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867 / 1113 · Psalms 100 · Return & Rebuilding · Undated; read here after the return (after 538 BC)

Through His Gates With Thanks

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Village shepherds in Rajasthan or the Deccan often know their animals so well that they can tell, at a glance, which one is missing from a flock of two hundred. The sheep, for their part, know one voice and follow it home at dusk. Belonging, for them, is not an idea; it is a daily walk behind someone. Psalm 100 rests on that picture. In five short verses it tells the whole earth who God is, who we are, and what that means: come in through the gate, with thanks.

Where it sits in the story: Psalm 100 rounds off the run of kingship psalms with a simple invitation. Its heading calls it a psalm for thanksgiving, probably linked to the thank offering brought to the temple. It takes Israel's covenant claim, 'we are his people', and opens it to all the earth, a quiet anticipation of the gospel's call to every nation in the later acts of the story.

What this chapter is doing: To gather everything the enthronement psalms have said into a short, singable call: know who God is, know whose you are, and come to him gladly with thanks.

Why it is read here: Books 4–5 of the Psalms carry few headings. Most scholars think the Psalter reached its final shape after the exile, so we read these untitled psalms at the close of the Old Testament story. Individual psalms may be much older.
The walk-through
  • 100:1–2 — The whole earth is told to shout for joy to the LORD, to serve him with gladness and come before him with singing. Service and joy are not opposites here; worship is meant to be glad.
  • 100:3 — The centre of the psalm: know that the LORD is God. He made us and we belong to him; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Identity comes from the Maker and Shepherd, not from ourselves.
  • 100:4–5 — So enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; thank him and bless his name. The reason is simple and permanent: the LORD is good, his steadfast love lasts forever, and his faithfulness continues through every generation.
What it showsThe heading 'a psalm for thanksgiving' fits the thank offering described in Leviticus 7, and the covenant phrase 'we are his people' echoes the Torah and the prophets.
Where the evidence stopsThe psalm gives no author or date, and whether it was tied to a particular sacrifice or procession is inferred from its heading and wording.

Key verse: Psalm 100:3  ·  So what: Much of modern life says you must build your own identity and prove your worth. Psalm 100 starts somewhere else: you are made, known and led, and the right response is gratitude. Set to music as the 'Old Hundredth' in the sixteenth century, it is still sung in many languages, a sign of how widely that simple claim has travelled.

← Holy Is HeYou have just read Psalm 99, with its threefold 'holy is he'. Next, Psalm 104 widens the view from the temple courts to the whole of creation, from springs and cedars to lions, ships and Leviathan.How Many Are Your Works →
Sources & further reading
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