Psalm 100
A Psalm of praise.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): In all acts of religious worship, whether in secret or in our families, we come into God’s presence, and serve Him; but it is in public worship especially that we “enter into his gates and into his courts.” But let the people be thankful for their place in the courts of God’s house, to which they were admitted and where they gave their attendance.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): When ye come to the house of prayer, be thankful that you have such a privilege; and when you enter His courts, praise Him for the permission.
MATTHEW HENRY: Great encouragement is given us in worshipping God, to do it cheerfully: “Serve the Lord with gladness.” By holy joy we do really serve God; it is an honour to Him to rejoice in Him, and we ought to serve Him with holy joy…We must intermix praise and thanksgiving with all our services. This golden thread must run through every duty—“In every thing give thanks,” in every ordinance, as well as in every providence.
THE EDITOR: How often we read of David joyfully intermixing praise and thanksgiving in the true worship of God! “I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people,” Psalm 35:18. “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving, Psalm 69:30. “Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.” Psalm 18:49. “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD,” Psalm 116:17. Indeed, it seems impossible to truly worship God without praise and thankfulness. “Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name,” 1 Chronicles 29:13.
MATTHEW HENRY: The matter of praise, and motives to it, are very important. Know what God is in Himself and what He is to you. Let us know then these things concerning the Lord Jehovah, with Whom we have to do in all the acts of religious worship.
“1. The Lord He is God,” the only living and true God—that He is a Being infinitely perfect, self-existent, and self-sufficient, and the fountain of all being; He is God, and not a man as we are. He is an eternal Spirit, incomprehensible and independent, the first cause and last end. The heathen worshipped the creature of their own fancy; the workmen made it, therefore it is not God. We worship Him that made us and all the world; He is God, and all other pretended deities are vanity and a lie, and such as He has triumphed over.
2. He is our Creator: “It is He that has made us, and not we ourselves.” Therefore He is our rightful owner. He has an incontestable right to, and property in, us and all things. His we are, to be actuated by His power, disposed of by His will, and devoted to His honour and glory.
3. He is our sovereign ruler: “ We are His people,” or subjects, and He is our prince, that gives law to us as moral agents, and will call us to an account for what we do. “The Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver,” Isaiah 33:22. We are not at liberty to do what we will, but must always make conscience of doing as we are bidden.
4. He is our bountiful benefactor. We are not only His sheep, whom He is entitled to, but “the sheep of His pasture,” whom He takes care of; the flock of His feeding—so it may be read—He that made us maintains us, and gives us all good things richly to enjoy.
5. He is a God of infinite mercy and goodness: “The Lord is good,” and therefore does good; “His mercy is everlasting;” it is a fountain that can never be drawn dry. The saints, who are now the sanctified vessels of mercy, will be, to eternity, the glorified monuments of mercy.
6. He is a God of inviolable truth and faithfulness: “His truth endures to all generations,” and no word of His shall fall to the ground as antiquated or revoked. The promise is sure to all the seed, from age to age.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Be thankful for all blessings of grace in Him, and by Him.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Do but think what a Protector you have, even One who is infinitely wise to discover all that your great adversary is plotting for your destruction, and infinitely powerful to shield you from his fiercest assaults. Surely you may adopt the triumphant language of Paul, Romans 8:35-39, since, however weak you be, God has engaged to “perfect His own strength in your weakness,” 2 Corinthians 12:9. Think too what a Friend you have, Who will “supply your every want out of the fulness that is in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:19, and employ all His wisdom and all His power for the enriching and comforting of your souls. Lastly, think what a Rewarder you have, Who has provided for you on earth whatsoever His infinite wisdom has judged best, and all that His almighty power can impart to make you happy, whilst in heaven is reserved for you an eternity of inconceivable and unutterable bliss. I say then to you especially, “tune your harps to sing the praises” of your redeeming God, and live in the habitual and delightful anticipation of the blessedness that awaits you in a better world.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): He speaks to us in His works, let us answer Him with our thanks. All He does is gracious, every movement of His hand is goodness; therefore let our hearts reply with gratitude, and our lips with song. Our lives should be responses to divine love.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Answer God’s goodness by thankfulness and obedience.
MATTHEW HENRY: It is the soul that is to be employed in blessing God, and all that is within us.
CHARLES SIMEON: Indeed, if we duly contemplate His character, and the wonderful things which, of His sovereign goodness, He has wrought for us, we shall find our minds constantly attuned to this holy exercise: methinks, our every feeling will be gratitude, and our every word be praise. This is the return which our God looks for at our hands: “Whoso offereth me praise, glorifieth me,” Psalm 50:23.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): David engages us to give thanks to God for His goodness, since the faithful can render Him no other recompense than the sacrifice of praise. “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD,” Psalm 116:17.
C. H. SPURGEON: Jehovah is ever engaged in giving, let us respond with thanksgiving “Unto our God.” How that possessive pronoun puts a world of endearment into the majestic word “God”! “This God is our God.” Now, can you call God your God? Is He indeed yours? If so, “Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God,” Psalm 147:7.
