Psalm 100:4

Psalm 100:4

Praise His name!

Do you remember the cries of the Levite song-writer in Psalm 84? “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord ….. better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere, I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” Such were the longings of many of Israel’s inhabitants at times in their history. To travel to Zion, to climb the Temple Mount, to enter through the gates and into its courts was the high point of any year. In this instance the worshipper comes with one particular purpose, to make a Thank Offering to the Lord and then to celebrate afterwards with family and friends. Set against the gruelling days of hard labour and monotony that many endured there is every reason to understand their joy as they arrived at Jerusalem. 

However, the Psalm does not just celebrate the events, it is His gates they are entering, it Is His courts that they fill with praise, it is to the Lord that they give thanks, and it is His name that they praise. We need to remember that while all other aspects of our spiritual lives are to be enjoyed, riding supreme over them all is the privilege and wonder of drawing near to the Lord God and bringing our praises to Him. This was expressed in many practical and tangible ways by the Jews, which is why dancing and flag waving and hand-raising and clapping and shouting our praises are important but not if we do these things for their own sake. When we come together it is for Him and to Him that we come. The joy of His presence should over-ride all else and our focus is not on musicians or a liturgy or the man-made surroundings but on Him. Let’s never forget that. 

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