"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;
Give thanks to Him and praise His name"
(Psalm 100:4)
How important it is for each of us to know the way into God's presence! How do we come into His courts? The psalmist points out the way that God has ordained: We enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. It is only as we come to God with thanksgiving and with praise that we have access into His presence.
The prophet Isaiah likens the presence of God among His people to a city, concerning which he says, "You will call your walls Salvation and Your gates Praise" (Isaiah 60:18). The only way through those walls of Salvation is by the gates of Praise. Unless we learn to approach God with praise, we have no access into His presence.
Confronted with this requirement, we are sometimes tempted to look around us at our situation and ask: "But what do I have to thank God for? What do I have to praise Him for?" There may be nothing in our immediate circumstances that appears to give us cause to thank or praise God. It is just here that the psalmist comes to our help. He gives us three reasons to thank and praise that is not affected by our circumstances (see verse 5):
1) The Lord is good
2) His love endures forever
3) His faithfulness continues through all generation.
All three are eternal, unchanging facts. If we truly believe them, then we have no alternative but to praise God for them - CONTINUALLY!
Perhaps this could be one of the reasons and secrets why the psalmist desired to be a doorkeeper (Psalm 84:10) and that King David was steadfast in his heart to declare: “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).
Be inspired and be blessed!
#Psalm #Devotional #Thanksgiving #Praise #GodIsGood #HisLoveEnduresForever #GodIsFaithful
