mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 100.xml

<div2 id="Ps.ci" n="ci" next="Ps.cii" prev="Ps.c" progress="56.17%" title="Chapter C">
<h2 id="Ps.ci-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.ci-p0.2">PSALM C.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.ci-p1">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, <scripRef id="Ps.ci-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.1-Ps.100.2 Bible:Ps.100.4" parsed="|Ps|100|1|100|2;|Ps|100|4|0|0" passage="Ps 100:1,2,4">ver. 1, 2,
4</scripRef>. II. We are furnished with matter for praise; we must
praise him, considering his being and relation to us (<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.3" parsed="|Ps|100|3|0|0" passage="Ps 100:3">ver. 3</scripRef>) and his mercy and truth,
<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.5" parsed="|Ps|100|5|0|0" passage="Ps 100:5">ver. 5</scripRef>. These are plain and
common things, and therefore the more fit to be the matter of
devotion.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.ci-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100" parsed="|Ps|100|0|0|0" passage="Ps 100" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.ci-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.1-Ps.100.5" parsed="|Ps|100|1|100|5" passage="Ps 100:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.100.1-Ps.100.5">
<h4 id="Ps.ci-p1.6">Importunate Exhortations to Praise God;
Motives for Praising God.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.ci-p1.7">
<p id="Ps.ci-p2">A psalm of praise.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.ci-p3">1 Make a joyful noise unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.ci-p3.1">Lord</span>, all ye lands.   2 Serve the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.ci-p3.2">Lord</span> with gladness: come before his
presence with singing.   3 Know ye that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.ci-p3.3">Lord</span> 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.   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.   5 For the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.ci-p3.4">Lord</span> <i>is</i> good; his mercy
<i>is</i> everlasting; and his truth <i>endureth</i> to all
generations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ci-p4">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 (<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.1" parsed="|Ps|100|1|0|0" passage="Ps 100:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>), <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 (<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.2" parsed="|Ps|100|2|0|0" passage="Ps 100:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), that we should <i>enter into his gates and into his
courts</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.4" parsed="|Ps|100|4|0|0" passage="Ps 100:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>),
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 (<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.2" parsed="|Ps|100|2|0|0" passage="Ps 100:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <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>
(<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.122.1" parsed="|Ps|122|1|0|0" passage="Ps 122:1">Ps. cxxii. 1</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="Ps.ci-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.43.4" parsed="|Ps|43|4|0|0" passage="Ps 43:4">Ps. xliii.
4</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Ps.ci-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.4" parsed="|Ps|100|4|0|0" passage="Ps 100:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.15" parsed="|Heb|13|15|0|0" passage="Heb 13:15">Heb. xiii.
15</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="Ps.ci-p5">II. The matter of praise, and motives to
it, are very important, <scripRef id="Ps.ci-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.3 Bible:Ps.100.5" parsed="|Ps|100|3|0|0;|Ps|100|5|0|0" passage="Ps 100:3,5"><i>v.</i> 3,
5</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Ps.ci-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.95.7" parsed="|Ps|95|7|0|0" passage="Ps 95:7">Ps. xcv. 7</scripRef>.
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
(<scripRef id="Ps.ci-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.100.5" parsed="|Ps|100|5|0|0" passage="Ps 100:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <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>
</div></div2>