Enter His Gates With
Thanksgiving
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. If
you were invited to meet Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, you would be
expected to adhere to a strict protocol. Among
the rules you would observe would
be the following.
1. The “no-touch” rule. An individual who
meets the Queen is not permitted to touch
her. You must wait for her to extend her
hand. You must not grip her hand tightly
and you must not hold it for more than a
few seconds. There are no hugs, no kiss
on the cheek or touching in any way.
2. The “correct speech” rule. In addressing
the Queen, you are expected to refer to
her
initially as, “Your Majesty,” and following this as “Ma’am.” You are not
permitted to speak unless the Queen
speaks to you.
3. The “dress” rule. We live in a very
informal society. However, in the world of Kings
and Queens, formality is still the rule.
Women are expected to wear a dress. Men
are to wear a dark suit and tie.
4. The “eating” rule. When tea and snacks
are served, no one is to continue eating
after the Queen has finished. Tea must
be one sip at a time with the cup returned to
the saucer after each sip.
5. These are only a few of the rules of
etiquette one must observe in meeting the
Queen. (Source: Royal Etiquette: Do's and Don'ts When Meeting Her
Majesty, by
Huma Khan, ABC News).
B. What does the Bible say about the way we
come before God? Is there a proper
décor? Is there a certain protocol? From
Psalm 93 through Psalm 101 there is a
group of Psalms that address this question.
1. Psalm 93:1 – “The Lord reigns, He is
clothed with majesty; The Lord has clothed
and girded Himself with strength. Indeed,
the world is firmly established, it will not
be moved.”
2. Psalm 95:1 – “O Come, Sing to the Lord.”
3. Psalm 96:1 – “Sing to the Lord a new
song. Sing to the Lord all the earth.”
4. Psalm 97:1 – “The Lord reigns, let the
earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad.”
5. Psalm 98:1 – “O sing to the Lord a new
song, For He has done wonderful things.”
6. Psalm 99:3 – “Let them praise Your great
and awesome name.”
7. Psalm 101:1 – “I will sing of
lovingkindness and justice, To You, O Lord, I will sing
praises.”
8. Psalm 105:1 – “Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon His name.”
9. Psalm 106 and 107 both begin the same
way. “Give thanks to the Lord for He is
good, His love endures forever.”
C.
Within this group of Psalms” there is one that is particularly relevant to us
during the
Thanksgiving season. Psalm 100 says:
Shout joyfully to the
Lord, all the earth. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing. 3 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. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise.
Give
thanks to Him, bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His
lovingkindness is
everlasting And His faithfulness to all
generations
D.
This Psalm is constructed around four words.
I. SHOUT!
A. “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the
earth.” This statement in also found in
Psalm
98:4. It conveys the idea of an outward
display of an inner attitude.
1. When you attend a football game and
your team scores a touchdown, how does
the crowd respond? They engage in an
outward display of an inner attitude.
2. When a candidate for political office
wins an election and delivers his victory
Speech, how does the crowd respond?
3. In both cases, there is jubilation,
excitement and shouting.
B. When the Psalmist says, “Shout joyfully
to the LORD,” he is talking about showing
homage to royalty. Picture a large crowd
of people shouting praise and adoration to
their King or Queen. Notice three things
about this command.
1. To whom is it directed?
a. “All the earth.”
b. The command to express praise is
given to every person regardless of
nationality, race, ethnicity,
social status, educational level or language.
c. In a world filled with division
there is one way for us to unite. When we are
praising and worshipping God
together, we become one in spirit and purpose.
2. Who is the recipient of this praise?
a. The word LORD is used to describe
the name YAHWEH, “I AM.” This is the
covenant name of God with His
people.
b. When we assemble to worship, we
should have only one thing on our agenda.
That one thing is to meet God.
God’s agenda is to meet us. Our worship and
praise is to God. We are not
cheering for ourselves. We are not exalting
ourselves. It is all about God.
3. By what is this praise characterized?
a. Shout with joy!
b. Worship should be the most joyful
activity in which we engage. Supreme Court
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes,
Jr., served on the nation’s highest court for
over thirty years. He is reputed
to have had one of the brightest legal minds to
ever serve in that position.
Holmes once said he gave serious consideration to
becoming a minister but too many
preachers looked like undertakers.
c. Psalm 66:1 begins with the same
words as Psalm 100. “Shout joyfully to God,
all the earth.”
d. Psalm 98:6 declares, “Shout
joyfully before the King, the Lord.”
II. SERVE!
A. In verse 2, the Psalmist declares, “Serve
the Lord with gladness; Come before Him
with joyful singing.”
B. In this context the word “serve” means “worship.”
How does God want us to
worship Him?
1. Does God want us to worship Him with
a sad countenance, a heavy heart and a
spirit of drudgery? Some churches
look like they are the most miserable people
on earth.
2. “Gladness” means to be joyful. Each
of us comes to worship with an attitude. It is
up to us choose the attitude we
will possess.
C. We do not come before God empty-handed.
When foreign dignitaries visit one
another, they often present gifts to
their host. When the Magi or “wise men” visited
the infant Jesus, they brought gifts of
gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Psalmist
says, “Come before the Lord with
singing.” God is not interested in the quality of
your voice. He is interested in the
praise from your heart.
III. KNOW!
A. Notice verse 3 – “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.”
B. There are two essential truths we must
know.
1. The reality of God.
a. This Psalm said, “The LORD
(YAHWEH) is God.”
b. What does an atheist do on
Thanksgiving? Who do they thank for the
necessities of life? Who do they
thank for the relationships of family and
friends? In one episode of the
TV cartoon “The Simpsons,” the character Bart
was asked to say the blessing at
Thanksgiving. He said, “God, this is our food.
We worked for it. We paid for it. So,
thanks for nothing.” How sad it would be to
live a life that does not
recognize the reality of God and the blessings He
provides.
2. The relationship with God.
a. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture.
b. There is not a more beautiful
description of the relationship between God and
man than this one. We are His
people. He claims us for Himself. Everyone
around you may reject you, but God says,
“You are mine.” We are His sheep.
The most famous Psalm reminds
us, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not
want” (Psalm 23).
IV. ENTER!
A. Verses 4 and 5 are the climactic verses
of this Psalm – “Enter His gates with
thanksgiving and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5For the Lord is good; His
lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all
generations.”
B. Why is God worthy of thanksgiving?
1. Because He is good.
a. In Genesis 1, everything God
created was good. How could it have been
otherwise, considering that He
is good?
b. James 1:17 says, “Every good
thing given and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of
lights, with whom there is no variation or
shifting shadow.”
2. Because of His lovingkindness. This
word is the Old Testament equivalent of
“grace.”
3. Because of his faithfulness. Whatever
may change in your life, you can be
assured of the faithfulness of God.
B. A group of wealthy people were asked
what they wanted for Christmas. Would it
be a vacation home? A new car? A mink
coat? One lady had an interesting request.
“I want the gift of thankfulness for all
that I already have.” Wouldn’t that make a
huge difference in our lives?
CONCLUSION
A. A
woman was shopping on “Black Friday” and became weary. She stopped at the
coffee bar and bought a mocha and a small
bag of cookies which she put in her
shopping bag. The only seat available was
at a table where a man was sitting. She
asked for permission to sit, and he nodded
as he read his newspaper. The woman
took out a magazine and began to read as
she sipped her coffee. She reached for a
cookie on the table and put it in her
mouth. In just a moment, the man reached for a
cookie and ate it. She thought, “How rude.
He didn’t even ask me for one of my
cookies.” She took another one and ate it.
Soon, he reached and took another cookie
as he smiled at her. This went on for
several minutes until there was only one cookie
left. The man looked at her, she looked at
him. He picked the cookie up, broke it in
half and offered half to her. She was
irate! Quickly she folded her magazine and put it
in her shopping bag where she saw, to her
horror, her own bag of unopened cookies!
B. Sometimes we do a lot of “taking” from God
without doing much giving.
1. What does God want from us?
2. He wants us to come before Him with the
praise and thanksgiving of a transformed
life.
C.
Will you “enter His gates with thanksgiving?”
