Enter His Gates

Introduction

We come to the next part of this Psalm of Thanks. Here, we enter His gates. First and foremost to me, in order to enter something, you have to be outside of it. Have you ever been on the outside looking in, and wished you could go in? Several years ago, I was on the outside of Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia. I happened to be visiting some friends that weekend there it is was the same weekend that Georgia and Auburn were playing. I was walking around the stadium with my friends, when this guy walked up and asked me if I wanted to buy some 50 yard-line tickets. I knew that this was an impossibility, but I asked him anyway, “How much?” He said $500 each. Before I could answer, this other guy jumped in front of me and asked the guy if he could buy them. The seller saw a potential deal and they started to do the deal. All of the sudden, the buyer had the seller in handcuffs, saying, “you are under arrest for the illegal scalping of tickets.” They whisked him off in an unmarked police car. Right before they left, I asked, “What are y’all going to do with those tickets?” Of course the undercover officer just smiled and kept them as they were evidence! I was on the outside looking for a way to get on the inside. Psalm 100:4 tells me about an opportunity to go from the outside into the inside of a place far better than any football stadium could ever be! This verse tells me that I can go in. It tells me the place, the posture, the praise and the power. All of these are demonstrated here. Let’s read together Psalm 100:1-4

Psalm 100:1–4 NIV84

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

The Place

The word for enter means to go in, to come in solemnly. The Hebrew word for enter is translated into English as BOW. That certainly helps me better see the true meaning of this word. The passage tells us the place to enter. First, we are told to enter his gates.

His Gates

The first question you might ask is, “Why are there gates? Doesn’t God want all mankind to have access to Him?” God demands holiness and anything that is unholy cannot come to Him.

Revelation 21:27 NIV84

27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Is your name written in the Lamb’s book of life?

His Courts

We enter through the gates and into His courts. By the way, the gates and courts are His, not ours. We are privileged to be there. While the gates mark the entrance way, the courts are inside the enclosure. The courts house the village or the abode. Think about that with me, come into His gates in order that you might be in dwell in the abode of Almighty God.

Does that sound inviting to you?

Psalm 84:1–2 NIV84

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Psalm 92:13 NIV84

13 planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

We enter His gates and we enter His courts. As we do, we are entering the very heart of God!

His Heart

His gates and courts are thrown open by the “new and living way.” His name is Jesus. Joel 2:13

Joel 2:13 NIV84

13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

When we rend our hearts and align them with the heart of God, we see that new and living way that was given to us in the gift of Jesus.

John 14:6

John 14:6 NIV84

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This shows us the heart of God in that God provided a way to enter His gates and courts through Jesus.

We see the place to enter through His gates and His courts. Notice the posture when we come in.

The Posture

We are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. The word praise in this first sentence is different that the word praise in the second sentence. Here, it is shaar. It means a place of entering. But the word for thanksgiving, towdah, means confession, thanks and praise. The posture we are to enter His gates and His courts is thanksgiving composed of three areas.

Thanksgiving in Confession

The first is thanksgiving in confession. Perhaps you have heard that confession is good for the soul. Verbalizing our confession has the power to free us from the strongholds of sickness, sin, isolation and torment. Sharing our struggle with someone we trust and receiving their unconditional love, acceptance and grace assures us that we are not alone, and we are loved. James 5:16

James 5:16 NIV84

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

However, we are to confess our love for the Lord. Romans 14:11

Romans 14:11 NIV84

11 It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ ”

Thanksgiving in Thanks

It may sound redundant, but we are to also enter His gates and His courts in thanksgiving by giving thanks. David modeled this for us first in 1 Chronicles 16:34

1 Chronicles 16:34 NIV84

34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

You may recognize that from many passages in Psalms as well. It is because of God’s love that we give thanks. As we do, we will also have thanksgiving in our worship.

Thanksgiving in Worship

Thanksgiving is a vital part of the community’s coming together in God’s house for worship. David thought it was so important to do so that he appointed priests for the sole responsibility of giving thanks.

1 Chronicles 16:4 NIV84

4 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel:

Imagine you were to be the priest of thanksgiving for the day. In doing so, your attitude of thanksgiving set the tone for the rest of the worshipers. What would that service be like? For some of us it would grand. For others of us, it would not.

Feelings of bitterness, envy, hostility, and pride disqualify one from genuine worship. You can enter His gates and His courts with ungrateful hearts! You must enter with thanksgiving.

The Praise

You must also enter with praise. Now I mentioned earlier that even though praise is mentioned using the same word in English, we are talking about two different Hebrew words. The first is shaar but the second one is barak. This one means to bless, adore, praise in a way that would cause one to kneel.

Access

We should give thanks and praise His name because we have been given access. John 1:17

John 1:17 NIV84

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

It is because of grace and truth that we can access God through Jesus!

Adoration

That makes me worship in adoration! Psalm 25:1

Psalm 25:1 NIV84

1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;

O Come let us adore Him!

Awe

Do you feel also as we study this verse that there is a sense of awe as we we enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise? Perhaps you experience what the prophet Habakkuk felt. Habakkuk 3:2

Habakkuk 3:2 NIV84

2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

What a beautiful prayer of praise!

Psalm 100:4 NIV84

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

The Power

There is power in the Name of our Lord. Notice these three powerful aspects we can find in His name.

In His Name for His Character

We see power in His name for His character. Psalm 89:8

Psalm 89:8 NIV84

8 O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

In His Name for His Reputation

The Hebrew word for name here also refers to the reputation. Psalm 18:31

Psalm 18:31 NIV84

31 For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?

Psalm 19:9–10 MSG

9 God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree. 10 God’s Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries.

We can give thanks and praise His Name also for there is power in His Name for He is Knowable.

In His Name for He is Knowable

Proverbs 9:10 NIV84

10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

God in His grace and mercy provides the opportunity for you and I to know Him.

Colossians 1:9–10 NIV84

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

You can enter His gates and His courts with thanksgiving and praise. You can give thanks and praise Him. We can enter in our private worship and we can enter in our public worship. We can enter knowing that the Lord God is Mighty and He is everlasting. He hates sin, but He loves us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ His Son.

Hebrews 12:28 NIV84

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

In this season of thanks and in all seasons, you are invited to make the choice to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. You are requested to give thanks and praise His name. How will you respond?