those things. Yet, deep down I wanted them to be true. So I did the only thing I could do: I begged God to make those words my own—praying through each phrase with tears of penitence and hope. Oh God, let me worship you with gladness. Let me even shout for joy! You are my God. And I am yours. Truly. Make my soul feel it. And do you know what? He didn’t dissect me under the bright light of his truth like the dead thing I was. Instead, he did what only he can do, he put me back together, joints and marrow, spirit and soul, thoughts and intentions. And like Ezekiel’s vision of old, his words breathed impossible life into my dead bones (Ez. 37:1-14). How could I not sing for joy?

Which brings me to you.

What about you? What dead things have you shoved under the rug? Where do you need God’s Word to expose you? Not for shame, but for health and life. What falseness do you need to replace with truth? Let me plead with you now: plead with God! He will meet you in his Word (maybe Psalm 100?). He will resurrect those dead things and give you life. Why?

“For the Lord is good.” 

Good right now. Good all the time—even in your not-good, in your hiding or avoiding—good to bring you out into the light and good to bring you life. “And his love endures forever.” When you are unlovable, even unlikeable, his love is steadfast and true. He will never abandon you. Surely, “his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Even in your faithlessness, he is still faithful, always faithful. It’s who he is. Let him put you back together and give you life.  

Want to hear more about the goodness, love, and faithfulness of God? Listen to Natalie’s message about this verse on the Dwell Differently Podcast.