Psalm 100:4-5 "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."
Many songs have been written about these verses and with these words included.
What do they mean? Today, we celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. I've
listened to many people speak about their family traditions and most of them
include family, food, and football. These are wonderful and fun things that
enrich the day, but is it the true meaning that was intended when the day was
established? The Psalmist instructed us to include a special action with
our words of thankfulness. We are to "enter into HIS gates."
The heartfelt words of thanksgiving allow us to enter the gates of the Lord,
but there is a much deeper place into which we can go. Not only are we to enter
into HIS gates, but He invites us to come much closer to Him by entering
"into HIS courts." It is in the courts of heaven that we
experience by faith the very presence of the Lord.
I'm thinking of the man, in Acts chapter 3, who had never walked. His friends
brought him daily to the "gates of the temple" where he would ask
alms of the people as they entered. I'm sure he was thankful for the
things that would be shared with him, but there was a deeper place into which
he was able to go after he was healed. If you remember, he went running and
leaping and PRAISING the Lord for all that had been done for him. We are
beckoned to enter into the close presence of the Lord and the entrance therein
is accomplished as we thank Him for all His goodness and mercy and we begin to
praise Him for all that He is. Today, I want to be thankful for all He
has done, but I also want to praise Him for His very being and interaction in
my life.