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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms C].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM C.</FONT>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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It is with good reason that many sing this psalm very frequently in
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their religious assemblies, for it is very proper both to express and
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to excite pious and devout affections towards God in our approach to
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him in holy ordinances; and, if our hearts go along with the words, we
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shall make melody in it to the Lord. The Jews say it was penned to be
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sung with their thank-offerings; perhaps it was; but we say that as
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there is nothing in it peculiar to their economy so its beginning with
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a call to all lands to praise God plainly extends it to the
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gospel-church. Here,
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I. We are called upon to praise God and rejoice in him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:1,2,4">ver. 1, 2, 4</A>.
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II. We are furnished with matter for praise; we must praise him,
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considering his being and relation to us
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:3">ver. 3</A>)
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and his mercy and truth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:5">ver. 5</A>.
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These are plain and common things, and therefore the more fit to be the
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matter of devotion.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps100_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps100_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps100_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps100_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps100_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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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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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>A psalm of praise.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Make a joyful noise unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, all
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ye lands.
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2 Serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> with gladness: come before his presence with
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singing.
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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
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made us, and not we ourselves; <I>we are</I> his people, and the sheep
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of his pasture.
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4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, <I>and</I> into his courts
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with praise: be thankful unto him, <I>and</I> bless his name.
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5 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> good; his mercy <I>is</I> everlasting; and his
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truth <I>endureth</I> to all generations.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. The exhortations to praise are very importunate. The psalm does
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indeed answer to the title, <I>A psalm of praise;</I> it begins with
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that call which of late we have several times met with
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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<I>Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands,</I> or <I>all the
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earth,</I> all the inhabitants of the earth. When all nations shall be
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discipled, and the gospel preached to every creature, then this summons
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will be fully answered to. But, if we take the foregoing psalm to be
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(as we have opened it) a call to the Jewish church to rejoice in the
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administration of God's kingdom, which they were under (as the four
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psalms before it were calculated for the days of the Messiah), this
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psalm, perhaps, was intended for proselytes, that came over out of all
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lands to the Jews' religion. However, we have here,
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1. A strong invitation to worship God; not that God needs us, or any
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thing we have or can do, but it is his will that we should <I>serve the
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Lord,</I> should devote ourselves to his service and employ ourselves
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in it; and that we should not only serve him in all instances of
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obedience to his law, but that we should <I>come before his
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presence</I> in the ordinances which he has appointed and in which he
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has promised to manifest himself
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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that we should <I>enter into his gates and into his courts</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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that we should attend upon him among his servants, and keep there where
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he keeps court. In all acts of religious worship, whether in secret or
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in our families, we come into God's presence, and serve him; but it is
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in public worship especially that we <I>enter into his gates and into
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his courts.</I> The people were not permitted to enter into the holy
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place; there the priests only went in to minister. But let the people
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be thankful for their place in the courts of God's house, to which they
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were admitted and where they gave their attendance.
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2. Great encouragement given us, in worshipping God, to do it
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cheerfully
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Serve the Lord with gladness.</I> This intimates a prediction that
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in gospel-times there should be special occasion for joy; and it
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prescribes this as a rule of worship: Let God be <I>served with
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gladness.</I> By holy joy we do really serve God; it is an honour to
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him to rejoice in him; and we ought to serve him with holy joy.
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Gospel-worshippers should be joyful worshippers; if we serve God in
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uprightness, let us serve him with gladness. We must be willing and
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forward to it, glad when we are called to <I>go up to the house of the
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Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+122:1">Ps. cxxii. 1</A>),
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looking upon it as the comfort of our lives to have communion with God;
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and we must be pleasant and cheerful in it, must say, <I>It is good to
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be here,</I> approaching to God, in every duty, as <I>to God our
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exceeding Joy,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:4">Ps. xliii. 4</A>.
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We must <I>come before his presence with singing,</I> not only songs of
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joy, but songs of praise. <I>Enter into his gates with
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thanksgiving,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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We must not only comfort ourselves, but glorify God, with our joy, and
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let him have the praise of that which we have the pleasure of. <I>Be
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thankful to him and bless his name;</I> that is,
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(1.) We must take it as a favour to be admitted into his service, and
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give him thanks that we have liberty of access to him, that we have
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ordinances instituted and opportunity continued of waiting upon God in
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those ordinances.
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(2.) We must intermix praise and thanksgiving with all our services.
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This golden thread must run through every duty
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:15">Heb. xiii. 15</A>),
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for it is the work of angels. <I>In every thing give thanks,</I> in
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every ordinance, as well as in every providence.</P>
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<P>
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II. The matter of praise, and motives to it, are very important,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:3,5"><I>v.</I> 3, 5</A>.
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Know you what God is in himself and what he is to you. Note, Knowledge
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is the mother of devotion and of all obedience: blind sacrifices will
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never please a seeing God. "Know it; consider and apply it, and then
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you will be more close and constant, more inward and serious, in the
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worship of him." Let us know then these seven things concerning the
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Lord Jehovah, with whom we have to do in all the acts of religious
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worship:--
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1. <I>That the Lord he is God,</I> the only living and true God--that
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he is a Being infinitely perfect, self-existent, and self-sufficient,
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and the fountain of all being; he is God, and not a man as we are. He
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is an eternal Spirit, incomprehensible and independent, the first cause
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and last end. The heathen worshipped the creature of their own fancy;
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the workmen made it, therefore it is not God. We worship him that made
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us and all the world; he is God, and all other pretended deities are
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vanity and a lie, and such as he has triumphed over.
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2. That he is our Creator: <I>It is he that has made us, and not we
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ourselves.</I> I find that I am, but cannot say, <I>I am that I am,</I>
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and therefore must ask, Whence am I? Who made me? <I>Where is God my
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Maker?</I> And it is the Lord Jehovah. He gave us being, he gave us
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this being; he is both the former of our bodies and the Father of our
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spirits. We did not, we could not, make ourselves. It is God's
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prerogative to be his own cause; our being is derived and depending.
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3. That therefore he is our rightful owner. The Masorites, by altering
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one letter in the Hebrew, read it, <I>He made us, and his we are,</I>
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or <I>to him we belong.</I> Put both the readings together, and we
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learn that because God <I>made us, and not we ourselves,</I> therefore
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we are not our own, but his. He has an incontestable right to, and
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property in, us and all things. His we are, to be actuated by his
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power, disposed of by his will, and devoted to his honour and glory.
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4. That he is our sovereign ruler: <I>We are his people</I> or
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subjects, and he is our prince, our rector or governor, that gives law
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to us as moral agents, and will call us to an account for what we do.
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<I>The Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver.</I> We are not at
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liberty to do what we will, but must always make conscience of doing as
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we are bidden.
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5. That he is our bountiful benefactor. We are not only his sheep, whom
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he is entitled to, but <I>the sheep of his pasture,</I> whom he takes
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care of; the <I>flock of his feeding</I> (so it may be read); therefore
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the <I>sheep of his hand;</I> at his disposal because <I>the sheep of
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his pasture,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:7">Ps. xcv. 7</A>.
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He that made us maintains us, and gives us all good things richly to
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enjoy.
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6. That he is a God of infinite mercy and goodness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+100:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>The Lord is good,</I> and therefore does good; <I>his mercy is
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everlasting;</I> it is a fountain that can never be drawn dry. The
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saints, who are now the sanctified vessels of mercy, will be, to
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eternity, the glorified monuments of mercy.
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7. That he is a God of inviolable truth and faithfulness: <I>His truth
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endures to all generations,</I> and no word of his shall fall to the
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ground as antiquated or revoked. The promise is sure to all the seed,
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from age to age.</P>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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