Psalms that have impacted my life

Psalm 100 Part 3

There is nothing more fulfilling than to be a thankful person, being thankful is an attitude of the heart and the choices that we make. The psalmist demonstrates this by the way that he talks and his attitude to living a life of thankfulness. This is an area of living in which you cannot hide – being thankful is always on display everywhere you go. Verse 4 says: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise, be thankful unto Him and bless His name”. The first thing that stands out to me is the word ‘enter’  which suggests that sometimes you are away from the closeness of His presence. The verse goes on to say ‘His gates’ and the ‘His courts’ and this suggests that there is a progression in drawing close to the Lord. The gates denote the starting point and the courts the destination.  The verse reinforces the truth that the starting point is thanksgiving, this is a great way to start every day. Taking time to be thankful to the Lord – this is a choice that we can always make and making that choice determines the way that we live. To enter the presence of the Lord allows our spirit to rise and allows praise to the Lord to rise to Him. Praise is the adoration of our spirit that comes from our relationship, not knowledge.  Just because I can say words that sound like praise does not mean that I am praising the Lord. The next phrase clarifies this “Be thankful unto Him”, this suggests that we can be thankful for many things which in its self is not a bad thing, but our focus must be on Him. The verse concludes with “And bless His name”. Sometimes we can forget the greatness of His name and the many attributes of His name. We are reminded to bless His name, the word ‘bless’ means to consecrate and adore, and this is our attitude to the Lord.  Verse 5 says: “For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures unto all generations”. This verse explains why we can be thankful unto the Lord and bless His name. Firstly, the Lord is good, this is one of the most powerful foundational truths when we understand and live by this truth our lives are completely changed, it drives out all doubt and fear about our everyday living. When we know that God is a good God, we realise everything that He does for us is good because that is His nature and He cannot change. The goodness of God is something that is always under attack but we are not put off by the lies of Satan. Secondly, His mercy is everlasting, I am so glad that this is so true because when I sin and repent He forgives me and forgets the sin that I committed. The word everlasting gives such a sense of security for I know that as long as I live I am covered by His mercy. And thirdly, His truth never changes in all circumstances of life, I can confidently put my trust in Him for I know that as I have experienced His truth in the past it gives me the confidence to expect the same in the future. This psalm has been such an encouragement to me for I have been impacted by the truth of it as I constantly thank the Lord for His goodness in my life.