James Tissot, Solomon Decicates the Temple (1896-1902)
Psalm 100
<A Psalm of thanksgiving.>
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; 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 steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
This short psalm of thanksgiving centers the actions of praise around the knowledge that the LORD is God and the peoples’ relation to their creator and shepherd. It echoes the concern of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and the first commandment (Exodus 20: 2-3, Deuteronomy 5: 6-7) that the people of Israel would know that the LORD is God alone and their role is to know, serve and belong to their God. The movement of the psalm is centered around seven imperatives: shout (NRSV make a joyful noise), serve (NRSV worship), come, know, come (NRSV enter), testify (NRSV give thanks), and bless. Poetically the repetition of come (obscured in the NRSV translation) focuses the hearer on what is bracketed in between: the command to know that the LORD is God and that the hearers are a part of his people. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 736) In response to the knowing the people are enabled to enter into the presence of God’s courts to bring praise and blessing.
Knowing is not just about knowledge of the LORD’s identity in Hebrew thought, it also involves acknowledgment that the community belongs to God and depends upon God. To be autonomous (one’s own law) in a Hebrew way of thinking is to be wicked. The statement that they are the LORD’s people and the sheep of his pasture focus the hearers on their God’s personal responsibility in overseeing the people of Israel. [1] Although at times there may be an earthly king who rules on behalf of the LORD, when those kings prove to be unfaithful shepherds the LORD removes those shepherds and becomes their shepherd who guides, protects, and keeps them. Their maker and protector is good (echoing the language of creation in Genesis) and provides steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness (emuna) two of the characteristics of God’s self-revelation to Moses.[2]
The life of praise is a life of service to the LORD. A person who comes to the courts of God is also expected to know that the LORD is their God, their creator and protector. The response to that knowledge is doxology (giving thanks). It is a life that acknowledges one’s dependance upon the LORD. Psalm 100 makes a bold claim for a life of praise, service, and thanksgiving to God in a world that seems to serve many gods. The psalmist points to a life centered on the knowledge of God and praise filled obedience to God’s ways.
[1] See for example Psalm 74:1, 79:13, 95:7, Jeremiah 23:1-4, Ezekiel 34:11-22
Sign of the Rose 