Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise (Psalm 100:4)

I’ve been entering the courts of the Lord regularly for most of my life. Maybe you have too. What that means in my North American context is showing up at church for weekly worship. I have entered his gates by walking carpeted hallways. The gates are usually wooden doors, sometimes glass. 

Entering the gates and courts of the Lord isn’t hard. In America the courts of the Lord can be found on every street corner and you can browse the various gates and courts to discover which ones you enjoy entering best. Some of the Lord’s courts are cathedral-like while others are small and rustic. Still others rival Philips Arena in their gadgetry and feel like the AMC theaters in their spongy seats.

Gaining entry to the Lord’s varied courts is no problem. But the Psalmist doesn’t simply tell us to enter. The Psalmist tells us how we are to enter the courts of the Lord. Enter with thanksgiving and praise; worship with gladness and come before him with joyful songs.

Entering a New Reality

My entering has not always been like that.

I’ve entered the courts of the Lord in a hurry. I’ve entered wondering how soon I could exit. I’ve entered worried. I’ve entered eager to see who else had entered that day. And on occasion I’ve entered the courts of the Lord for no other reason than I was being paid to be there. I’m just being honest. 

Nearly every week I get a fairly good seat in the Lord’s courts, and I observe how others enter. We enter frazzled from the hunt for a parking place. Some enter reluctantly, complying with the wishes of someone else who wanted them to enter. Some enter sleepily. Some come quietly, others chattering away. Plenty enter late. Some enter the Lord’s courts just in time to hear the sermon and slip out just before the joyful song at the end.

We don’t always enter the courts of the Lord with praise and thanksgiving, but praise has the power to change us. In the Psalms praise takes root in a glad and thankful heart; gratitude and joy are the natural habitat of praise. But praise also has the power to create the conditions in which it thrives.

In the courts of the Lord we are oriented to a new reality. We’ve spent our week in a world where we are at the center of things, making things happen, scrapping to survive, pushing to get ahead or get noticed. We’ve been sized up based on our performance and our worth has been measured by what we’ve accomplished or what we own.

And then we step into the Lord’s courts; we enter the sanctuary of God and we are confronted with entirely different claims about the world and about ourselves. The key word at the center of Psalm 100 is “know” (v. 3). 

Praise and Knowledge

To be in God’s courts is to know that The Lord is God, ruling and guiding all things with purpose and power.

To be in the Lords courts is to know that while we spend our days earning a living, our lives are made by another. The self-made person is a myth. All that we have, all that we’ve done, all that we are comes to us by grace. We can claim nothing more than that. 

To be in the Lord’s courts is to know that we belong to God. We are God’s people and that is at the core of our identity.  That belonging shapes how we live and who we are called to be as we get ready for a new week.

As we come to know this, allowing our souls to steep in this reality, something happens. Praise germinates deep within us and our heart becomes glad and the gladness gives birth to thankfulness. And there we are in the courts of the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.

We might not have entered that way, but when we have truly been in God’s presence our leaving should be different than our arriving. We don’t become as we should be and then praise God. We praise God and find ourselves changed, made to be as we should.             

The last time you entered the courts of the Lord, how did you enter? How did you leave?

Prayer:

May the praises I offer to you, O Lord, create a right heart within me. Help me to know this world as it truly is, seeing you at the center of all things. In that knowledge, make me glad and thankful, full of your joy and peace through Christ our Lord. Amen.