Psalm 100:4
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name.
Sermons
Blessing the Divine NameR. Tuck Psalm 100:4
PraiseJob Orton, D.D.Psalm 100:4
ThankfulnessC. Wadesworth.Psalm 100:4
JubilateS. Conway Psalm 100:1-5
Religious GratitudeW. H. Harwood.Psalm 100:1-5
The Old HundredthJ. O. Keen, D.D.Psalm 100:1-5
WorshipHomilistPsalm 100:1-5
WorshipC. Short Psalm 100:1-5
God the MakerJ. Thomas, M.A.Psalm 100:3-5
God-Made or Man-MadeJ. G. Greenhough, M.A.Psalm 100:3-5
The Claims of GodPsalm 100:3-5
The Pasture or Provision for God's SheepThe ChristianPsalm 100:3-5
There is Inspiration in the Thought that God Made UsPsalm 100:3-5














Bless his Name. The name stands for the Being named. It does but gather up and focus his most glorious and gracious attributes. The distinction on which we may dwell is this - It is fitting that we render thanks to God, in our loving recognition of what he has done for us. It is fitting that we should bless his Name as we recognize what he must be, who has done for us such good and gracious things. Possibly a distinction may be made between thanking God, as a duty which every one who receives his bounties ought to perform; and blessing God, which is the expression of that personal feeling towards God which only his own redeemed people can cherish. We thank those who do us a kindness; we bless those who evidently show their personal love to us in the kindness they do us.

I. RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE DEALINGS WHICH CALLS FOR THANKSGIVING. See in life the:

1. Divine providings. We have wanted no good thing.

2. Divine guidings. So that we can say, "It has been a good way wherein the Lord our God has led us."

3. Divine overrulings. We can in some measure already see that "all things do work together for good." Since God "giveth us all things richly to enjoy," what should we do but be thankful? Illustrate by Moses calling upon the people to review their wilderness life for forty years, in order that, in renewed thankfulness and trust, they might bind themselves forever to God's service (see Deuteronomy 8.).

II. RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE LOVE IN THE DIVINE DEALINGS WHICH CALLS FOR BLESSING. This requires the opened, quickened, spiritual vision. Character is shown in all action, but only the thoughtful minds watch for it, and find pleasure in dwelling on it. And so many are quite satisfied with the things God does, and do not concern themselves with the revelations in them of the character of the Door. So they cannot rise up to the height of "blessing his holy Name." But to the spiritually quickened, the reading concerning God himself in his doings is the unceasing delight; and in the revelations of his love made to them they learn to "bless his Name." - R.T.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving.
Thankfulness denotes a composite emotion, whose elements are joy for a gift, and love for the giver. It differs from gratitude, not essentially, but only in form; the one being necessarily a feeling only, the other that feeling both existent and expressed.

I. THE HINDRANCES WHICH PRACTICALLY INTERFERE WITH THIS GREAT MORAL AND CHRISTIAN DUTY.

1. The habit of looking too much at other people, and too little at ourselves. If the poor man would go into his own heart, and fling overboard all but his own peculiar cares and troubles, and sit down to feast on the rich viands God has gathered as his sea-stores, then his lightened and relieved bark would float buoyantly on the waters, and answer readily her helm, and with glad songs and bright skies, go on her way rejoicing.

2. Letting the mind dwell too much on the dark side of our experience. The ten thousand daily blessings wherewith God has been surrounding our lives are lost sight of in the occasional clouds of difficulty that may have chequered our pathway. We think more of the one thousand dollars lost, than of the twenty thousand left us. More of the one month of sickness, than the eleven months of health. More of the one beloved friend dead, than of the many beloved yet living.

3. Regarding the first gift of a good thing as alone demanding gratitude, and its subsequent preservation as a natural sequence.

II. THE HELPS TO THANKFULNESS.

1. We must entertain just and philosophic views of life's nature and mission. A man, crossing an ocean on shipboard, is not discontented because he cannot carry with him his sumptuous furniture and equipage; and grumbles not that his state-room hath not the breadth and brilliancy of his palatial pavilions. His very gladness is, that he is in a structure so modelled that it can have speed upon the waters. And just so it is with a man in progress to immortality. What we want is rather a tent that can be pitched and struck at pleasure; and provisions of a kind that can be carried in journeys; than a splendid palace, and ponderous luxuries, incapable of transportation. And so a true appreciation of the real uses of things will go far to render us thankful for the peculiar size and shape of the blessings God gives us.

2. We must dwell much in thought upon these Divine mercies, present and actual. We are too much given to day-dreams amid things possible and future. We lift the glass of imagination to the far hills, that, mellowed by distance and haloed with the purple and gold of the setting sun, look like fairy lands, and grow dissatisfied with the present and possessed. And yet, there is no one in whose present experience there is not enough at least for thankfulness — of comfort and blessing.

3. We must make the best of our misfortunes. What the Germans tell us as a parable, we have all of us — who have gone afield with nature in observant moods — witnessed not unfrequently. Standing by some autumnal and over-matured flower, we have seen the laborious bee come hurrying and humming, and plunging into the flower's cup, where there was not a particle of honey. But what does the bee do? Why, after sucking, and finding no nectar, does it come up from the flower's heart with a disappointed air, as if departing to some other field of labour? Ah no! If there be no sweets at the flower's red core, yet its stamens are full of golden farina, and out of the farina the bee builds its cells; and so it rolls its little legs against these stamens, till they look large and loaded as golden hose, and, thanking the flower as sweetly as if it had been full of honey, gladly humming, it flies home with its wax. Yes, and herein lies God's moral — If our flowers have no honey, let us be glad of the wax!

4. We must, meanwhile, learn to look upon these very evils as God's disguised blessings. To every true Christian, they are so, positively, and beyond controversy. As part of the special providence of a wise and loving Father, they cannot be otherwise. It is God that determines the bounds of our habitation; the stations we are to fill; the comforts we are to enjoy; and the trials we are to suffer. And if we have not much of the present world, it is not because our heavenly Father is not able to give us more. It is all to be resolved into the wisdom and kindness of the Divine administration — God's wisdom discerning how much is best for us — and His love determining to allow us no more.

5. To become truly thankful, we must become Christians — and Christians growing in grace and advancing in knowledge.(1) Religion makes a man humble; and humility, as a grace, lies at the foundation of contentment.(2) Religion gives him just views of present things, and of the true relation he sustains to them, in this earthly economy. They never seem to him ends, but only means unto ends. He understands how his present life is a sojourn — an exodus. And, as a true-hearted traveller, he expects not home comforts on a journey, but is content with rude fare and humble hostelries, and can thank God even for rough roads and foul weather, if they hinder not his progress.(3) Religion, as it is essentially a principle of self-denial, moderates a man's wishes, and so creates happiness. Diogenes was happier in his tub, than Alexander on the throne of his empire. And for a good reason — because the tub held the wishes of the philosopher; but the world was too small for those of the conqueror.(4) Religion produces trustfulness, and so brings contentment.

III. THE REASONS OF THANKFULNESS.

1. Our circumstances demand it. Just contrast your own condition this day, with that of the exulting pilgrims, when they kept their first thanksgiving festival. See them, amid the solitudes of that great wilderness — the cry of the wild beast, and the roar of the strong wind rising around them — the loved homes of their childhood, and the precious temples of their fathers, far away over the waters — a barren soil beneath their feet; and above, the cold and cheerless azure of a stranger-heaven! And yet singing triumphantly unto God their thanksgiving anthem!

2. For the sake of your own souls, you ought to be thankful. The habit of mournful sadness blinds the eye, and dwarfs the pinions of the soul; renders the heart a nervous and neuralgic thing; eats out a man's piety; weakens every Christian grace; and makes the creature a torture to himself, and a curse to his neighbourhood.

3. As Christians, we ought, for the sake of others, to manifest this abiding spirit of icy and thanksgiving.

4. For your heavenly Father's sake, you ought to cherish and display this spirit of thanksgiving. A monarch, whose subjects are always complaining of their lot, is set down by the world as a hard and selfish tyrant. A father, whose children walk abroad ever in sadness and tears, is anathematized by all people as a heartless and cruel parent. Shame on us, if, surrounded by such blessings, and hastening onward to such revelations of glory, we go ever with the bowed head, and the mournful footsteps, saying to the world by our pitiful complainings — "See how the eternal God is maltreating His loyal subjects! .... See how our heavenly Father is torturing His children!"

(C. Wadesworth.)

And into His courts with praise
God's praises must be sung —

I. WITH THE ATTENTION OF THE MIND. The words must be considered, as well as heard or read. A person can never be rationally or piously affected with what he sings, except he understands it. Without this, there is no more devotion in him, than there is in an organ or other musical instrument which utters the like sounds. Or if there be anything like devotion excited by mere sounds, it is probably enthusiasm, or something purely animal; a sort of pleasing mechanical sensation, which perhaps some brutes may as strongly feel. by sounds suited to the state of their frame.

II. WITH THE MELODY OF THE VOICE. Poetry enlivens praise; and music heightens the powers of poetry, and gives it more force to engage and affect the mind. It puts spirit into every word, and their united influences elevate, compose, and melt the soul. From hence it will follow that the better the poetry is, provided it be intelligible, and the greater harmony there is in uttering it, the greater effect it will have upon the mind, and make the impression of what we sing more deep and lasting. As God hath formed us with voices capable of uttering harmonious sounds, He expects that they be employed in His service.

III. WITH THE DEVOTION OF THE HEART. It is not sufficient to understand what is sung, to attend to it, and join our voices with those of our fellow-worshippers; but our intentions should be upright and good. And they should be these; to glorify God, and to edify ourselves and others.

1. Our intention should be to glorify God; that is, not to make Him more glorious, for neither the praises of men nor angels can do that; but to do Him apparent and public honour; to acknowledge His glory; to proclaim our high veneration and affection for Him, and celebrate and recommend Him as an object worthy the esteem and praises of the whole world (Psalm 62:2; Psalms 1:23; Psalms 69:30).

2. It should be our desire also to edify ourselves and one another (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).

(Job Orton, D.D.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Bless, Blessing, Courts, Doors, Enter, Gates, Honour, Joy, Praise, Thankful, Thanks, Thanksgiving
Outline
1. An exhortation to praise God, cheerfully
3. For his greatness
4. And for his power

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 100:4

     1175   God, will of
     5270   court
     5323   gate
     5549   speech, positive
     5763   attitudes, positive to God
     5889   ingratitude
     7468   temple, rebuilding
     8627   worship, elements
     8666   praise, manner and methods
     8676   thanksgiving

Psalm 100:1-4

     5196   voice
     8288   joy, of Israel

Psalm 100:2-4

     6636   drawing near to God

Psalm 100:4-5

     8352   thankfulness

Library
Within the Veil
Gerhard Ter Steegen Ps. c. 4 God is present with us--let us fall and worship, Holy is the place; God is in the midst, our souls are silent, Bowed before His Face. Lord, we kneel before Thee, Awed by love Divine, We of Thee unworthy Own that we are Thine. Gladly cast before Thee all delights and pleasures, All our hoarded store-- Lord, behold our hearts, our souls, and bodies, Thine, and ours no more. We, O God, Thine only, Nevermore our own-- Thine the praise and honour, Thine, and Thine alone.
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

all People that on Earth do Dwell
[964]Old Hundredth: Louis Bourgeois, 1551 Psalm 100 William Kethe, 1561 All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice: Him serve with fear, his praise forth tell, Come ye before him and rejoice. Know that the Lord is God indeed; Without our aid he did us make: We are his flock, he doth us feed, And for his sheep he doth us take. O enter then his gates with praise, Approach with joy his courts unto; Praise, laud, and bless his Name always, For it is seemly so to do. For
Various—The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA

Before Jehovah's Awful Throne
[1182]Winchester New: Hamburg, 1690 Psalm 100 Isaac Watts, 1719; Arr. John Wesley DOXOLOGY Before Jehovah's awful throne, Ye nations, bow with sacred joy; Know that the Lord is God alone; He can create, and he destroy. His sovereign power without our aid, Made us of clay, and formed us men; And when like wandering sheep we strayed, He brought us to his fold again. We are his people, we his care, Our souls, and all our mortal frame: What lasting honours shall we rear, Almighty Maker, to thy Name?
Various—The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA

Letter ix. Meditation.
"Meditate upon these things."--1 TIM. 4:15. MY DEAR SISTER: The subject of this letter is intimately connected with that of the last; and in proportion to your faithfulness in the duty now under consideration, will be your interest in the word and worship of God. Religious meditation is a serious, devout and practical thinking of divine things; a duty enjoined in Scripture, both by precept and example; and concerning which, let us observe, 1. Its importance. That God has required it, ought to
Harvey Newcomb—A Practical Directory for Young Christian Females

The Outbreak of the Arian Controversy. The Attitude of Eusebius.
About the year 318, while Alexander was bishop of Alexandria, the Arian controversy broke out in that city, and the whole Eastern Church was soon involved in the strife. We cannot enter here into a discussion of Arius' views; but in order to understand the rapidity with which the Arian party grew, and the strong hold which it possessed from the very start in Syria and Asia Minor, we must remember that Arius was not himself the author of that system which we know as Arianism, but that he learned the
Eusebius Pamphilius—Church History

The Christian Man
Scripture references: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7; 9:6; Job 33:4; Psalm 100:3; 8:4-9; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Acts 17:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Hebrews 2:6,7; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Corinthians 2:9. WHAT IS MAN? What Shall We Think of Man?--Who is he? What is his place on the earth and in the universe? What is his destiny? He is of necessity an object of thought. He is the subject of natural laws, instincts and passions. How far is he free; how far bound?
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Every Thing Proceeding from the Corrupt Nature of Man Damnable.
1. The intellect and will of the whole man corrupt. The term flesh applies not only to the sensual, but also to the higher part of the soul. This demonstrated from Scripture. 2. The heart also involved in corruption, and hence in no part of man can integrity, or knowledge or the fear of God, be found. 3. Objection, that some of the heathen were possessed of admirable endowments, and, therefore, that the nature of man is not entirely corrupt. Answer, Corruption is not entirely removed, but only inwardly
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

How Shall the Soul Make Use of Christ, as the Life, which is under the Prevailing Power of Unbelief and Infidelity.
That we may help to give some clearing to a poor soul in this case, we shall, 1. See what are the several steps and degrees of this distemper. 2. Consider what the causes hereof are. 3. Shew how Christ is life to a soul in such a case; and, 4. Give some directions how a soul in that case should make use of Christ as the Life, to the end it may be delivered therefrom. And, first, There are many several steps to, and degrees of this distemper. We shall mention a few; as, 1. When they cannot come
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Great Shepherd
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. I t is not easy for those, whose habits of life are insensibly formed by the customs of modern times, to conceive any adequate idea of the pastoral life, as obtained in the eastern countries, before that simplicity of manners, which characterized the early ages, was corrupted, by the artificial and false refinements of luxury. Wealth, in those
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Being of God
Q-III: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES PRINCIPALLY TEACH? A: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q-IV: WHAT IS GOD? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is, 1: Something implied. That there is a God. 2: Expressed. That he is a Spirit. 3: What kind of Spirit? I. Implied. That there is a God. The question, What is God? takes for granted that there
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

An Address to the Regenerate, Founded on the Preceding Discourses.
James I. 18. James I. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. I INTEND the words which I have now been reading, only as an introduction to that address to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, with which I am now to conclude these lectures; and therefore shall not enter into any critical discussion, either of them, or of the context. I hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful to those
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Trinity Sunday the Article of Faith on the Trinity.
Text: Romans 11, 33-36. 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen. THE ARTICLE OF FAITH ON THE TRINITY. 1. This epistle is read today because the festival
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Man's Chief End
Q-I: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN? A: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. Here are two ends of life specified. 1: The glorifying of God. 2: The enjoying of God. I. The glorifying of God, I Pet 4:4: That God in all things may be glorified.' The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. I Cor 10:01. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Everything works to some end in things natural and artificial;
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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