Psalms 100:3, commentary and pictures

Know that Jehovah alone is God, and it is He who made humanity and not humanity itself, so all owe their existence to Him as His people and the sheep of His pasture, belonging to Him as Owner and depending on Him as Shepherd for life, sustenance, and care. His creative power and ownership establish His claim to reverence and worship, grounding glad service in His authority as Creator and Shepherd and our belonging to Him. People are not to exalt themselves as God but to acknowledge Him with glad service, singing, thanksgiving, praise, and worship. Bodies, lives, and abilities are His and not ours to use as we please, so we are responsible to Him for how we care for and use what He continually sustains. The church on earth is His beloved fold provided for His sheep, and Jesus longs to gather His flock from among false shepherds and wolves into one flock under one Shepherd as they hear His voice, so those entrusted with shepherding must care faithfully and personally for every sheep and lamb, strengthening especially the weak.

Maker Owner and Shepherd

Know that the LORD is Jehovah, and He alone is God. There is no other who shares that name and place, and no human being is to be lifted up as God. It is He who made humanity, and humanity did not make itself. Every person therefore owes existence itself to Him as Maker and Creator.

Because He made His people, they belong to Him as His people and as the sheep of His pasture. That belonging means He is owner as well as Maker, and they live in dependence on Him as Shepherd for life, sustenance, and care. He tends them as sheep cared for in His own pasture, feeding and keeping what is His.

Bodies, lives, and abilities are His, not ours to use as we please. He sustains human life continually, moment by moment. For that reason human beings are responsible to Him for how they care for and use what He has given and keeps upholding.

Worship Due to Creator

Because he alone is the Lord and God, and because he made human beings instead of their making themselves, all owe their very existence to him and his creative power establishes his rightful claim to reverence and worship. He is Maker and owner of his people, who belong to him as his own people and as sheep belonging to a shepherd who cares for them in his pasture. Glad service is fitting for this reason, grounded in his authority as Creator and Shepherd and in the belonging of his creatures to him. The same promise once spoken to Israel holds for God's people today, with worship due to him as Maker and owner.

Human beings are therefore not to lift themselves up as God, but to acknowledge him as God and Creator. That acknowledgment takes the form of coming before him with glad service, singing, thanksgiving, praise, and worship, offered in gratitude for being made and kept by him. Such joyful thanksgiving and praise belong to him because his people are his and are tended by him like sheep in his pasture.

The Sabbath carries this same message to God's people now, declaring that God is their Creator and that they are his. His commandments were given for their good, and the Sabbath itself was given as a blessing alongside the call to serve him with gladness because he made them and cares for them. In this way what was addressed to Israel continues as a present word, joining creation, belonging, and Sabbath blessing to worship.

Caring for His Flock

The church on earth is his fold, the beloved fold he has provided for the sheep of his pasture who are his own people made by him. Belonging to him as that flock does not shield his people from the consequences of unfaithfulness. He cannot bless and sustain those who reject his commandments, and he removes his favor from those who persist in sin and self-exaltation.

They are his pasture's flock as sheep belong to their shepherd, and Jesus longs to gather them from among false shepherds and wolves. Those he gathers hear his voice and become one flock under one shepherd. One who has wandered from the fold is still one of his sheep who may be brought back. In that same flock image he is entreated in compassion on the sheep and lambs of the church not to abandon them to their corrupt way.

Those entrusted with shepherding them are responsible for caring faithfully for every sheep and lamb and must do them no harm through leadership. The flock belongs to the Lord as their maker and owner, and those who minister to it must care for its sheep and lambs personally and strengthen them, especially the weak, so they become established in the faith. The elders of the church bear that responsibility and should feel a burden for souls. Moses was prepared for caring for the people entrusted to him as the Lord's flock by work as a humble shepherd, which required patience, self-denial, and concern for others.

Because they belong to him as the sheep of his pasture, their needs are a cause for earnest prayer and care, and their troubles call for care and prayer. Those who serve him must care for them personally, especially the poor and oppressed, so that feeding the hungry and meeting real needs for food and clothing are part of shepherding his flock. The image of poor sheep needing to be fed and watched over applies this truth to church members who need spiritual care.