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Life is?? #16 Psalm 100 - Best advice
*** There are no negatives in this passage, no sorrows, no warnings, nor problems. ***
Date: 3/1/2017 7:26:02 PM ( 7 y ) ... viewed 527 times 100th Psalm One of the best!
Enter His gates with Thanksgiving
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. — Psalm 100:4
Psalm 100 is one of the shortest and most exuberant passages in the Bible.
It takes about thirty seconds to read; and if you’ll read it aloud every morning for a month, you’ll automatically have all five verses memorized for the rest of your life.
There are no negatives in this passage, no sorrows, warnings, or problems.
It’s just shouting and singing and knowing and being thankful.
Notice the imagery of verse 4.
The psalmist is writing against the backdrop of the temple worship of the Old Testament. He’s telling the people of His day to come to Jerusalem, to the temple.
Enter its gates with a thankful spirit and come into the temple courts with praise.
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Most of us don’t live in Jerusalem, and the Jewish temple is no longer standing; but we can do exactly as the writer says whenever we pray, whenever we praise God in private, and whenever we attend corporate worship services at church
or elsewhere.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
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One Sunday night in 1742, evangelist John Wesley ventured into a downtrodden section of Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the north of England. He was appalled at
the physical and moral squalor.
Joined by an associate, Wesley stood
on the corner and sang the 100th Psalm. Before long a crowd gathered, and John began preaching. Soon more than a thousand people were listening; and
it was the beginning of a great work, which made Newcastle a powerhouse for Methodism in the English north.
*** Study notes: AWMI.net (below)
Psalms 100:1
Note on Psalms 100:1
The same Hebrew word that was translated “noise” here was also translated “noise” in Psalms 98:4.
** See my note at that verse.
Our English word “noise” in this verse was translated from the Hebrew word “RUWA’,” and RUWA’ means “to mar (especially by breaking); figuratively, to split the ears (with sound),
i.e. shout (for alarm or joy)”
(Strong’s Concordance). It indicates a loud noise, as repeated in this same verse.
Notice we should be singing praise to the Lord. So much of what is called “Christian” music is just griping and complaining. It’s magnifying the problem instead of magnifying God’s ability to solve our problems.
Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Psalms 100:2
Note on Psalms 100:2
The Lord loves for us to rejoice before Him (Psalms 107:21 and Philippians 4:4). He doesn’t want us to be all beaten
down and depressed (Psalms 35:27).
Under the Old Covenant, He even
punished the people for not rejoicing (Deuteronomy 28:45-47). The Lord doesn’t punish us today for not rejoicing, but it is clearly His will for us to enjoy our salvation.
Instead of approaching the Lord to mention all our sins and unworthiness, we should approach the Lord with gladness and singing, praising Him for redeeming us from all our sins (Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14).
Psalms 100:3
Note on Psalms 100:3
The word “Know” here was translated
from the Hebrew word “YADA’.” This
is the same Hebrew word that was used
in Genesis 4:1 and many other places
in Scripture to speak of the intimacy between a husband and wife that produces a child. This is saying we need to have an experiential and intimate knowledge that our Lord is God Almighty. One of the ways this happens is by being still and meditating on who God is
(Psalms 46:10).
This verse clearly states that God has made us. We didn’t just happen or evolve. This is true not only of our coming into existence but also of all good things that come through us–they are of God (James 1:17-18). It is essential that we recognize God as the source of all our blessings
(Psalms 103).
We are God’s people. What a statement! It’s amazing that an almighty God would identify so closely with a fallen, rebellious people (John 15:15).
Sheep need a shepherd. Likewise, we all need a master. All of our problems stem from doing things our own way
(Proverbs 3:5-6). David wrote a great psalm about the Lord being our shepherd (Psalms 23).
Psalms 100:4
Note on Psalms 100:4
This is not a suggestion but, rather, a command. We are commanded to approach the Lord with thanksgiving and praise. We are to bless His holy name for all the good things He has done for us.
But often Christians’ prayers are all about their problems and making petitions for all the things they need. That’s not how the Lord told us to pray. In what is often called “The Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus taught us to enter into His gates and courts with thanksgiving and praise by saying, “Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
There is a place in that prayer to say “Give us this day our daily bread” and to ask for forgiveness. But it is not the first thing we do or the main thing we do in prayer. Jesus then ended this prayer with praise and thanksgiving again when He said, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
So, Jesus told us to start and end our prayers with thanksgiving. If we magnify the Lord before we get to our problems, our problems wouldn’t be as big. Our faith would increase and be more than enough to overcome the situation.
** (see my note at Colossians 2:7)
- Note on Colossians 2:7
When we are born again, we receive God’s supernatural faith (see my notes at Ephesians 2:8, Romans 12:3, and Galatians 2:20). But we need to get rooted and built up in faith. One of
the ways we abound in faith is with thanksgiving. No one can claim to have strong faith who isn’t thankful. Just as faith without works is dead (James 2:17 and 20), so faith without praise is on life support. Thanksgiving is a powerful force.
See my note at Romans 1:21.
** Romans 1:18-20 describes that everyone has an intuitive knowledge of the wrath of God on the inside of them. Beginning in Romans 1:21, Paul was describing the progressive steps that people take away from that God-breathed revelation. The fact that people depart from that revelation doesn’t void the fact that God has placed it there.
The steps described here in walking away from that revelation apply to anything the Lord has shown us or spoken to us.
The first step that people take away from any revelation that God has given them is they fail to glorify Him as God. The word “glorified” means “to render (or esteem) glorious” (Strong’s Concordance).
The word “esteem” means “to place a high value on; respect; prize” and “to judge to be; consider” (Houghton Mifflin American Heritage Electronic Dictionary).
Basically, people magnify, esteem, or place a greater value on something other than God.
Moses esteemed reproach to be greater than riches (see my note at Hebrews 11:26). Jesus disesteemed the suffering of the cross and focused instead on those who would be freed through His offering (Hebrews 12:2).
Psalms 69:30 says that we “magnify” God (one of the definitions of glorify) with thanksgiving. The same Greek word that was translated “glorified” in Romans 1:21 was also translated “magnify” in Romans 11:13. Also, Jesus said the leper who returned and gave Him thanks for his healing had glorified Him (Luke 17:16-18).
In Romans 4:19-21, Abraham “was strong in faith, giving glory to God”. He esteemed God’s promise more than he valued anything else.
For instance, the doctor says you are going to die. That won’t stop you from being healed unless you place a higher value on what the doctor says than on what God says. If you glorify God instead of the sickness, you will retain the revelation and sickness will have to flee, because “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
So, you should begin to magnify the Lord instead of the negative report. You do that by controlling your heart through controlling your thinking. Your thoughts magnify whatever you focus your thinking upon. If you see marital problems, what should you do?
You should go to God’s Word and magnify what God says instead of what you see.
In Mark 6:41, Jesus “looked up” and blessed the five loaves of bread and two fish before dividing them among the multitude.
The Greek word that was translated “looked up” was translated “receive sight” (or some form of this) fifteen times. This is referring to Jesus seeing with His spiritual eyes into the supernatural realm of God instead of being bound to the natural realm, where the five loaves and two fish were not enough. He glorified God’s ability beyond the limitations of the natural.
The spies who searched out the land of Canaan in Numbers 13 are classic examples of people who glorified the problem more than the Problem Solver. This took all thankfulness away, and their imaginations became vain. They
had more to be thankful about than any of their ancestors, yet they forgot all that God had done for them and complained, glorifying the negative.
The result was that they died in the wilderness and never saw the Promised Land.
In Hebrews 12:2, Jesus set joy before Him and despised the shame of the cross. The Greek word that was translated “despising” there means to “disesteem” (Strong’s Concordance). Jesus glorified the good and disesteemed the bad. That’s why He was able to endure the cross. In Hebrews 12:3, we are told to consider Jesus and what He went through lest we be weary and faint in our minds. Our minds are where the battle is being fought. Those who rule in absolute victory don’t usually have things different on the outside, but they think differently on the inside.
The second step away from the revelation of God is not being thankful. Thankfulness involves memory, humility, and reflection. Busy people are not usually thankful. They don’t have time for reflection. Again, Psalms 69:30 says that thanksgiving magnifies God.
It takes time and effort to remember and be thankful. 2 Timothy 3:1-2 says that one of the signs of apostasy in the last days is that people will be unthankful. That characterizes our day and age.
To be thankful, one has to remember. Psalms 103:2 says to “forget not all
his benefits.” The reason we were commanded not to forget is because it
is our tendency to forget. We will forget if we don’t make an effort to remember.
Thankfulness helps us remember.
The next or 3rd step mentioned in Romans 1:21 is imagination (see my note at 2 Corinthians 10:5). Imagination is the main part of our memory. If we don’t glorify God and become thankful, our imagination just naturally begins to start picturing what we focus on. We picture and remember the negative. That’s a vain imagination.
The fourth and final progressive step away from God and/or any revelation we get from Him is that our foolish hearts becomes darkened. Ephesians 4:18 speaks both of the blindness of the heart and of the understanding being darkened. The foolish, darkened heart being spoken of here is the heart of a person whose understanding (imagination - see my note at Proverbs 15:28) is vain, or negative, and that makes them hardhearted
(see my note at Mark 6:52).
Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Life For Today Study Bible Notes
Note 24 at Colossians 2:7: Paul was likening growth in the Lord to a tree. The seed being planted is just the first step. Much growth has to take place before the tree is firmly established and able to withstand the elements. Likewise, Christians who just believe and don’t grow are in a vulnerable position. That’s the way Paul felt about these Colossians, and he was writing to help them grow to the point that their faith would be sure.
** Note 25 at Colossians 2:7: What you abound in when you operate in thanksgiving is faith. Faith is never complete until there is thanksgiving.
If you believed for a million dollars and you received your answer, what would your response be?
It would be some form of thanksgiving. It is impossible to see the answer to your prayers without some praise to God coming out. That’s because thanksgiving is a vital part of faith, and faith isn’t complete without it.
Therefore, faith without praise is incomplete. Those who try to believe God and are void of praise and thanksgiving prior to the time they see what they have believed for are operating in an inferior faith. As we thank the Lord in advance by faith, our faith abounds and reaches its highest level.
-- Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Psalms 100:5
Note on Psalms 100:5
Praise God that He is good. He could be anything He wanted to be, but He wants to be good. We are so blessed that His nature is love (1 John 4:8).
Mercy is not getting what we deserve, while grace is getting what we don’t deserve. There is no end to His mercy for those who accept His salvation.
God’s Word is truth (John 17:17).
Therefore, His Word is appropriate for every generation. Those who think the Bible is out-of-date are totally wrong. God’s Word will work for us today, just as it has for any of God’s children throughout history.
** Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
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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.
The Lord, ye know, 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 why? The Lord our God is good;
His mercy is forever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.
—William Kethe, 1561
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