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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms C].</TITLE>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM C.</FONT>
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<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
It is with good reason that many sing this psalm very frequently in
their religious assemblies, for it is very proper both to express and
to excite pious and devout affections towards God in our approach to
him in holy ordinances; and, if our hearts go along with the words, we
shall make melody in it to the Lord. The Jews say it was penned to be
sung with their thank-offerings; perhaps it was; but we say that as
there is nothing in it peculiar to their economy so its beginning with
a call to all lands to praise God plainly extends it to the
gospel-church. Here,
I. We are called upon to praise God and rejoice in him,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:1,2,4">ver. 1, 2, 4</A>.
II. We are furnished with matter for praise; we must praise him,
considering his being and relation to us
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:3">ver. 3</A>)
and his mercy and truth,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:5">ver. 5</A>.
These are plain and common things, and therefore the more fit to be the
matter of devotion.</P>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Importunate Exhortations to Praise God; Motives for Praising God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<P>A psalm of praise.</P>
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<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Make a joyful noise unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, all
ye lands.
&nbsp; 2 Serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> with gladness: come before his presence with
singing.
&nbsp; 3 Know ye that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> he <I>is</I> God: <I>it is</I> he <I>that</I> hath
made us, and not we ourselves; <I>we are</I> his people, and the sheep
of his pasture.
&nbsp; 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, <I>and</I> into his courts
with praise: be thankful unto him, <I>and</I> bless his name.
&nbsp; 5 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> good; his mercy <I>is</I> everlasting; and his
truth <I>endureth</I> to all generations.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here,
I. The exhortations to praise are very importunate. The psalm does
indeed answer to the title, <I>A psalm of praise;</I> it begins with
that call which of late we have several times met with
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
<I>Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands,</I> or <I>all the
earth,</I> all the inhabitants of the earth. When all nations shall be
discipled, and the gospel preached to every creature, then this summons
will be fully answered to. But, if we take the foregoing psalm to be
(as we have opened it) a call to the Jewish church to rejoice in the
administration of God's kingdom, which they were under (as the four
psalms before it were calculated for the days of the Messiah), this
psalm, perhaps, was intended for proselytes, that came over out of all
lands to the Jews' religion. However, we have here,
1. A strong invitation to worship God; not that God needs us, or any
thing we have or can do, but it is his will that we should <I>serve the
Lord,</I> should devote ourselves to his service and employ ourselves
in it; and that we should not only serve him in all instances of
obedience to his law, but that we should <I>come before his
presence</I> in the ordinances which he has appointed and in which he
has promised to manifest himself
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
that we should <I>enter into his gates and into his courts</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
that we should attend upon him among his servants, and keep there where
he keeps court. In all acts of religious worship, whether in secret or
in our families, we come into God's presence, and serve him; but it is
in public worship especially that we <I>enter into his gates and into
his courts.</I> The people were not permitted to enter into the holy
place; there the priests only went in to minister. But let the people
be thankful for their place in the courts of God's house, to which they
were admitted and where they gave their attendance.
2. Great encouragement given us, in worshipping God, to do it
cheerfully
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
<I>Serve the Lord with gladness.</I> This intimates a prediction that
in gospel-times there should be special occasion for joy; and it
prescribes this as a rule of worship: Let God be <I>served with
gladness.</I> By holy joy we do really serve God; it is an honour to
him to rejoice in him; and we ought to serve him with holy joy.
Gospel-worshippers should be joyful worshippers; if we serve God in
uprightness, let us serve him with gladness. We must be willing and
forward to it, glad when we are called to <I>go up to the house of the
Lord</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+122:1">Ps. cxxii. 1</A>),
looking upon it as the comfort of our lives to have communion with God;
and we must be pleasant and cheerful in it, must say, <I>It is good to
be here,</I> approaching to God, in every duty, as <I>to God our
exceeding Joy,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:4">Ps. xliii. 4</A>.
We must <I>come before his presence with singing,</I> not only songs of
joy, but songs of praise. <I>Enter into his gates with
thanksgiving,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
We must not only comfort ourselves, but glorify God, with our joy, and
let him have the praise of that which we have the pleasure of. <I>Be
thankful to him and bless his name;</I> that is,
(1.) We must take it as a favour to be admitted into his service, and
give him thanks that we have liberty of access to him, that we have
ordinances instituted and opportunity continued of waiting upon God in
those ordinances.
(2.) We must intermix praise and thanksgiving with all our services.
This golden thread must run through every duty
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:15">Heb. xiii. 15</A>),
for it is the work of angels. <I>In every thing give thanks,</I> in
every ordinance, as well as in every providence.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. The matter of praise, and motives to it, are very important,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:3,5"><I>v.</I> 3, 5</A>.
Know you what God is in himself and what he is to you. Note, Knowledge
is the mother of devotion and of all obedience: blind sacrifices will
never please a seeing God. "Know it; consider and apply it, and then
you will be more close and constant, more inward and serious, in the
worship of him." Let us know then these seven things concerning the
Lord Jehovah, with whom we have to do in all the acts of religious
worship:--
1. <I>That the Lord he is God,</I> the only living and true God--that
he is a Being infinitely perfect, self-existent, and self-sufficient,
and the fountain of all being; he is God, and not a man as we are. He
is an eternal Spirit, incomprehensible and independent, the first cause
and last end. The heathen worshipped the creature of their own fancy;
the workmen made it, therefore it is not God. We worship him that made
us and all the world; he is God, and all other pretended deities are
vanity and a lie, and such as he has triumphed over.
2. That he is our Creator: <I>It is he that has made us, and not we
ourselves.</I> I find that I am, but cannot say, <I>I am that I am,</I>
and therefore must ask, Whence am I? Who made me? <I>Where is God my
Maker?</I> And it is the Lord Jehovah. He gave us being, he gave us
this being; he is both the former of our bodies and the Father of our
spirits. We did not, we could not, make ourselves. It is God's
prerogative to be his own cause; our being is derived and depending.
3. That therefore he is our rightful owner. The Masorites, by altering
one letter in the Hebrew, read it, <I>He made us, and his we are,</I>
or <I>to him we belong.</I> Put both the readings together, and we
learn that because God <I>made us, and not we ourselves,</I> therefore
we are not our own, but his. He has an incontestable right to, and
property in, us and all things. His we are, to be actuated by his
power, disposed of by his will, and devoted to his honour and glory.
4. That he is our sovereign ruler: <I>We are his people</I> or
subjects, and he is our prince, our rector or governor, that gives law
to us as moral agents, and will call us to an account for what we do.
<I>The Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver.</I> We are not at
liberty to do what we will, but must always make conscience of doing as
we are bidden.
5. That he is our bountiful benefactor. We are not only his sheep, whom
he is entitled to, but <I>the sheep of his pasture,</I> whom he takes
care of; the <I>flock of his feeding</I> (so it may be read); therefore
the <I>sheep of his hand;</I> at his disposal because <I>the sheep of
his pasture,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:7">Ps. xcv. 7</A>.
He that made us maintains us, and gives us all good things richly to
enjoy.
6. That he is a God of infinite mercy and goodness
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
<I>The Lord is good,</I> and therefore does good; <I>his mercy is
everlasting;</I> it is a fountain that can never be drawn dry. The
saints, who are now the sanctified vessels of mercy, will be, to
eternity, the glorified monuments of mercy.
7. That he is a God of inviolable truth and faithfulness: <I>His truth
endures to all generations,</I> and no word of his shall fall to the
ground as antiquated or revoked. The promise is sure to all the seed,
from age to age.</P>
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