The deeper we know something the more we are able to enjoy it. A few weeks ago I took my wife to an Air Supply concert for her birthday. I grew up listening to my parent’s music which didn’t include Air Supply, but my wife grew up on her older sisters’ music which obviously did. Because I wanted to enjoy the concert and more importantly, because I wanted to enjoy it with my wife, I did my research. I listened to the hits before we went, I dug a little bit into their story, I tried to find out who wrote the songs and why. All of this made for better concert experience. We had a blast belting out “I can’t live, if living is without you,” together. 

When God invites us into deeper intimacy with him through worship, he’s inviting us to know him more and to enjoy him more. Psalm 100 is not only an open invitation to worship God, but it is an invitation into the joy and gladness that the Father, Son, and Spirit share. We are invited (v.3) to know God, but also to be known by God. There is more than a merely intellectual knowledge implied by this word translated “know.” We are invited to know God deeply through experience and relationship. The more we know him, the more we will want to praise him. The deeper we know him, the deeper our joy will be. 

Not only are we able to know God, but we find that God already knows us. He knows us as our Creator, but he also knows us as his special chosen people—his family. This Psalm goes on to say he knows us like a shepherd knows the sheep of his pasture. Jesus picks up this metaphor in John 10. The Shepherd knows the sheep, and the sheep know him. He calls the sheep, and the sheep follow his voice. Jesus goes so far as to say, “They will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

As you grow in your knowledge of God, you will also grow in your discernment about what is not of God. A couple of days ago I heard a song on the radio and a friend said, “that’s Air Supply.” Because of my crash course on the band weeks earlier, I was skeptical. It didn’t sound like the band, but I wasn’t sure. The more you know the real thing, the faster you can spot the fake. The same thing is true with God. As you get to know his goodness, his love, and his faithfulness through his revealed Word in the Bible you will be able to discern truth from error. As you live your life in obedience to God, you will be able to discern the prompting of the Holy Spirit in your life. As you follow your Shepherd, Jesus Christ, you will grow to hear his voice even in the howling storms of life; and as you draw close to God, you will experience the joy and gladness of a relationship with the Triune God. Why do Christians sing? We sing because we can’t help it. We have found something truly worth singing about.