“1 <<A Psalm of praise.>> 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” (Psalm 100:1-5).

     One of the reasons many Christians do not grasp the full meaning of Scripture texts is because they do not take the time to discover the historical and dispensational backdrops for the truths God wants to teach us. Psalms 100 is very broad in its theological application over a very wide and varying span of history. Although worship is expected of believers in all dispensations, how that worship is expressed changes with God’s changes in operations (dispensations, 1 Corinthians 14:4-6 and Romans 12:1-8).

     For instance, under the Law worship was expressed through various sacrifices and keeping of holy days. Today Christians do not offer sacrifices and keep holy days. That is why Christians do not need to bring a Lamb to services and why our church buildings to not have altars for the sacrifice of animals. The only thing in a church that is similar to an altar is a baptismal tank where a believer offers himself as a “living sacrifice” to God after he is saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ.

     The central purpose of the Temple was to provide a place for a believer to meet with God to offer worship and sacrifice. That purpose does not change regardless of the dispensation you live in. At the time of the writing of this Psalm, the Temple of God built by Solomon was still just a future hope of king David. The Tent of Meeting (Exodus 29:42-44) was the movable house of God that continued in existence while the nation of Israel continued to seek to occupy the Promised Land. It was moved from place to place as the nation of Israel moved. It was called the Tent of Meeting because it was the place where God would meet with His people.

“42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God” (Exodus 29:42-45).

     After Israel moved into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, the Tent of Meeting (“Tabernacle of the Congregation”) was placed at Shiloh (about 1440 B. C.) and remained there for the times of the Judges (Joshua 18:1 and 19:51). According to I Samuel 7:6, 300 years later, Samuel apparently began to move the Tent of Meeting to various places once again (I Samuel 7:6; 9:12; 10:3 and 20:6).

     We know that by the time of David’s flight from Saul (1062 B. C.), the Tent of the Meeting had been moved to Nob (I Samuel 21:1-6). It remained there until David had it moved to Jerusalem in about 1042 B. C. where it remained until the building of Temple by Solomon (1004 B. C.).

     Why is all this important to our understanding of Psalm 100 and its message of exhortation to thanksgiving? It is important to know because this Psalm teaches both the present and future aspects of worship. The doctrinal significance of the teaching of a Temple of God signifies the presence of God in the midst of His people.

1. This Psalm reveals to us God’s workings within this temporal and changing existence that we call life.
2. This Psalm relates particularly to the future 1000 year reign of Christ on earth (this Psalm is especially Millennial in scope, Revelation chapter 20).
3. This Psalm also refers eternally to the new Heaven/Earth of the New Genesis (Revelation chapters 21 and 22).

     As the prophetic Revelation of God unfolds in its fulfillment, the worship of God expands just as the believer‘s worship of God expands as his knowledge of God increases and develops.

     The Tent of Meeting was replaced by the Temple built by Solomon. That Temple was rebuilt on numerous occasions as the Jews returned from various captivities that resulted from their forgetting to worship God and backsliding into sin. In 70 A.D., the last Jewish Temple was completely destroyed. Today, the Temple of God is in the very body of all born again (regenerated) believers. Wherever a believer exists, God is present in bodily form (that does not mean He is evident). Where “two or three” believer’s gather together in the Name of Jesus (referring to a local church), God’s presence is in their midst.

“15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. 18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:15-20).

“16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (I Corinthians 3:16-17).

     Therefore, worship (thanksgiving and praise) and sacrifices (sacrificial love as expressed through ministry, evangelism, giving, etc.) ought to be the evidentiary reality of every true believer’s life. It is through these external expressions of worship and sacrifice that a believer becomes both “salt” and “light” in the world. We cannot live in sin and disregard for God’s Word and worship Him in holiness.

     Worship and holiness go hand in hand just as sacrifice and service go hand in hand. Neither worship nor sacrifice can exist apart from those realities. If those realities are not present, worship and sacrifice are not taking place. If the believer wants to worship and offer sacrifice, holiness and service must be pursued from the foundation of a life given as a “living sacrifice” to God. There is no other way for acceptable worship and sacrifice to take place.

     Today, every believer lives continually in the presence of God because God lives continually in the believer’s body. However the believer enters “into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise” when he pursues righteousness in his life and when he serves the Lord through various expressions of self-sacrifice (love, i.e., ministry, evangelism, discipleship giving).

     God’s “gates” and “courts” are filled with forgiven sinners. This refers to you and I. The Blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us of all condemnation (Romans 8:1) for innumerable, horrendous acts of sin committed against the holiness of a righteous God. The very idea of His forgiveness should preclude thanksgiving and praise by those forgiven. Loving God for what He has done should be the one motivating factor for our tenacious pursuit of doing what is right (worship) and faithfully serving the Lord with gladness (sacrifice).

     God’s “gates” and “courts” are not just for the perfect and pure. God’s “gates” and “courts” are for the perfected and the purified. He has perfected us and He has purified us through the Blood of His Son. The believer has had no part whatsoever in this work of grace. Therefore, God and God alone deserves “thanksgiving” and “praise.”

     The “gates” and “courts” of the Temple refer to the entrances into the Temple and the open areas surrounding the Temple. “Thanksgiving” and “praise” were what should be going on in the surrounds of the Tent of the Meeting. Therefore, this refers to external, public expressions of testimony to the grace and wonders of God by those who have experienced the grace and wonders of God in their own personal lives.

     The “gates” and “courts” refer to the place between the world and God. Here is where the majority of our “thanksgiving” and “praise” is to take place. Therefore, this expresses a dualistic meaning. “Thanksgiving” and “praise” is offered to God as an expression of our love for Him and before the world by attempting to lead them into His grace through the testimony of that love to the lost and backslidden.

     This is where the Christian lives out his temporal existence on the earth. He lives his life before the world and before the “gates” and “courts” of God. This is where he is to worship and sacrifice. This is where he is to be “salt” and “light.” He is a living testimony to the grace of God in Christ and a living testimony to the transforming power of the Word of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

“13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).

     The way any believer lives before the “gates” and “courts” of God will determine the effectiveness of his influence upon the lost and backslidden. How he lives before the “gates” and “courts” of God will determine if he will be a putrefying or purifying influence; it will determine if he will be a source of revelation to the transforming power of the New Creation in Christ, or a continuing source of darkness.

     “For the LORD is good” (Psalm 100:5). The word “good” is from the Hebrew word towb (tobe). It means that God is pleasant, agreeable, reasonable, generous and, kind. He should be thanked and praised because He is all these things. The world will not know we have this kind of God if we do not live a life of thanksgiving and praise before Him and to them.

“18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 1:18-20).

     It is God’s mercy and grace that puts us before His “gates” and into His “courts” while we live out the rest of our temporal existence on this earth. Praise and thanksgiving should be our occupation while we live here, because what He has done for us has “everlasting” benefits and because His truth maintains an open door for the same benefits to “whosoever will” “to all generations.”

     This dualistic approach to worship can easily be distorted. It is easy for a local church to turn inward upon itself in a pursuit after God. God does not need to be pursued. We can be assured His presence is always before us. Our focus upon God turns our focus upon ourselves to understand just how far short we come of His glory (reflecting His image). We do not need to reflect God’s image to Him. He knows Who and What He is. We need to pursue holiness, righteousness and a transformed life because the world does not know Who and What God is. We are to be a vehicle of His revelation (“light”) and a vehicle of His preservation of righteousness (“salt”).