Enter

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

While this psalm is not the shortest psalm, it comes close. Psalm 117 wins that prize coming in a two verses. Psalm 100 has five verses. However, it has a similar style, both are exhorting us to praise the Lord.

Hopefully this psalm causes us to think. It begins with ‘shout’ triumphantly, moves on to ‘serve’ gladly, ‘come’ with joy, ‘acknowledge’ God as God, then ‘enter’ His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. It ends with a why do all this: for God is good, and His love is eternal, His faithfulness endures to all generations.

When Jesus was asked to teach the disciples to pray He said: ‘Our Father who are in in heaven, holy be Your name, may Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth’. He started with praise and honour, long before we get to us: ‘give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil’.

We may be consumed with ‘us’ but He comes first. We are not God! Entering His courts and gates is an honour and we need to show that respect no matter what is going on in our hearts. We will get to us just as the Lord’s Prayer does, but first He needs to be praised. Amen!