It seems impossible, but with the arrival of this coming Lord’s Day we will gather before our Savior in worship for the last time in 2019. The days and weeks and months have flown by, and here we are once again at the beginning of another new year!

Every December I think and pray most seriously about what we should preach on the final Sunday of the year. Advent has come and gone, and the new month and year have not yet arrived. So what text of Holy Scripture should we consider as we worship on this last Sunday of 2019? What passage will help us to faithfully conclude the present year, and launch us off into a new one with an even greater love and commitment to our glorious King?

Well, the text I have chosen for this Lord’s Day is Psalm 100. Many of you will immediately recognize this one, perhaps having committed its five simple verses to memory. It is a psalm about worship. Not only does it define worship for us, but it also provides us with reasons, or motives, for our joyous celebration in the presence of God.

It was Karl Barth, the celebrated Swiss Reformed theologian, who once declared that, “ Christian worship is the most momentous, the most urgent, the most glorious action that can take place in human life.” And this is precisely the main point made in this blessed Psalm!

The reason I’ve desired to come here, to Psalm 100, on our last Sunday together in 2019 is that the arrival of the New Year is a most appropriate time to recalibrate our life-compass, so to speak. Once again, we need to reestablish our coordinates, reaffirm our main priority, and set the course for another year of service to our Savior and Lord. I believe this Psalm will help us to do these things. And its message will lift our hearts, embolden our steps, and solidify our love and commitment to our King as we prepare to enter another year.

I hope you will take time to read and reflect upon Psalm 100 as you prepare for worship. And may our gracious Father bless you all with a wonderful weekend!