Psalms 100
Big idea: Five verses, and they are the shortest complete theology of worship in the book. Seven imperatives — shout, serve, come, know, enter, give thanks, bless — and one fact placed at the centre that the rest depend on: know that Yahweh, he is God; it is he who has made us, and we are his. Not we made ourselves. And the reason given at the end is the Psalter's most repeated sentence: his loving kindness endures forever.
Psalm 100 is the shortest way in. Psalm 101 is a king deciding who gets to stay in his house.
100:1–5 — Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
Five verses, and the imperative at the centre is the one that carries them: KNOW. Everything else — shout, serve, come, enter, give thanks, bless — is joyful noise, and verse 3 supplies the content that keeps it from being merely noise. He made us, so we are his; and the psalm's last line reaches past the singers to 'all generations'.
1 A Psalm of thanksgiving. Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands! 2 Serve Yahweh with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. 3 Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name. 5 For Yahweh is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).