Psalms 100

Psalms 100:1

Psalm 100: Old HundredthAffectionately known as “Old Hundredth,” from its tune in the Geneva Psalter (1551), this Psalm is a call to all the earth to worship Jehovah. Its summons goes beyond the narrow confines of Israel to all the Gentile lands. Barnes writes: The idea is that praise did not pertain to one nation only; that it was not appropriate for one people merely; that it should not be confined to the Hebrew people; but that there was a proper ground of praise for all, there was that in which all nations, of all languages and conditions could unite. The ground of that was the fact that they had one Creator (v. 3). We learn from these five short verses that worship is simple. The longest words are thanksgiving, everlasting, and generations. The language is neither involved nor flowery. We learn too that the simple recital of facts about God is worship. The words themselves carry cargoes of wonder. The plain facts are more wonderful than fiction. There is a definite pattern in the Psalm, as follows: Call to worship (vv, 1, 2). Why God should be worshiped (v. 3). Call to worship (v. 4). Why God should be worshiped (v, 5). Seven elements of worship are suggested: Shout joyfully (v. 1). Serve the LORD with gladness (v. 2a). Come before Him with singing (v. 2b). Enter into His gates with thanksgiving (v. 4a). Enter His courts with praise (v. 4b). Be thankful to Him (v. 4c). Bless His name (v. 4d). We should praise Him because of who He is. He is our: LORD (v. 1). God (v. 3a). Creator (v. 3b). Owner (v. 3c). Shepherd (v. 3d). We should praise Him because of His attributes: He is good (v. 5). His mercy is everlasting (v. 5). His truth endures to all generations (v. 5). In the first three verses, God is worshiped as Creator. But in the last two verses, it is not hard to read Calvary into the text because nowhere else do we see so clearly His goodness, His mercy, and His faithfulness. All worlds His glorious power confess, His wisdom all His works express; But O His love!what tongue can tell? Our Jesus hath done all things well! Samuel MedleyThere is a wonderful conjunction of thoughts in verse 3 that we should not miss. There we learn that the LORD is God; this means that He is unapproachably high. But we also read that we are His; and this tells us that He is intimately nigh. It is because He is so near to us that the Psalm breathes gladness and singing instead of dread and fear. The Psalm is a joyful song for the happy God, and its message has been preserved in our hymnology in the well-known paraphrase: All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice; Him serve with mirth, 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. Oh, 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. Scottish Psalter