Psalm 100:1-5. [1] Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! [2] Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! [3] 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. [4] Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! [5] For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (ESV)
If someone was unfamiliar with Canadian culture they might get some strange ideas from the calendar. They may assume that families are most important on the Ontario "Family Day". They might assume that we idolize the powers of the groundhog on "Groundhog Day". Finally, they might think that we are only thankful on "Thanksgiving".
It is a striking fact about the one hundredth psalm that it is the only one in the Psalter explicitly identified as “a psalm for giving thanks.” The setting is assumed to be that of a company of worshipers in front of the gates to the sanctuary summoned to enter the courts of the sanctuary with shouts and songs of praise. A thanksgiving service, with a thanksgiving sacrifice, would follow the entry (cf. Lev 7:12–15). A part of the service would be a meal, with the worshipers sharing together in eating part of the meat from the sacrifice (Tate, M. E. (1998). Psalms 51–100 (Vol. 20, p. 535). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.).
So much of this Psalm reflects contemporary celebrations of thanksgiving except one element. Today, most people misplace their source of thanks. We can be a joyous and thankful people yet have a completely misplaced joy and thanks. Unless we place God as the exclusive source of blessing and praise, then our thanksgiving will be little else than a session of pride.
Psalm 100 contains seven great imperatives, plus two explanations of why we should give thanks. Divided into three sections, it shows us: (1) A Statement of How to give thanks (Psalm 100:1-2), (2) An Explanation of Why God’s people must give thanks (Psalm 100:3), and (3) An invitation to Whom should we give Thanks (Psalm 100:4-5)
To Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving, we must first understand:
1) How Should We Give Thanks? (Psalm 100:1-2)
Psalm 100:1-2.[1] Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! [2] Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! (ESV)
Occasionally, when someone has done something special for us, we find ourselves asking, “What can I do for so-and-so to show my appreciation?” It is a valid question and not always an easy one to answer. But think: If it is hard to know how to show appreciation to another human being, how much more difficult must it be to show appreciation to God? How should we show appreciation to God? We cannot thank God by giving Him something. He needs nothing from us. What can we do? The opening verses suggest three things.
First, We can “make a joyful noise/shout.” That seems a strange place to begin, particularly since the psalm envisions the people of God giving thanks together in God’s house. Is that really what we are to do? Are we to come to church in order to make a joyful noise/shout? It is helpful to know that the Hebrew word originally meant a glad shout, such as loyal subjects might utter when the king appears among them, the emphasis being on the gladness. It would be accurate to express this idea by saying that the people of God are to praise God loudly because they are happy with him. It would be very difficult for a person to feel great joy in his or her heart without expressing it (Tesh, S. E., & Zorn, W. D. (1999). Psalms (p. 235). College Press.)
• When do we see this happening? Ever been to or watched a sporting event? Do you notice what happens when a crowd of anticipation sees the team take the field? There is cheering and excitement. That is the type of joy we are to have in coming into the presence of God. Is worship boring for you? You may not realize exactly who it is you are coming to.
Quote: Spurgeon said of this verse, “Our happy God should be worshipped by a happy people; a cheerful spirit is in keeping with his nature, his acts, and the gratitude which we should cherish for his mercies.”
What is the scope of this indented joyful noise/shout: "all the earth". It is an invitation to all the people of all the world to praise God. There is a very strong intended connection between evangelism and thanksgiving. If we exist as a thankful people, God will use that joy in Him to draw others to Christ. If we are a complaining, doubtful, and discouraged people, we are not a thankful people, and we fail in the call to draw "all the earth" in giving thanks. The whole earth too is summoned to “shout for joy to the LORD.” The nations must recognize who the Lord is (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 639). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
How should we show appreciation to God? Second, We can “serve.” Verse 2 says, “Serve the LORD. An act of worship is well named a ‘service’. It is the first response we owe him—and not, in either sense of the word, the last (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 389). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
The verb serve means to minister. In worship, like the priests before the altar, we give ourselves to God. Similarly, Paul exhorts us to offer our bodies to the Lord as “living sacrifices,” which is our “reasonable service” or ministry to Him (Rom. 12:1) (Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1989). Psalms 73–150 (Vol. 14, p. 208). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.).
We are to "Serve the LORD with gladness.” This means we do what God has called us to do willingly and joyfully. Are we to thank God by serving others? Yes, but we are to worship God too. In other words, faith and works go together. A social gospel alone is not enough. In fact, silent belief is not enough. I am struck by the well-rounded nature of these terms—shout, serve, and come—for they embrace our verbal witness, our humanitarian activity, and worship, three necessary parts of Christianity.
• If our worship does not translate to service, then we have misunderstood how God expects us to love and serve Him. This should especially apply to when we come together itself. Many people today find it convenient to, as they say, “worship at home”. Besides those of extreme infirmity, this should not be. What is forgotten is an essential purpose of worship itself. We come together to glorify God and serve others. Sunday should be the most encouraging time of the week where we can pray for, encourage, assist and join forces to tackle every obstacle.
God is not satisfied by mere mechanical actions but desires and creates a heart that joyfully serves Him. The “gladness” (sim?ah) reflects the joy in living in harmony with the Creator, Redeemer, and King. The sacrifices of “joyful songs” (v. 2; cf. Heb 13:15) are proper as one approaches his presence (cf. 95:6; 96:8; Isa 1:12) (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 639). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.).
Please turn to Matthew 25
Worship starts with formal congregational adoration but it does not stop there. Worship must go from the corporate out the door with the individual. But how can we serve someone who has everything? Jesus explained how we can serve Him:
Matthew 25:35-40. [35]For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, [36]I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' [37] Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? [38] And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? [39] And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' [40] And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' (ESV)
• Specifically, on what we have just read in Matthew 25, how can this all relate to being thankful? Jesus said that we give thanks when we meet the needs of others. We thank God by feeding the hungry. At thanksgiving, there are many who are hungry. We can serve Christ by inviting them to dine with. We thank God by welcoming strangers. Part of our efforts on thanksgiving should be to help those far from family feel welcome in our family. They need to be included in family times by church people We thank God by clothing those who lack adequate clothing and by caring for those who are sick and lack adequate care. Christians should not only care for but even stay with those who are sick or dying. As we have people we know, including those of the congregation ill or dying, we need to visit them at the hospital and nursing homes. We thank God by visiting those who are in prison. Although there are no longer any immediate prisons around here, we have some in our midst to minister to those in prison.
How should we show appreciation to God? Third, We can “come.” The third imperative at the beginning of Psalm 100 is “come.” To "Come into His presence with singing" refers to formal worship, since the psalm describes the coming of the people of God to Jerusalem and its temple enclosure. Something happens when we put our reservations aside and come into the Lord’s presence with singing. If you feel far from the Lord, sing songs of praise to Him for He inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). God seeks those who worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23). Therefore, if you want the Lord to seek you, (corporately) worship Him—and, as you do, you’ll find that you are once again aware of His presence. (Courson, J. (2006). Jon Courson’s application commentary: Volume two: Psalms-Malachi (p. 123). Thomas Nelson)
Illustration: Thanksgiving
A wine company advertisement in Newsweek magazine read, “The earth gives us wonderful grapes. The grapes give us wonderful wine. The wine wins us lots of new friends. Thank you, earth.” How easy it is to give credit and thanks to everything or everyone but the real source of all our blessings! (Newsweek, 20 June 1994.)
• The greatest tragedy of a weekend of Thanksgiving like this is that for the majority of people they want to enjoy the fruits of provision without thanking the provider.
To Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving, we must also understand:
2) Why Must We Give God Thanks (Psalm 100:3)
Psalm 100:3 [3] 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. (ESV)
The fourth imperative in this psalm is “know” (v. 3). By including this word the psalm tells us that our thanksgiving to God must be intelligent; we must know whom we are thanking. The Athenian Greeks had been worshiping “an unknown God.” But when Paul stood on Mars hill to address them, he said, “What you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). We cannot rightly thank or worship a God who is unknown to us. So we ask, What is it about God we should know? Verse 3 gives two answers: (1) He is our Creator, and (2) He is our Redeemer. The first thing we should notice about this verse is the connection between knowing God as Creator and knowing ourselves as his creatures. This is the point John Calvin made in the opening chapter of his Institutes of the Christian Religion when he pointed out that the natural result of knowing God is to know ourselves, and that the only way we really know ourselves is by knowing God. Knowing God and knowing ourselves always go together. In the early Christian church when the first persecution broke out, the apostles came back to the church in Jerusalem and reported what was happening. Their report moved the church to pray, and they began their prayer by saying, “Lord, you are God …” (Acts 4:24). You can respond: “That is easy to say.” Yes, but the question is, Do you believe it today? (To truly “know” God is to trust that He is God and live in trust and not fear) (McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: Poetry (Psalms 90-150) (electronic ed., Vol. 19, p. 34). Thomas Nelson.)
The second thing we need to notice about this verse is the implication of the words “he … made us.” In this knowing, there are two specifics: First, we are to Know God as Creator. What happens to us when we do not know God as Creator? We imagine that we are our own creators. Sometimes we do this scientifically. This is what lies behind the surprising persistent appeal of evolution. The appeal of evolution is that it does away with the need for God. It explains how things got to be as they are without any divine creative force behind them. Of course, if we do not need God as our Creator, then we do not need to be thankful. Why should we? We got here by ourselves, thank you. We have no one but ourselves to thank. Another way we imagine that we are our own creators is by an inordinate admiration of our abilities or achievements. We spend this time proud that we could work to purchase what we have. Many look at their families and are thankful that they did such a good job. It is only when we know God as our Creator that we know ourselves as his creatures and find ourselves appropriately thankful to him. If it is really God who has made us, not ourselves, and if we are his because he made us, then we are his to do with as seems best to Him. It is in this same manner that the apostle Paul expressed his own desire about Jesus who had confronted him on the Damascus road: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.… I want to know Christ” (Phil 3:8, 10a). God has created a people, His most “prized treasure” (Exod 19:5, 6; cp. 1 Pet 2:9), and on this basis He claims ownership of these people (Tesh, S. E., & Zorn, W. D. (1999). Psalms (p. 238). College Press.).
Please turn to John 10
We are also to Know God as Redeemer. Even more important than knowing God as Creator is knowing him as Redeemer, which is what the words “his people” and “the sheep of his pasture” ultimately refer to. It is hard at this point not to think of David’s moving, personal expression of faith in God as his shepherd in Psalm 23: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want” (v. 1). There may also be in them more than a hint of surprised amazement. Imagine … we … his people! Something goes out of faith when we lose that sense of amazement. (Davidson, R. (1998). The vitality of worship: a commentary on the book of Psalms (p. 327). W.B. Eerdmans; Handsel Press.)
Think of the way the Lord explained it to the disciples in His extensive discourse on Himself as the Good Shepherd, recorded in John 10:
John 10:11-16. [11]I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [12] He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [13] He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. [14]I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. [16] And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd. (ESV)
• If there is no other reason why we must be thankful to God it is because He has both made us and redeemed us. No one should be more thankful to God than the sheep who are cared for by the Good Shepherd.
Poem: 6588 I Thank Thee.
This thankfulness expressed poetically: O Thou whose bounty fills my cup, With every blessing meet! I give Thee thanks for every drop— The bitter and the sweet. I praise Thee for the desert road, And for the riverside; For all Thy goodness hath bestowed, And all Thy grace denied. I thank Thee for both smile and frown, And for the gain and loss; I praise Thee for the future crown And for the present cross. I thank Thee for both wings of love Which stirred my worldly nest; And for the stormy clouds which drove Me, trembling, to Thy breast. I bless Thee for the glad increase, And for the waning joy; And for this strange, this settled peace Which nothing can destroy. (Christian Victory)
Finally, To Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving, we must understand:
3) To Whom should we Give Thanks (Psalm 100:4)
Psalm 100:4-5. [4]Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! [5] For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (ESV)
The third part of the psalm is an invitation to thank God, and once again there are three strong imperatives: “enter,” “praise.” and “give thanks,”. Entering the presence of God has been made possible through Christ who opened the way (John 14:6; Heb. 10:19–22). As we saw in verses one and two, our thanks to God should be expressed by what we do for others. But when we get to verse 4 the emphasis is clearly upon the gathering of God’s people to the temple to thank and praise God together. It teaches that there is a special aspect of thanksgiving that involves the whole people of God together and not just the private prayers of individuals. When God called us to Christ he did not call us in isolation but to be his elect people together, participating in a common heritage. This means that those among whom, for whom, and with whom we should give thanks are other believers. Moreover, we should exercise responsibility toward these others by encouraging a thankful response in them toward God. How do we thank God? One way is by inviting others to join us in the thanksgiving. I can imagine that this psalm was often used as an invitation from one Jewish worshiper to another to come to the holy city or to the temple to thank God for his benefits. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1064). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
Please turn to Psalm 34
Verse 5, the final verse invites us to thank God because of who He is. Specifically, it tells us three things about him: First, we must know that: God is “good.” (106:1; 118:1; 125:3; 136:1; 145:9; 1 Chr 16:34; 2 Chr 5:13, 7:3; Ezr 3:11; etc.). The Self made gods of the nations were not good. They were selfish and capricious. You could never know when they might turn against you and do you harm. Not so with our God. The God of the Bible is and has always been good. When He created the world and all that is in it, He saw that it was “good” (Gen. 1:4–31). When He gave us His law, that law was “good” (Rom. 7:12). When He reveals His will to us, His will is “good, pleasing and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). The word gospel means the “good news.” God’s goodness is based on His loyal love and His truth (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Ps 100:5). T. Nelson Publishers.).
No wonder the psalmist cried out:
Psalm 34:1-8 [34:1] I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. [2] My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. [3] Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! [4]I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. [5] Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. [6] This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. [7] The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. [8] Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (ESV)
Second, we can see that: God is “love.” His "steadfast love" is what we call covenant. God has bound us to Himself in a covenant or compact that He will never revoke or abandon. This promise is fulfilled for us in Jesus who, according to Hebrews, made a new covenant giving us an “eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15) (Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1989). Psalms 73–150 (Vol. 14, p. 210). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.)
Finally, we must know that: God is “faithful.” This love “endures forever.” God is many things. He has many attributes. But nothing lies so much at the very heart of God as love. Nothing so endears him to his people. We live in a world of change. And not only is the world changing, even change is changing, because, as Alvin Toffler has reminded us in Future Shock, change is happening at a faster and faster pace as the years speed on. In the midst of a rapidly changing world, it is a comfort to know that God himself is unchanging. He is today what he was for our fathers and mothers—and what he was for Paul and Mary and Joseph and David, indeed for all the patriarchs of the faith back to and including our first parents. Moreover, He can be counted on to remain as he has been. These are good reasons to heed the call to worship God and give thanks: He is good, loving, and dependable. That call still resounds throughout the world. “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth!” (Tesh, S. E., & Zorn, W. D. (1999). Psalms (p. 241). College Press.)
Has God been good in the past? Of course! Then he will always be good. You need never worry that he might cease to be good or change his good ways. Has God been loving? Of course. Then he will always be loving. His very nature is love. You need never worry that he will cease to love you. Has he seen you through difficult times? Very few Christians have avoided such difficult times altogether. Yet those who have gone through them testify that God has kept them securely. Well, then, he will do it for you also, whatever may come. Has anyone ever had greater reasons to thank God than we who are His redeemed people, who know him not only as our Creator but also as our loving shepherd and Lord? Then let us shout with gladness. But the challenge to us is: if we want the earth to express this fervent praise, we must be doing it ourselves. How joyful is our singing? How real is the sense that we come before him, that we are in the very presence of him who made us and entered into covenant relationship with us through ‘the Good Shepherd’ who ‘laid down his life for the sheep’? How real to us is the sense of his eternal goodness, love and faithfulness? When we recapture this spirit perhaps the earth, or at least that part of it near where we live and worship, may take us seriously and think of joining us. (Lane, E. (2006). Psalms 90-150: the lord reigns (p. 48). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.).
(Format note: Some base commentary Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 42–106: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 809–815). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
