A Psalm for Thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all
the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we
ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with
thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His
name. For the LORD is good; His
lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations. Psalm
100:1-5
This week of Thanksgiving we are
looking at Psalm 100, a Thanksgiving Psalm.
In it are five Thanksgiving commands.
We have learned the first four commands and now we look at the last.
The fifth command is: "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with
praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love
endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations."
In the Old Testament
the temple symbolized the presence of God. So whenever the people came to the
temple and entered the courtyards, they knew that they had come into the
presence of God. Now that temple no longer exists. But oftentimes the place
where we meet to worship God is called a "sanctuary." God is everywhere, not just in the big room at
church. You know that He is with you as you drive on the highway. He is with
you when you work. He is with you as you care for your children. He is with you
every moment of your life.
That is the source
of our thanksgiving, isn't it? But what
if God began to treat us like we so often treat Him? What if God met our needs to the same extent
that we give Him our lives? What if we
never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the rain? What if God stopped loving and caring for us
because we failed to love and care for others? What if God took away His
message because we wouldn't listen to His messenger?
What if He wouldn't
bless us today because we didn't thank Him yesterday? What if God answered our
prayers the way we answer His call for service? What if God decided to stop leading us
tomorrow because we did not follow Him today?
All these “what ifs” are for naught. The nature of our Heavenly Father is one of
mercy, grace and forgiveness. Even when
I don’t thank Him the way I should, He still blesses me. Even when I don’t follow like I should, He
still leads. The rain will still fall when I grumble and the flowers will still
bloom.
All the more reason
to be thankful! Thank you Lord so much
for your loving kindness, steadfast mercy and persistent chasing of my
soul! Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me… Beautiful
words to a magnificent song. His love
never fails, He is jealous for me and you.
He stands at the door and knocks and waits and waits and waits. Thank Him for that this Thanksgiving
season. Thank Him for all the little
things in your life too like the sweet spring rain and blooming flowers. This Thanksgiving, make it a point to enter
His courts with thanksgiving and enter His gates with praise!
We pray that this will be a meaningful
Thanksgiving week for you and all your family. Take time to read the 100th
Psalm again. And if you'll listen to those commands, your heart will overflow
with thanksgiving to the Lord
O Lord, help us to be thankful that you do "not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities." Psalm 103:10
