The Axioms of Life • Psalm 100

Notes

Everyone has to start at the beginning. You have to have a start point for your life, so you know where you are, which end is up. It’s your orientation point: you are here, here is everything else.

For us, the starting point is in our thinking. We have to have what are called axioms. Axioms are basic thoughts that we hold to be true. Because they are true, everything that you reason from there is also true. The word comes from a Greek word meaning worthy. Remember that in Philippians 4 Paul exhorts us to think and meditate on things that are worthy. They are to be in your mind, and they are the operating foundation for your life.

You can understand that if you get your start point, your axioms, wrong it will mess up your whole life. You can believe that 2+2=5. But you can never do higher maths. It’s important to get the right starting point.

While meditating through this psalm I realised that we are given seven commands. The commands mean that everyone everywhere is to worship the Lord. Then we are given two statements that I realised are axioms. They are the beginning points for our thinking and our life. They are the reasons why we are to worship the Lord.

Here are the two axioms in Psalm 100: The Lord, He Himself is God, and: the Lord is good.

You should know these axioms and think on them, because they are worthy to think about. They should be ingrained into the fibre of your being. They should pass the 3 a.m. test: If someone wakes you at 3 a.m. and asks, what are the axioms? you should be able to express these two axioms. If you know them, then you live them. They affect all your thoughts and all your actions.

If you don’t know these two axioms then by default you reason and act according to a third axiom that’s not here in Psalm 100 but we will look at that as well.

Let’s read Psalm 100.

1. First notice that there are seven commands given to all people everywhere.

A. This call to worship God is for every human being.

1. There are Bible commentators who say that in verse 3 the idea is that God created the Jewish nation, and that’s all it means.

2. But look at verse 1. This psalm is not addressed just to the Jews, it is addressed to all the earth. What is said and commanded here applies to everyone, everywhere, and in all times.

B. These are the seven commands.

1. Make a joyful shout to the Lord.

2. Serve the Lord with gladness. Serve and worship and interchangeable ideas. You serve what you worship, you worship what you serve.

3. Come before His presence with singing. You are to get yourself to the place where His name dwells, and as you go, you sing. You are mindful of God on the way to worship.

4. Know that the Lord, He is God. That is a command to know the Lord intellectually and by experience.

5. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. As you draw near to God you come with His goodness in your mind and you sing about it.

6. Be thankful to Him, acknowledge His goodness and the good things that He does.

7. Bless His name. His name is the sum of all that God is. To bless is to acknowledge everything that the Lord is.

8. So, shout joyfully, serve with gladness, come, know, enter, be thankful, bless His name.

C. Then there are two reasons given to us that are axioms. These reasons are so basic they are not yet the gospel. But they underlie the gospel, they are the foundation for life.

2. The first axiom that shapes all our thoughts and actions: the Lord, He Himself is God.

A. There is a God, and only one God. He is unique, there is no being like Him. No other gods exist. The devil is not god. Angels are not god. People are not god. Your employer is not god. The government is not god. Fate is not God, Murphy’s Law is not God. Only the Lord Himself is God.

B. He is not merely generic God. His name is the Lord, the God of the Bible. That means He has revealed Himself. He has shown us who He is.

1. He created all things. That is the first revelation of Genesis 1.

2. It shows us that He is before all things. That is, He is eternal. He has always been, He always will be. He alone is self-existent. Everything else is created and therefore dependent upon Him.

3. We learn also that the Lord has all authority because He is the creator. That very word “authority” has in it the idea of “author”. The author of all things has all authority over heaven and over earth. He has the right to command heaven and earth because He is the creator.

4. God has also revealed that He is brilliant. You get that from all that He has created. He is imaginative. He made colours. He made variations on a theme. Think about dolphins, elephants, sequoia trees that are 3000 years old. He is fascinating and astoundingly brilliant.

5. The greatest revelation is that the Lord has also revealed that He is three persons in one Godhead. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is improper to say three Gods. There are not three Gods. There has only, ever, been the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and there is only one God.

3. The author here takes a step further with this axiom, that the Lord, He Himself is God. It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.

A. Here is the effect this first axiom has on our thinking and our actions. Because God is God and He is the creator, that means that He created us.

1. Again, that means that we are not God. We are not self-existent. There was a time when we didn’t exist. He brought us into existence. We don’t keep ourselves going. We are not infinite like God. We don’t have all power. We don’t have the authority, because we are not God.

2. It is profound to understand that I didn’t make myself. I didn’t determine my gender. I didn’t determine where I was born. I didn’t determine my upbringing, my tastes, my emotions, my tendencies, my height, my weight. When you think about it, everything you are is given to you.

3. If I made myself, I could take the credit. Hey, good job! Good looking! Aren’t I fabulous? I made myself! But because He made me, and I didn’t make me, then who gets the credit? Who made me? The Lord.

B. This is who every person on the planet is. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

1. He made us for Himself. That means He wants us, and it means that He has a purpose in bringing us into existence. That purpose is His purpose. We are for Him.

2. We are not random molecules colliding with other random molecules trying to figure out what in the world is going on, what is our purpose in life, which end is up?

3. Not only that, but that defines what this world is. It’s a pasture. Pasture is for sheep, to nurture, feed, and supply sheep. This world is made by God to supply our needs, be a place to live as we live for His purposes. That’s His tree, His air we breathe, His earth we plow, His rain, His moon. It all belongs to Him, and He made it for us to live in.

4. That means He has made Himself our Shepherd. The One who takes care of His flock. He tends, cares for, nurtures His people. He does not mean for us to be on our own. He knows us, He cares for us. He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture.

4. The second axiom that shapes all our thoughts and actions: God is good.

A. That seems lame, doesn’t it? That’s all? Just good? That sounds like three stars on Amazon. He’s okay, but there’s better stuff out there.

B. God defines the word “good” by Himself. He is what “good” is.

C. And He defines “good” by these two attributes: lovingkindness and faithfulness.

1. Lovingkindness is strong, faithful, covenant love. This is why God does anything, always because of His strong, faithful, covenant love. Read Psalm 136 and you will see how many different things God does because of His lovingkindness.

2. Faithfulness means firmness, steadfastness, fidelity. It means keeping a promise, doing what you said you were going to do, when you said you were going to do it. It means you don’t change your mind because of changing circumstances. Because He is God, He already knows all the circumstances. He is in sovereign control of the circumstances. He knows all people, He knows what we’re made of, which is dust. He does not change because He is not a man. He is God.

3. All this lovingkindness and faithfulness is forever. He is eternal, all-powerful to love, and He is faithful to all generations. In each generation God is the same loving, faithful God. We have been looking at this in our study of Hebrews 11 on Friday nights. The God of Abraham is the same God of Moses, and the same God of Isaiah seven centuries later, and the same God of the Apostle Paul. And two thousand years later He is the same God right now.

D. Lovingkindness and faithfulness are what you need in a relationship. Without love and faithfulness you don’t have a relationship.

E. What it points to is that relationship with God is the highest purpose in life and it is eternal life. To not have a relationship with God is death.

5. People who don’t believe these two axioms believe in a third axiom that shapes all their thoughts and actions.

A. Psalms 53:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” they are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; there is no one who does good.

B. This is also an axiom, but it is not true. The result of thinking this basic axiom that there is no God is corrupt living, without exception. Nobody who says in their mind, there is no God, lives rightly. Every wicked act comes from believing this false axiom. Because they do not believe there is a creator, that means there is no authority. There is no judgment. No one can tell me what to do. There are no boundaries. I can do what I want.

C. That is what makes worshipping God for these people ridiculous. Christopher Hitchens said, “So, if I don’t tell God He’s fabulous, He’s going to send me to hell?” If you put it that way, it does sound petty and egotistical and ridiculous. But that statement is the natural result of this axiom, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.

D. But notice that if you hold that there is no God you have no basis for your relationships. They will be weak, fragile. They will all fail and fall apart. Without relationships we are destroyed people. That has been highlighted during the lockdown and restrictions. People find out their marriage is terrible, they were disguising it with activity. But now they have to live close together and they can’t handle it. They don’t have the means to live together because you need lovingkindness and faithfulness and they don’t know where you get that and they run out.

5. So what?

A. What you believe, your axioms, really affect your thoughts and your life.

B. What are your axioms? Do you believe that the Lord Himself is God? Do you believe that God is good? Or do you believe that there is no God?

C. You can look at your life and find out what you believe. Do you get wound up with everything going on? Live in fear, rush to buy toilet paper because there’s more restrictions coming. I have to provide for myself because I am alone, I made myself? Do you practically live as though there is no God?

D. I remember listening to a man named Dean Sherman speak. He worked with Youth With A Mission, YWAM, and he would counsel the youth when they asked for help. One kid was complaining to him about everything that was going wrong, this, that, and the other, and then he asked Dean, “What do I do?” Dean says, “It’s hopeless.” The kid says, “What?!” Dean says, “I think it’s hopeless. I don’t see a way out. You’re doomed.” The kid says, “But you’re supposed to counsel me!” Dean says, “There’s no God. Nobody can help you.” The kid says, “Wait a minute, of course there’s a God, this is YWAM.” Dean says, “Well, if there is a God, that’s different. Everything you just complained to me about is invalid.”

E. What are your axioms? The Lord, He Himself is God? The Lord is good? Or, there is no God? This is the 3 am test. Someone wakes you up at 3 am and asks what are your axioms? What would you say? “You’re waking me up! There is no God! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Or, the Lord, He Himself is God, He is good!

F. If you hold that the Lord Himself is God, and that He is good, then you worship Him. You obey these seven commands written here. You have a reasonable basis to worship God. You have an obligation to worship God because He commanded you to worship Him, all the earth.

G. You begin with Jesus. He died for your sins and rose from the dead so that you can be born again to be a worshipper of God. Receive Jesus!

H. But then realise, you are to be a worshipper of God. Come! Shout, know, give thanks, bless His holy name.

I. Is it for God’s sake? In reality, it’s for your sake.

1. As you worship God you find that you experience God’s goodness directly.

2. You will continue to know which end is up, even as the world flips completely out because of those who believe that there is no God. It’s going to get worse. But you don’t have to live that way. You can live directly from the goodness of God.

Let’s pray.