Psalm 100:4–5

Context

Psalm 100 is a short psalm of five verses whose superscription reads "A Psalm of praise" (KJV; literally "A Psalm for thanksgiving"). Scholars commonly regard it as the conclusion of the group of psalms that celebrate the LORD's reign ("The LORD reigneth"), namely Psalms 93 and 95–99. Verses 1–3 summon "all ye lands" to serve the LORD with gladness and to know that He is God. Verse 4 continues that summons, urging worshipers to pass through the "gates" of the temple and into its "courts." Verse 5 opens with the Hebrew conjunction ki ("for," "because") and gives the reason for doing so. The Korean Revised Version renders this conjunction with the word daejeo.

In verse 5, "mercy" translates hesed, which denotes steadfast love grounded in the covenant, and "truth" translates emunah, meaning faithfulness. The confession that the LORD is good and that His mercy endures forever is a recurring formula in Old Testament worship.

Interpretation

• Reading against the background of temple worship: This view sees the passage as depicting a procession of worshipers entering the Temple in Jerusalem in song. Because the word "thanksgiving" (todah) in verse 4 can refer both to words of thanks and to a thank offering, some scholars connect the passage with worshipers coming to present thank offerings.
• Reading as an attitude of worship: Protestant preaching often interprets the passage as describing the disposition of those who approach God: worship should begin not with complaint but with thanksgiving and praise. Preachers also emphasize that the ground of thanksgiving lies not in one's circumstances but in the character of God (v. 5).
• Reading in the light of the New Testament: This reading links entering the temple gates with approaching God through Christ. It reads the passage together with "I am the door" (John 10:9) and with Hebrews 13:15–16, which speaks of the sacrifice of praise.

Questions Concerning Application

The passage has given rise to almost no doctrinal controversy. Two concerns, however, have been raised regarding its application.

• Some praise and worship ministries map "gates → courts → Holy of Holies" onto the structure of the tabernacle and use it as the basis for an order of worship that progresses from thanksgiving to praise to adoration. Critics respond that the thanksgiving and praise of verse 4 are simply an instance of Hebrew poetic parallelism, in which the same idea is stated twice, and do not represent distinct stages.
• Within Protestantism, objections have been raised to citing this passage to describe today's church buildings as equivalent to the Old Testament temple, on the grounds that in the New Testament the meaning of the temple has been transferred to Christ and to the community of the church.

In the Korean Church

The passage is frequently used as a sermon text for Thanksgiving and Wheat Harvest Thanksgiving, and it also serves as a call to worship read by the worship leader at the opening of a service. Gospel songs that take verse 4 as their lyrics have been widely sung. The tune of the doxology "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow" is said to have acquired the name "Old Hundredth" because it was set to an English hymn that rendered Psalm 100 in metrical form.

Related Passages

• 1 Chronicles 16:34
• Psalm 136:1
• Exodus 34:6
• Hebrews 4:14–16