Psalm 100 is “A Psalm for giving thanks.” Yesterday’s post focused on the first three verses, and today’s covers the last two, which continue the Psalmist’s encouragement to personally join them in thanksgiving.
Psalm 100:4 reads:
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
Verse 3 ended describing us as God’s sheep, and as our Shepherd, He guides us into His presence. At the time the Psalm was written, this would probably be in His temple, but for us it is whenever we worship in public or in private. Does our worship involve willing and joyful giving of thanks, praise, and blessing to God? Or do we sometimes worship reluctantly? Do we feel we don’t measure up to what God expects? In case we need encouragement, the Psalmist continues with verse 5:
“For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
Like verse 3 covered yesterday, this verse is a list of things to be thankful for. A list of reasons we can enter His gates and courts with thanksgiving and praise:
“For the LORD is good” – We can approach God and worship Him because He is good “his steadfast love endures forever” – We can approach Him because His love is steadfast “and his faithfulness to all generations.” – We can approach Him because of His faithfulness
It is His characteristics that make Him love us, and His character endures forever. If we have lacked goodness, love, or faithfulness since we last met with God, His love for us in Christ overcomes it all. His nature is 100% reliable, and worthy of our thanksgiving!
Take a moment and ask Him how you might participate in the Psalms, being thankful for His character regardless of how your day is going, or how you feel. He wants to walk through it with you. Be thankful!
When reading the Psalms we should keep in mind that the writers aren’t just trying to teach us about God, but they are trying to share their experience of Him. Some Psalms give us instructions like “sing to the LORD a new song” in Psalm 96. Psalm 100 is “A Psalm for giving thanks,” and like Psalm 96, spells out ideas for doing it. Today will focus on the first three verses, and tomorrow on the last 2.
Psalm 100 begins with:
“A Psalm for giving thanks.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
First, the Psalmist wants the whole earth to make a joyful noise, but notes that singing and making a joyful noise are not the only part of giving thanks. We are encouraged to thank God by serving Him, not reluctantly, but to serve with the same gladness we have when we sing in worship.
The third verse reads like a list of things to be thankful for. When we feel like there’s nothing to be thankful for, or no motivation to serve, consider:
“Know that the LORD, he is God!” – Our Lord is not powerless, He is God! “It is he who made us, and we are his” – We are not accidents of a mindless nature, we are His! “We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” – We do not have to wander aimlessly through life, not knowing where we are going, we belong to a flock and our Shepherd provides us pasture!
Take a moment and ask Him how you might participate in the Psalms, carrying these instructions into your daily circumstances.
An old friend used to encourage me to read the Bible every day, and his reasoning was: “The Bible is 66 love letters from God. If you got a love letter from any other person, would you put off reading it?” It took many years before I really took this to heart, but I always remembered it.
Dear fellow travelers,
I pass along that story, but I’ll also add more to it. The best times are not when we just read these letters. Devotions aren’t just lessons, memorization exercises, a disciplinary action, or a time to pay your dues so you can get on with your day. They are time spent with Someone who loves you more than anything, and who wants you to love and trust Him more than anything. Treat Him as you would treat an honored guest, because He is really there with you.
Think of it this way – How often do you get to spend time with someone who fulfills 1 Cor 13:4-7 perfectly?
Someone who is patient and kind; who does not envy or boast; is not arrogant or rude. Who does not insist on His own way; is not irritable or resentful; does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [1]
Nobody else we see today will be nearly as good to us.
We all miss days, even weeks or longer, but He is patient and kind. We can try again tomorrow or later today, and He will be there.
[1] This paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 was suggested in a devotional: “August 30.” James Montgomery Boice and Marion Clark. Come to the Waters: Daily Bible Devotions for Spiritual Refreshment. (2017). It was also the basis of a prior post, Jesus is Patient and Kind Even When I am Not
All the people benefit from leaders and rulers who fear God. In Deuteronomy, when God reluctantly says Israel may set a king over them in the future[1], He also required the king to have specific habits to cultivate a fear of God in them:
“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20, emphasis mine)
These requirements have several parts. First, the king was to “write for himself in a book a copy of this law.” “This law” refers to what we now think of as the first five books of the Bible – all 187 chapters of it. Imagine the time that would take, but this tedious exercise was designed to help the king internalize the message. Quickly skimming over the Bible would not do.
Second, the king had to get this copy “approved by the Levitical priests,” to make sure nothing was added or left out, but also to remind the king that His authority is subject to God’s authority, as intermediated by the priests at that time. Regardless of what laws the king might pass, God’s laws would always reign supreme and eternal.
Third, the king was to “read in it all the days of his life,” because it takes time and effort to dig the treasures of wisdom out of the Bible. However, it is worth the effort because Psalm 19:10 tells us these truths are:
“More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”
Also, the king would be surrounded by reminders of his worldly greatness every day, so constant meditation on the law would show him his reliance on God. The king needs a constant reminder that he is under God, whose law applies to everyone.
These habits exist “that he may learn to fear the LORD,” which leads to “doing” the law. Even the king is expected to do what God commands, not just tell others to. With “doing” as the objective, the king will remain humble and learn the fear of God, because we may be able to know God’s word, but doing it is the real challenge and we can only succeed by His grace.
These habits also exist to make sure the king does not err “either to the right hand or to the left.” This encouragement is later echoed in Moses’ words in Joshua 1:7-8, but what does it mean? I think it means that without constant saturation in God’s word, we can fall into a trap of not following God’s positive will, but instead defining ourselves by what we’re against. In trying to avoid one sin, we drift too far in the opposite direction and into another, equally destructive, sin. Instead, positive obedience coming from the fear of God should be better than fine gold and “sweeter also than honey.” Truth is often subtle and not as black-and-white as we’d like it to be.
Most of us aren’t kings, but we can apply the passage from Deuteronomy in our prayers. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” But what shall we pray for them? As Deuteronomy suggests, we should pray that they know God, fear God, and obey God, that they may be humble, and we may prosper.
Also, are you a leader? Do you serve in a position of authority at your church, workplace, or other organization? These habits will benefit you and those you serve anywhere. (In societies where we can easily get a Bible, we don’t need to create our own copies of it, but we should seek to internalize as much of the Bible as possible, through memorization and other means.) As Solomon wrote in Psalm 127:1 –
“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
If you’re not a leader, these habits are beneficial for you as well, as Psalm 128:1 says:
“Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!”
Psalm 100 is “A Psalm for giving thanks.” Yesterday’s post focused on the first three verses, and today’s covers the last two, which continue the Psalmist’s encouragement to personally join them in thanksgiving.
Psalm 100:4 reads:
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
Verse 3 ended describing us as God’s sheep, and as our Shepherd, He guides us into His presence. At the time the Psalm was written, this would probably be in His temple, but for us it is whenever we worship in public or in private. Does our worship involve willing and joyful giving of thanks, praise, and blessing to God? Or do we sometimes worship reluctantly? Do we feel we don’t measure up to what God expects? In case we need encouragement, the Psalmist continues with verse 5:
“For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
Like verse 3 covered yesterday, this verse is a list of things to be thankful for. A list of reasons we can enter His gates and courts with thanksgiving and praise:
“For the LORD is good” – We can approach God and worship Him because He is good “his steadfast love endures forever” – We can approach Him because His love is steadfast “and his faithfulness to all generations.” – We can approach Him because of His faithfulness
It is His characteristics that make Him love us, and His character endures forever. If we have lacked goodness, love, or faithfulness since we last met with God, His love for us in Christ overcomes it all. His nature is 100% reliable, and worthy of our thanksgiving!
Take a moment and ask Him how you might participate in the Psalms, being thankful for His character regardless of how your day is going, or how you feel. He wants to walk through it with you. Be thankful!
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 