Thanksgiving From The Bible Pt. 9 Enter Jehovah's Gates With Thanksgiving & Praise

The Thanksgiving holyday is rapidly approaching. I remind you that you can find eight additional lessons on Thanksgiving as the Pilgrims and Puritans observed it. 

These were posted in November 18 to 24, 2021 and are in the "Archive" section of the blog, below the "translate" button. I hope that you will find them a blessing and share them with your families. 

A Psalm of Thanksgiving.

Psalm 100:1-5   Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. 2)  Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3)  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. 4)  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5)  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. 

As you read this text, did you notice the 8 action words that show the Psalmist's responding with praise to Jehovah? 

The action words include make, serve, singing, come, know, enter, thanking and bless. 

I think that these are actions that should be evident in my own life when I am praising and worshiping Jehovah.

The heart of the Psalmist is described with these 4 words: Joyful; Gladness; Thanksgiving and Praise. 

Again, I think that the attitude of the Psalmist's heart must also reflect what is going on in my own heart.

Give thanks with a joyful noise.

Psalm 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Making a joyful noise unto the LORD, is an action that means to split the ears with sounds of unrestrained joy, for who Jehovah is and the triumph we enjoy because of what He has done.

It looks forward to the day when the Lord Jesus Christ is enthroned as King of kings and Lord of lords. It reminds us that the whole world and all people will one day bow the knee to the all glorious King Jesus.

Give thanks with a glad heart singing praises. 

Psalm 100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 

Serve the LORD with gladness. 

Here is the first unique phrase. The word “serve” refers to labor we undertake that can be focused upon things, focused upon other people or focused upon the LORD. When the focus of our labor is the LORD, it is a spiritual sacrifice, an act of service and worship to Him. 

This word does not depict the people of God doing dreary duties or tackling tedious tasks.  It refers to serving the Lord as a joyful experience of salvation from sin and liberty to serve Jehovah. 

I think that this word teaches us that even when we are doing  things like mowing, cleaning, raking leaves, washing dishes or doing laundry, that each mundane task of life can become an act of worship! 

Try listening to God honoring music while you work, and see if your soul is not re-oriented to the things of God even while you are doing chores or working.

The word “gladness” refers to the reality, the experience and manifestation of joy and gladness. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines the word "glad" as being pleased, cheerful, joyous and even exhilarated. 

In this context, it refers to a happy celebration of the LORD as each thing that we undertake becomes a joyful and cheerful activity. 

Come before His presence with singing.

Here is the second unique phrase. It is amazing that we can come into the presence of the LORD. 

It speaks of the new and living way that Jesus opened for us. There is something very special about lifting up our voices together in singing to praise Jehovah. 

True praise & worship, including congregational singing, is done knowing Jehovah is present with us when we gather to worship.

This verse begins with another unique phrase: "Know ye that the LORD he is God."  

Give thanks because you know Jehovah.

Psalm 100:3  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. 

Verse 3 starts with a strong encouragement to know our God. Some people have a mere "head knowledge" of God. 

That is to say, they know things about Him. They can cite some of the facts of the Bible. Perhaps they can accurately tell you pertinent details, facts and figures about God. 

However, this is not the same as "knowing" God. 

The word translated "know" means that we must know God relationally and experientially. 

We must know Jehovah intimately. We need a living, dynamic relationship with Him. 

We already know what a relationship is. Each one of us was born into a family and have a father and a mother. 

We are related to them by birth and by blood.  We may have siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins within our family of relationships. 

But, how can a man be related to God? Jesus said "Ye must be born again." 

A brand new relationship with God as our Father, is possible only when a man or woman or young person is born again. 

The new birth makes us rightly related to God by birth. It is accomplished by Jesus Christ on His cross and paid for with His blood. Thus, the new birth establishes a right relationship with God by birth and by blood!

Knowing God is very much like the family or marriage relationships that we are all familiar with. The longer that we are in this relationship with God, the better we will know Him. 

He calls us His sons & daughters. He calls us His children and the sheep of His pasture. Each of these terms describe relationships between saved people and God. 

We are called to know God as He reveals Himself in His word. We are not called to a static knowledge of God. It is a living, growing dynamic relationship that He is calling us to. 

Knowing God experientially has to do with submitting to Him, trusting Him and obeying His word.

Knowing God experientially means we accumulate experiences in life where we are walking by faith with Him, and we develop a journey of shared experiences with God!

Knowing God experientially means that we are called to obey Him, to walk with Him, to worship Him, to serve Him and to lean upon Him in dependency. As we walk through this life leaning upon our Lord, we will find that He is faithful and will never leave us or forsake us. 

John 10:2-4  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3)  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4)  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 

The sheep who hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, are like those who are born again and know God, through faith in Christ. 

The sheep who follow the Good Shepherd, are like believers who hear and heed God's word, and obey Him. They know Him by their experiences as they follow. 

Give thanks as we enter His presence.

Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

In this post we will see the last three unique phrases that are used by the Psalmist. 

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving” is the idea of meeting the LORD at an appointed time and at an appointed place. It is a command about having an attitude of thanksgiving when we go to meet with Him.

“Thanksgiving” is found 54 times in the Bible. Thanksgiving means offering a confession or praise to God. Thanksgiving refers to songs of liturgical worship and hymns of praise.  A thank-offering or sacrifice of thanksgiving. It is saying back to the LORD what you know to be true of Him.

“Into his courts with praise” refers to coming into His presence with adoration that humanity renders to Jehovah. It is an action that bears in mind the character of Jehovah and His specific actions that evoke praise.

“Be thankful unto him and bless his name.” To be thankful refers to acknowledging, praising, thanking, or confessing all that is right about God. 

It also means we have a right view of self before Jehovah in confessing our sin. The word “bless” means to praise and to glorify Jehovah for benefits we receive from His bountiful provision.

Give thanks because Jehovah is good, merciful and the giver of truth. 

PSALM 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

This last verse gives us three reasons to give thanks to Jehovah.

First, we are to give thanks because He is good all the time, every time to all people whether they are good or bad. He sends His rain, His sunlight, His seasons of harvest, upon all people, whether they acknowledge Him or not.

Second, we are to give thanks because His mercy never ends. He will always be merciful to those who come to Him through faith in Christ.

Third, we are to give thanks because Jehovah has given us His eternal truth so that we might know Him for salvation and know Him through our faith experiences in this life. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Are you giving thanks to God with a joyful noise?

Are you giving thanks to God with a glad heart singing praises to Him?

Are you giving thanks because you are born again and are one of the sheep in Jehovah's pasture?

Are you giving thanks to God each time you come to worship Him?

Are you giving thanks to God because He is good, merciful and the source of perfect truth?

I pray that each one of us can answer "Yes" to these questions and that our worship of God, our walk with God and our work for God are richly impacted.

May we be drawn closer to Jehovah as we celebrate thanksgiving this year, and each day that we live.

Bob