An Invitation to All Men to Serve the True God.

A psalm of praise, properly placed here to close this wonderful series of praise anthems, the summons here being to give thanksgiving to God, the Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor of men.

v. 1. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, with the voice of exultant singing, all ye lands, Psa 98:4.

v. 2. Serve the Lord with gladness, not in the fear and terror of the Law, but with the joy flowing from true faith; come before His presence with singing, with shouts of homage to the mighty and merciful Ruler.

v. 3. Know ye that the Lord, He is God, that is the basis of a proper understanding of the divinity, that Jehovah alone is the true God; it is He that hath made us, by His almighty, creative power, and not we ourselves, everything that we are and have is a gift of His goodness and grace, and we may well think of the entire explanation of the First and the Second Article of the Creed at this point; we are His people, the believers, the true spiritual Israel, and the sheep of His pasture, in the care of the great Good Shepherd.

v. 4. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise, all men being invited to join the congregation of the Lord which has its place of worship in His temple, wherever His Word is preached; be thankful unto Him, for all the richness of His spiritual blessings, and bless His name, declaring the works performed by His wonderful attributes.

v. 5. For the Lord is good, Psa 25:8; Psa 34:8; His mercy, the liberality of His divine favor, on the basis of the redemption, is everlasting; and His truth, the faithfulness of His promises and of His love, endureth to all generations, from one generation to the next, as long as the world will stand, every new generation of believers learning and proclaiming this wonderful song of praise in honor of Jehovah the Messiah, as it will be sung also throughout eternity.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

THE hundredth psalm has for its title, “A Psalm of praise,” or “of thanksgiving,” and to this description it well answers. There is not a single mournful note in the composition. God is praised from the beginning to the end, and all the earth is called upon to join in blessing and thanking him. It has been suggested that it was probably written to be chanted by a festive procession as it approached and entered the temple (see Psa 100:4). The whole runs on without any break or division.

Psa 100:1

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord (comp. Psa 95:1, Psa 95:2, and the comment ad loc.). All ye lands; literally, all the earth.

Psa 100:2

Serve the Lord with gladness. “Gladness” is the emphatic word. Almost every clause of the psalm contains some such call. Come before his presence with singing; or, with a cry of joy.

Psa 100:3

Know ye that the Lord he is God; or, be sure“recognize the fact as a certainty” (see the Prayer book Version). It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; or, according to another reading, and his are we. This latter reading is preferred by De Wette, Kay, Cheyne, and the Revised Version. But the other, which was the reading of the LXX; and is supported by the Vulgate and the old commentators generally, should, however, be retained, as yielding a better sense. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (comp. Psa 74:1; Psa 79:13; Psa 95:7).

Psa 100:4

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. The mention of” gates” and” courts” points primarily to the temple worship, but the reference may be, as Professor Alexander suggests, “typical or metaphorical” rather than literal, and may extend to all the faithful and to all places of worship. Be thankful unto him; or, give thanks unto him (Revised Version). And bless his Name (comp. Psa 96:2; Psa 145:21).

Psa 100:5

For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting; literally, his mercy is forever. Compare the frequent refrain, “His mercy endureth forever” (Psa 118:1-4, Psa 118:29; Psa 136:1-26, etc.). And his truth (or, his faithfulness) endureth to all generations; literally, to generation and generation. All men’s hope is in God’s “faithfulness,” that he will keep his promises to thempardon them, deliver them, cleanse them, and give them rest in his kingdom forever.

HOMILETICS

Psa 100:1

The joy of service.

(Sermon for missions.) In this short psalm a note is sounded which echoes, and will never cease to echo, through the world. The trumpet of jubilee is blown, not for Israel, but for all mankind. Brief as this psalm is, it is one of the most wonderful portions of Scripture, glowing with self-evident light of inspiration, not poetic, but prophetic, Divine. This first verse exhibits the three characteristic features of the whole psalmits catholicity; its joyfulness; its hope and promise.

I. Here, in the very heart of Old Testament Scriptures, is an anticipation of Christ’s world wide command (Mar 16:15; Mat 28:19). No trace of either national exclusiveness or ecclesiastical bigotry. God’s temple is thrown open to all mankind (Psa 100:4). “Courts,” not the “court of the Gentiles” merely. All men alike are invited to say, “His we are [see margin]; we are his people.” It is impossible to explain such words from Jewish lips, such feelings in Jewish hearts, but by Divine inspiration (cf. Gal 3:8).

II. JOY IN GOD IS ONE OF THE MOST MARKED FEATURES OF THE PSALMS. In this psalm it rises to its highest pitch. Worship is a native instinct and need of the human heart; and heathen worship was often attended with tumultuous rejoicing. But not joy in God‘s holiness (Psa 97:10-12); in our belonging absolutely to him (Psa 119:94); in his righteous rule (Psa 98:6, Psa 98:9); in his mercy and truth (Psa 100:5). These streams of joy are from a higher source (Gal 5:22).

III. THIS PSALM CAN BE FULLY UNDERSTOOD ONLY TAKEN WITH Psa 93:1-5 :95-99. The whole series not only celebrates, but foretells, the coming of Jehovah to “judge,” i.e. to rule and reign over the whole world (comp. Psa 72:1-20.). Such bold world wide hopes would be utterly inexplicable as mere poetic dreams of Jewish imagination, and can be explained only as inspired prophecies and promises; so they would be wholly unmeaning and fictitious apart from their fulfilment in Christ (Joh 5:22, Joh 5:23; Joh 12:32; Mat 28:18).

CONCLUSION. The enterprise of Christian missions is the most joyful work in the world; the proclamation of the most joyful news to every human being, on the authority of God’s command, in the light of God’s glorious promises.

HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY

Psa 100:1-5

Jubilate.

This psalm, which comes at the close of the magnificent series of royal psalms, which tell of the reign of Christ Jehovah, has been called their doxology. It seems to have been sung during the thank offering in the temple service (Le Psa 7:12). “Luther would have immortalized his name had he done no more than written the majestic air and harmony to which we are accustomed to sing this psalm, and which, when the mind is in a truly worshipping frame, seems to bring heaven down to earth, and to raise earth to heaven, giving us anticipations of the pure and sublime delights of that noble and general assembly in which saints and angels shall forever celebrate the praises of God.” The psalm “is all ablaze with grateful adoration, and has, for this reason, been a great favourite with the people of God ever since it was written.” It bids us “make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” It means “a glad shout, such as loyal subjects give when their king appears among them.” Now, let us consider this subject of thankful praise which it brings so prominently before us. Let us glance at

I. THE HOLY DUTY TO WHICH WE ARE SUMMONED.

1. Our hearts are to be full of thanksgiving. It is no mere outside worship which is told of here, but such as wells up from the deepest fountains of a grateful and glad heart.

2. We are to openly avow that thankfulness. It is not, though beginning in the heart, to stay there. Openly, loudly, joyfully, we are to let all men know our delight in God.

3. We are to join with others in this service of praise. There is to be no standing aloof or pleading that we can worship God as well at home. We are to go with the multitude to keep holy day.

4. And it is to be all unto the Lord. Choirs and congregations alike are to remember this.

II. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH THIS SUMMONS IS BASED.

1. “The Lord, he is God.“ Our Jehovah, so good and gracious, is God Almighty also. Not only a Saviour who would fain bless and save us; but who has all poweris mighty to save.

2. He is our Creator, and so responsible for our being. “It is he that hath made us,” etc. (Psa 100:3). This is a most blessed fact. When we see what men and women are, so corrupt and evil, we often wonder wherefore God perpetuates the race. But he does so; he takes all the responsibility of it. What treasure store of hope for humanity lies in this act!

3. He is our King and Shepherd. “We are his people, and,” etc. (Psa 100:3.) We are under his wise, holy, strong government; we are provided for by his loving care, led along as his sheep in his pasture.

4. He is good, eternally merciful, and true. (Psa 100:5.)

III. THE CULTIVATION OF THIS THANKFUL SPIRIT. Many sadly fail here. They have no song, only a perpetual dirge, and against many the condemnation is written, “Neither were they thankful.” Now, how may we cultivate this thankful spirit?

1. We must remove the hindrances. They are such as these: The miserable habit of looking enviously at what other people have, but which we have not, forgetting all the while what of good we nevertheless have. What folly this! and yet how common! and what a fruitful source of unhappiness, and of unthankfulness it is! And many are wont to look habitually on the dark side of their experience, and scarcely at all on the other and bright side. This is why St. Paul bids us, amid our prayers and supplications, to mingle thanksgivings, since this compels us to look at the bright side, in order to find out what we have to be thankful for. And then, too, our sad habit of regarding our ordinary mercies as mere matters of course is another sad hindrance of the thankful spirit. When health is restored after sore illness, how thankful we are! but the months and years of health which may follow give ample time to forget our thankfulness, and to let our gratitude die because we do not see anything extraordinary about our experience of God’s goodness. Now, we must set ourselves to get rid of these evil ways if we would be habitually thankful.

2. Then there are positive aids to this blessed spirit. Such as taking right views of life, remembering its brevity and its educational purpose. We are not at home here, and we cannot expect on a journey the comforts of home. And a schooland such is this lifeis certainly not as a home, as his father’s house, to a child. Then think much of our mercies. Accustom yourself to go over them in your thoughts, and to render thanksgiving for them. And when misfortunes come, make the best, not the worst, of them. Remember bow much worse it might have been. It is told that “when the New England colonies were first planted, the settlers endured many privations and difficulties. Being piously disposed, they laid their distresses before God in frequent days of fasting and prayer. Constant meditation on such topics kept their minds gloomy and discontented, and made them disposed even to return to their Fatherland with all its persecutions. At length, when it was proposed to appoint a day of fasting and prayer, a plain, common sense old colonist was in the meeting, and remarked that he thought they had brooded long enough over their misfortunes, and that it seemed high time they should consider some of their merciesthat the colony was growing strong, the fields increasing in harvests, the rivers full of fish, and the woods of game, the air sweet, the climate salubrious, and their homes happy; above all that, they possessed what they came for, full civil and religious liberty. And therefore, on the whole, he would amend their resolution for a fast, and propose in its stead a day of thanksgiving, His advice was taken, and from that day to this the festival has been an annual one.” Ah! would that we had men of this spirit, and would make the best, not the worst, of our misfortunes! “The bee when in a flower from which it cannot get nectar, gets the golden farina, out of which it builds its cells, and so it rolls up its little legs against the stamens, till they look large and loaded as golden store, and, thanking the flower as sweetly as if it had been full of honey, gladly humming, it flies home with its wax. Yes, and herein lies God’s moral. If our flowers have no honey, let us be glad of the wax.” The same writer who gives the above illustrations tells how the good, though self-willed, George III; when he had lost all our American colonies, and thousands of our troops had been slain, and millions upon millions of debt incurred, nevertheless, not to be outdone in piety by the Americans, ordered a day of thanksgiving. He was asked by a pious clergyman what the thanksgiving was to be forwas it to be for any of the above-named facts? He pressed the king for an answer, who replied energetically, “Thank God it is not any worse.” Yes; there is something to be thankful for in all circumstances, if we will only be open eyed to note it. Remember, too, that our evils are but blessings in disguise. “Light afflictions”so St. Paul called them”which are but for a moment, and which work for us,” etc. Above all, let us give our hearts to Christ. Yield them to him, as he bids us do; and as he will by his blessed Spirit fill them with all other good things, so he will shed abroad in them this grace also, the spirit of thankfulness.

IV. REASONS FOR SUCH CULTIVATION.

1. Our circumstances demand it: we have cause for thankfulness.

2. It will greatly bless others. For a glad, thankful spirit is winsome and attractive Christwards, whilst the opposite spirit cannot but repel.

3. For our own sake. It will brighten all our life, whilst if, owl-like, we dwell in darkness, we shall come to love it, and be as dim-sighted and night haunting as they.

4. And does not the Lord our God and Saviour deserve all our praise? Therefore, jubilate.S.C.

Psa 100:2

Glad service.

“Serve the Lord with gladness.” So sings the psalmist, and his teaching has been echoed by the wisest of human teachers. “Give me the man who sings at his work;” so writes Carlyle.

“A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a.”

So teaches Shakespeare. Now glad service is what God asks for here. But

I. IT IS ALL TOO RARE. That it is so is evident; for:

1. Look at the countenances of those who profess to serve God. How grave, gloomy, austere, they seem! how seldom they ripple out into sunny smiles! This characteristic of the Puritans has had not a little to do with the disfavour in which they have long been and are still held by our countrymen generally. A common epithet for earnestly religious persons was that they were “serious people.” Certainly they were not thought to “serve the Lord with gladness.”

2. Read their writings. Their hymns, even, are either sad or stern, and as to their books and sermons, they are fall of grave, earnest, and often terrible teaching; but “gladness” is conspicuous chiefly by its absence. And their prayers are the same. As if God were a tyrannical Taskmaster, and not our loving Father.

3. Listen to their teachings. How much too dull and sombre these are!

4. Observe their worship. How bare and uninspiring! how destitute of beauty and brightness! how much too often it depresses rather than uplifts!

5. Ask our own consciences. Must they not own the general absence of gladness in our service of the Lord?

6. If it be askedWhy is this gladness so rare? the answer is that with some the sense of sin, the remembrance of their much transgression, is ever before them; with others, the mystery of life, the presence of earthly sorrow; with others, the tyranny of inward sin; with others, misunderstanding and misreading of the Gospel; and with yet others, and most, the want of real trust in God. We are so slow to take God at his word, and when he says he has forgiven us, to believe that he has really done so.

II. BUT GLADNESS IN THE LORD, THOUGH SO RARE, IS YET MOST REASONABLE. Whether we think:

1. Of the Lord whom we serve. How good and gracious he is!

2. Or of the service itself. How healthful, right, blessed beth for ourselves and for others!

3. Or of the wages. “The recompense of the reward.” We are all little better than eleventh-hour workers, and yet for us there is the whole day’s wage.

III. AND ALONE EFFECTUAL.

1. It is so in our secular work. Slave work, task work, is never like that of free men. All the heart is taken out of it if it be not glad service such as only free men can render.

2. Yet more in the service of the Lord. See the elder son in the parable of the prodigal. He had no joy in his service, and hence how harsh and unloving he became! This is why St. Paul is forever rejoicing that we are not under law, but under grace. So only will real service be rendered.

IV. AND IT OUGHT TO BE. See in that same parable the father’s reply, “Son, thou art ever,” etc. He was surprised at such a spirit in his son; it ought to have been so different. But if it was wrong for that elder brother, who never transgressed, how much more wrong for us who have transgressed, and yet have been freely forgiven! Pray, therefore, not only that you may serve the Lord, but that you may serve him “with gladness.”S.C.

Psa 100:3

The gospel of our creation.

“It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” This declaration was held to be a gospel. It occurs in a psalm that may well be regarded as a universal psalm. It is not for Jesus only, but for “all people that on earth do dwell.” And amongst the reasons wherefore it calls on all to be joyful in the Lord, there is this onethat “it is he that hath made us,” etc.

I. NOW, WE CANNOT CONCEIVE OF GOD AS ACTING WITHOUT MOTIVE. And

II. THEREFORE THERE MUST HAVE BEEN MOTIVE FOR THE CREATION OF MAN. We can trace reasons and evidence of purpose in all God’s works, and hence we are sure there must have been such when he created man.

III. AND THIS MOTIVE MUST HAVE BEEN GRACIOUS OR THE REVERSE.

1. It could not have been the reverse; for, whether we look at the structure of man’s body, where all seems so adapted to secure health and happiness; or whether we look at man’s mind, the source to him of such unspeakable good; or whether we think of man’s dwelling place, this earth on which he lives, and which is so stored with all that ministers to his comfort, delight, and well being;whichever way we turn there is proof abundant that no malignant motive, or any the reverse of gracious, could have prompted the creation of man.

2. Therefore we are shut up to the conclusion that love, grace, goodness, can alone explain what we see all around us and in ourselves.

IV. BUT IF THE MOTIVE WAS A GRACIOUS ONE, WHAT WAS IT? For answer:

1. We look to our own constitution, for that is the nearest idea we can have of God who made us in his own image. And we find:

2. That the purest pleasure springs from loveloving others and being loved by them. Why is home so blessed, but because there they are whom we tenderly love, and who love us in like manner?

3. But love that has stood trial and testing is the most precious of all. If, in spite of every inducement to be untrue to us, love has been faithful, how precious that!

4. But all this reveals the reasons wherefore God hath made us, and placed us where we are. He desired objects on whom he might lavish his love, and who would love him, in whose love is our eternal life. And that love would be more precious and more fruitful unto our eternal life in proportion as it endured test and trial (cf. 1Pe 1:7). Hence we are born into a world of temptation, for so only can our love be perfected.

5. But such temptation will in no case be greater than we can bear. A father may let his son enter for a contest which he knows his son can and will, if he rightly strive, come out with honour; but he would not let him enter where defeat was certain and inevitable. And so our heavenly Father will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, though what we are able for we have to endure, because it is good for us that we should. He will submit no child of his to what must issue in ultimate defeat. We cannot conceive of his having created us, knowing that that would be the final issue.

V. THEREFORE WE SAY THAT THE FACT OF OUR CREATION BY GOD IS A VERY GOSPEL with which the gospel that “God so loved the world,” etc. (Joh 3:16), fitly and beautifully harmonizes. Yes, we may well be joyful in the Lord, because it is “he that hath made us,” etc.S.C.

Psa 100:5

His truth endureth.

Test this declaration.

I. AS TO WHAT GOD HIMSELF IS. He is ever true. None of the miserable motives which lead men to be untrue can have any power with him. Examine all his works, whether in nature, providence, or grace, and in all it will be found that he acts consistently with himself.

II. AS TO HIS WORD OF TRUTH. That is contained in the Holy Scriptures, and whether we appeal to the testimony of conscience, or to that of history, their witness agrees to and affirms the declaration of our text.

III. AS TO HIS FAITHFULNESS. The onus probandi lies on those who deny this. Where can it be shown that one of his promises, when rightly understood, has ever failed? What thing hath he spoken that hath not come to pass? Trace the records of the Bible, and they form a great cloud of witnesses to this truth. Trace the course of providence, and its varied events all show that his truth endureth. Trace the experience of God’s people, and it is the same. Let the following quotation illustrate: “Now instead of taking you back to ancient or modern history, I would like to take you to the history of your mother or of your grandmother. I think of my dear grandfather, and of what he used to say to me. If he were here tonightI am glad he is not, because he is in heaven, and that is a much better place for him; but if he could come from heaven, and could talk as he used to do when he was here on earth, he would say, ‘Ah, my boy, I did find him a faithful God.’ He had a large family and a small income, but he loved his Lord, and he would not have given up his preaching of the gospel for anything, not even for an imperial crown. He has told me often how the Lord provided for him. He had a little farm to get his living upon it, and he had a cow which used to give milk for his many children, and one day when he came up to the cow it fell back with the staggers, and died. Grandmother said, ‘James, how will God provide for the dear children now? What shall we do for milk?’ ‘Mother,’ said he, ‘God said he would provide, and I believe he could send us fifty cows if he pleased.’ It so happened that on that day a number of gentlemen were meeting in Londonpersons whom he did not knowwere sitting as a committee for the distribution of money to poor ministers, and they had given it to all who had asked for it. My grandfather had never asked for any; he liked to earn his own money. He did not send any petition or appeal. Well, after the gentlemen had distributed to all who had asked there were five pounds over, and they were considering what they should do with this balance. ‘Well,’ said one, ‘there is a Mr. Spurgeon, down at Stambourne, in Essex, a poor minister; he stands in need of five pounds.’ ‘Oh,’ said another, ‘don’t send him five pounds: I will put five to it; I know him; he is a worthy man.’ ‘No,’ said another, ‘don’t send him ten pounds; I will give another five pounds, if some one else will put a fourth five to it.’ The next morning came a letter with ninepence to pay. Grandmother did not like to pay ninepence for it; but there was twenty pounds in it, and as my grandfather opened it, he said, ‘Now can’t you trust God about an old cow?’ These things I tell you, and you smile, and well you may; but, oh, my soul laughs, and my face laughs on both sides when I think how faithful God has been to me. He has never lied unto me, or failed me, or forsaken me; but has kept his word to this moment in every respect” (Spurgeon). But such experience as this the whole army of the saints of God can furnish instances of. It is no solitary example.

IV. THEREFORE BELIEVE FOR ALL THE FUTURE. Go forward with a cheerful courage, thou child of God, fully persuaded of what all the past of all the people of God abundantly proves, that his truth shall endure, and that he “will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”S.C.

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK

Psa 100:2

Service with gladness.

“Make a joyful noise;” “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing.” It does not appear that anything in the nature of a song service was connected with the Mosaic tabernacle. David systematized, if he did not actually introduce, that element. And it made a vital change. Previously the Divine worship had been a ceremony; from that time it became a service. Previously it had been an affair exclusively of priests; from that time it became an affair of priests and people. Singing is the portion of service in which the people can share. Instrumental music, in the olden time, was not the refined expression of various moods of feelings that we know. Noise was thought more of than harmony; though the stringed instruments must have been capable of delicate expression. Just as children now express their joy by noisy “hurrahs!” so the Hebrews expressed joy by great shouts, loud blasts, and noisy clangings. What we may properly learn is that the elements of joy and gladness, which find their easiest and best expression in music and song, are the proper accompaniment of all worship offered to God. It has been pointed out that “thanksgiving and praise are the higher elements of worship, and so the essence of the worship of heaven;” confession and prayer belong to the imperfection of earth.

I. GLADNESS IN THE SERVICE OF GOD‘S HOUSE IS BECOMING. In view of God’s gracious ways with us. They who receive gifts from friends are cheered and gladdened by the gifts; and we are receiving fresh gifts from our heavenly Friend continually. Dulness and sadness would say that God’s favours are little valued. As the thing that is fitting, becoming, God’s people should nourish a bright, cheery, hopeful, happy spirit.

II. GLADNESS IN THE SERVICE OF GOD‘S HOUSE IS HONOURING. Note that it has ever been this feature that has made Divine service attractive. And the supreme anxiety of each generation has been to get brightness into its service that will make it attractive. So joy in God’s house honours God by winning men to him.

III. GLADNESS IN THE SERVICE OF GOD‘S HOUSE IS INSPIRING. We are consciously helped by sunny cheerful services. Nothing carries away our cares, doubts, fears, like joining together in holy song. “The joy of the Lord is our strength.”R.T.

Psa 100:3

The sovereign rights of God our Maker.

“It is he that hath made us.” This might truly enough be the exclamation of an individual; but it is a public psalm, sung at public worship, and it is the expression of a nation. Special interest attaches to it as the language of a restored nation, one that has begun again its national career. It must be associated with the circumstances of the returned exiles, and it is their rejoicing in their new national relations with God. We may cover the entire subject suggested if we take

I. GOD AS THE MAKER OF THE INDIVIDUAL.

1. It is true that God made man. The design, the capacities, the possibilities, and the relations of man, are all and wholly the Divine idea and the Divine handiwork. It is well to see clearly that man’s own creative power stops short at life. Man can make forms; he can quicken no forms into life. But we want to see more impressively the truth that God made each man. However the individuality of men may surprise us, we may be sure that we never can get an individuality which was not the Divine thought. Man makes neither himself nor his peculiarity. Then God, as our Maker, has first claims on those he has made.

II. GOD AS THE MAKER, OR FOUNDER, OF THE NATION. Take “nation” as type of all kinds of ways in which men combine together. What is true of the nation is true of the family and of the Church; we are to recognize God as the Arranger of, and Presider over, all forms of human combination. Illustrate from the way in which God created the nation of Israel. Note that the creation of a nation is no simple and sudden act; it is a long process, a shaping and using of various agencies. God selected the nation’s beginning, disciplined a set of tribes through long generations, provided a location for it, etc. The fact of the making of a nation being a prolonged work should not prevent our seeing that it is God’s work. Illustrate by the ‘Making of England.’ So God, as the Nation maker, has the first claim on the nations he has made.

III. GOD IS THE MAKER, IN THE SENSE OF REMAKER, OF THE NATION. For nations seem at times to break up, and require remaking. Illustrate by Israel’s experiences in the days of the Captivity, and our England’s in the days of the Stuarts. In this remaking we too easily overvalue the human agents. God alone can remake; and the agents are his agents to do his work.R.T.

Psa 100:4

Blessing the Divine Name.

“Bless his Name.” The name stands for the Being named. It does but gather up and focus his most glorious and gracious attributes. The distinction on which we may dwell is thisIt is fitting that we render thanks to God, in our loving recognition of what he has done for us. It is fitting that we should bless his Name as we recognize what he must be, who has done for us such good and gracious things. Possibly a distinction may be made between thanking God, as a duty which every one who receives his bounties ought to perform; and blessing God, which is the expression of that personal feeling towards God which only his own redeemed people can cherish. We thank those who do us a kindness; we bless those who evidently show their personal love to us in the kindness they do us.

I. RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE DEALINGS WHICH CALLS FOR THANKSGIVING. See in life the:

1. Divine providings. We have wanted no good thing.

2. Divine guidings. So that we can say, “It has been a good way wherein the Lord our God has led us.”

3. Divine overrulings. We can in some measure already see that “all things do work together for good.” Since God “giveth us all things richly to enjoy,” what should we do but be thankful? Illustrate by Moses calling upon the people to review their wilderness life for forty years, in order that, in renewed thankfulness and trust, they might bind themselves forever to God’s service (see Deu 8:1-20.).

II. RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE LOVE IN THE DIVINE DEALINGS WHICH CALLS FOR BLESSING. This requires the opened, quickened, spiritual vision. Character is shown in all action, but only the thoughtful minds watch for it, and find pleasure in dwelling on it. And so many are quite satisfied with the things God does, and do not concern themselves with the revelations in them of the character of the Door. So they cannot rise up to the height of “blessing his holy Name.” But to the spiritually quickened, the reading concerning God himself in his doings is the unceasing delight; and in the revelations of his love made to them they learn to “bless his Name.”R.T.

Psa 100:5

The goodness of God.

The word “good” is used as the one supremely suitable for God. But we are not left to our own guidance to find out what is included in the term. We are told that God’s goodness is made up of two things:

(1) his mercy;

(2) his truth.

“Goodness is a very comprehensive quality. It is love, kindness, benevolence, that which leads you to wish well and to do good to those around you; and the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord, because it is so full of his works and ways, which are the fruits and manifestations of his goodness.”

I. THE GOODNESS OF GOD AS MERCY. He is gracious, kind, pitiful. Mercy is the grace of our dealing with those who are weaker than we are; and with those who have wronged us. It has in it the idea of “dealing otherwise with us than according to our stern deserts.” Take this as chief point, and illustrate from God’s gracious ways with his people Israel. Make this provide for a careful reading of our own life histories, so as to discern the Divine mercies in them.

II. THE GOODNESS OF GOD AS TRUTH. Here his faithful promise keeping. And it is noticed that there is this steadfast sameness of God to all generations. He always has been, and he always will be, “the faithful Promiser.” “Hath he said, and shall he not do it?” Deal with this point in the same way. Find proofs of the Divine faithfulness in the story of ancient Israel; and make what is found illustrate the faithfulness and truth of the Divine dealings with us. For practical applications, show:

1. “The goodness of God ought to be one of the strongest barriers that can be raised up against sin.

2. The goodness of God should ‘lead us to repentance.’

3. The goodness of God should lead us to do good to others.

4. The goodness of God to us in this world should inspire us with confidence in his goodness to us in the world to come.” The goodness of God may be thought of as the infinite fountain; the mercy of God is the ever freshly flowing stream; and the eternal truth and righteousness is the ocean out to which God’s mercy flows.R.T.

HOMILIES BY C. SHORT

Psa 100:1-5

Worship.

I. THE CALL TO THE WORSHIP OF GOD.

1. It is to be the worship of joyful song. (Psa 100:1, Psa 100:2.) Not the worship of silent thought, but of glad utterance. True fear and joy not incompatible.

2. It is to be universal worship. (Psa 100:1.) “All ye lands,” or “All the earth”Gentiles as well as Jews.

3. It is to be the worship of thankful gratitude. (Psa 100:4.) In remembrance of all the Divine benefits and mercies received. No mention of confession of sin, or petition for blessing.

II. THE GROUNDS OR REASONS OF THE CALL TO WORSHIP.

1. He is the only true God as distinguished from the gods of the heathen. (Psa 100:3.) “Be ye sure that Jehovah he is God.”

2. He hath made us, and therefore we are his property. (Psa 100:3.) “It is he that hath made us, and we are his.“ And we cannot yet fully understand what use he is going to make of us.

3. He is our Guide and Sustainer, our Shepherd. (Psa 100:3.) “We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” We are dear to him as the sheep are to the shepherd. He is the good Shepherd pre-eminently. This is also the pre-eminent character of Christ.

4. His goodness and mercy are everlasting. (Psa 100:5.) Not only enduring and constant, but unbounded by any limits.

5. He fulfils his promises from generation to generation. (Psa 100:5.) “His truth” here means his faithfulnessthe fulfilment of the word or promise that he has spoken.S.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Psalms 100.

An exhortation to praise God cheerfully, for his greatness, and for his power.

A Psalm of Praise.

Title. mizmor lethodah This is the only psalm in the whole collection intitled “A Psalm of Praise;” and it is supposed to have received this appellation because peculiarly adapted, if not designed, to be sung when the sacrifices of thanksgiving were offered. See Lev 7:12. The Greeks think it was written by David, who here invites all the world to join with the Israelites in the service of God, whose divine sovereignty he here recognizes.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Psalms 100

A Psalm of Praise

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

2Serve the Lord with gladness:

Come before his presence with singing.

3Know ye that the Lord he is God:

It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,

And into his courts with praise:

Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

And his truth endureth to all generations.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Contents and Superscription.As Psalms 38, 70 were not only written in order to call to remembrance Jehovahs gracious deeds in general, but stand in a definite relation to offerings, so here also the superscription seems to indicate a liturgical purpose, and that not merely for confession in the public worship (Sept. Vulg.), with the songs of praise of the people, but for real sacrifices of praise, called in Psa 107:22; Psa 116:17, , but also simply Psa 56:13; 2Ch 29:31. The same class of Shelamim is meant, which were presented in thankful praise for divine blessings enjoyed, and especially for miraculous protection and deliverance. (Delitzsch). Along with a great resemblance to Psalms 95 there are still not wanting essential peculiarities. For example, both strophes express and justify the invitation to the thankful acknowledgment and public worship of Jehovah.

Psa 100:1-3. Make a joyful noise, etc. We may suppose this to allude to the shouts of homage of those who acknowledge Jehovah as King, and accordingly regard the serving [Psa 100:2], as the correlative of ruling in the wider sense (Venema, Hengst.) as in Psa 72:11. Serving with gladness (Psa 100:2), stands in contrast to serve with fear and rejoice with trembling, in Psa 2:11, as in that passage it is subjection that is spoken of, while here it is the voluntary union of the whole earth, that is, of men of all nations, with the Church, which appears worshipping before Jehovah in Zion. But the whole psalm has to do directly and specially with acts of public worship, which partly presuppose that more general service, and partly have it for a consequence. The event from which these nations are to gain the knowledge (Psa 4:4) that Jehovah is God. is not mentioned here. It must, however, according to the context, have a world-wide significance, and be connected with the deliverance of the people who confess to Him (Psa 100:3) that they are His work (Deu 32:6; Deu 32:15; Isa 29:23; Isa 60:21), His inheritance, and a people tended and led like a flock. His people and flock are in apposition not to us (Hengstenberg), but to we. For this passage belongs to the fifteen, which, according to the Masoretic enumeration, occur in the Old Testament, where is written and read. Indeed, both readings may be justified (Kimchi), and the translations given: while we were not (Symmachus, Isaaki), or better: not we (Sept., Vulg., Jerome), made clearer by the addition, ourselves (Luther, Geier, and others), as a contrast to the boasting of Pharaoh (Eze 29:3). But the reading (Chald., Jerome, Aben Ezra, Saadia), in nineteen codices of De Rossi and nine of Kennicott is preferred by most of the recent expositors. [This is expressed by the marginal reading in E. V., And His we are, which is preferred by Perowne and Noyes. The other is favored by Alexander, Wordsworth, and Barnes. The passage cited above, Eze 29:3, to which this is supposed to be a contrast, is probably to be understood as it is in E. V.: I have made it (the Nile) myself.J. F. M.].

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. God is not merely Creator and Ruler of the world. He is also Founder, Guardian, Lord, and Shepherd of His Church. His people should exhibit their sense of this relation, and especially give it expression in public worship, in order that all the world may discover that this God is the only God, to adore whom, men of all lands should unite with the Church.

2. The conviction that such is Gods will, evokes missionary songs in the Church, and sets before her eyes the duty of Missions. But it also awakens a love for the former as well as for the latter service of the Lord, strengthens the belief in the eternal efficacy of the mercy and truth of God, and, to gratitude for the blessings already received from the hand of the Highest, unites the expectation that the world-embracing destiny of the true religion (Isa 56:7; Isaiah 60; Isa 66:23) will be realized.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

We should be as willing to serve God as we are bound to do so, and encourage one another to that duty as well as invite others to engage in it.Delight in Gods service as connected with the knowledge of God and gratitude for His benefit.The manner, ground, and blessing of the proper public worship of God.The Church is to the world, what the house of God is to the Church, the place of blessing in the knowledge and worship of God.

Starke: There is nothing to be found under the sun, which can make the heart more joyful than sincere religion.If Gods mercy and truth are eternal, they remain still with us now, and we and our descendants until the end of the world will have them for our consolation.Rieger: In the kingdom of God every one can and is permitted to come before the face of this God of mercy.Diedrich: We discover all Gods glory in His word, through which He has declared His name to us, that it is Love.God asks no hard service, but only that we know Him, believe Him, and from His fulness of grace alone draw all our strength for every undertaking.Taube: A shout of joy through the whole world, over the majestic God of Zion, so rich in mercy, who comes to bless the earth.

[Matt. Henry: We must intermix praise and thanksgiving in all our services; this golden thread must run through every duty, Heb 13:15. For it is the work of angels.Knowledge is the mother of devotion and of all obedience. Blind sacrifices will never please a seeing God.Barnes: The Psalm is based on the unity of the human race: that there is one God and Father of all, and one great family on earth.J. F. M.].

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 666
GENTILES CALLED TO GLORIFY GOD

Psa 100:1-5. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves: we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

IN discoursing upon short and insulated passages, we have scope for discussion upon whatever topic may come before us; but, in taking a whole psalm for our subject, we can do little more than mark the spirit of it, together with its general import. In truth, the psalm before us, which is entitled A psalm of praise, requires no particular discussion: it is merely a call to the whole world to render unto God the honour due unto his name. It is obviously addressed to the Gentiles, as much as to the Jews; and may therefore, as St. Paul informs us, be considered, not as an exhortation only, but as a prophecy, that, in due season, the Gentiles, even to the remotest ends of the earth, shall see the salvation of God. [Note: Rom 15:9-11.]

That we may present the contents of the psalm before you in an orderly way, we would observe that we have in it,

I.

A call to delight ourselves in God

[We, as Gentiles, are particularly invited to engage in this blessed work. Religion is not a source of melancholy, but of sacred and exalted joy. At the commencement of the year of Jubilee, the trumpets sounded throughout all the land of Israel; and the joy which they diffused no words are adequate to express. The man who, from whatever cause, had parted with his possessions, and sold himself for a slave, was restored to perfect liberty, and to the full enjoyment of his paternal inheritance. What a surprising change to be wrought in one moment! and with what exquisite delight would it be welcomed, by those who for days and months and years had been waiting for it! Such a joyful noise should we make unto the Lord, as persons liberated from the most cruel bondage, and invested with all the blessings of an eternal inheritance From all other lords that have had dominion over us, we should now turn to serve the Lord, even that adorable Saviour who has made us free; yea, we should serve him with a willing heart [Note: 1Ch 28:9.], coming into his presence, and walking constantly before him, as his redeemed people. Our sighs and tears should all be put away; and we should sing unto the Lord a new song, as full of joy, for the marvellous things which he has done [Note: Psa 98:1.]. I mean not to say, that there should be no times for humiliation and contrition; for such seasons will be needed, even to our dying hour. But the more abiding frame of our minds should be joy; as it is said, Rejoice evermore: Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice.]

We may next observe,

II.

The grounds of this duty stated

[The Lord whom we serve is no other than Jehovah, the only true God. Yes, though in his human nature he has died for us, in his divine nature he is the Most High over all, God blessed for ever. Prophets and Apostles bear ample testimony to this [Note: Isa 45:21-22. Rom 9:5.]: Know it, therefore; and let it be treasured up in your minds as a ground of unutterable joy And, whilst you contemplate his excellency, remember especially your obligations to him: It is He who hath made us, and not we ourselves. As creatures merely, it is unnecessary to say we have not made ourselves. It is in reference to our new creation, as the people of God, that these words must be understood; and in this sense they contain a most important truth. We suppose that you are become the people of God, and the sheep of his pasture. But who sought you out in your wanderings? Who brought you home to the fold of Christ? Who feeds you yet daily in green pastures? Who protects you from all your enemies? Who is the one source of all that you enjoy? Can it in any measure be ascribed to yourselves? Have you wrought it by any power of your own? or have you merited that it should be wrought for you? No: He that hath wrought you to this self-same thing is God: and he has done it, not for your righteousness sake, but for the glory of his own great name. It is He who has made you to differ from those who are yet far off from him; and you have nothing, which you have not received as a free gift from him [Note: 1Co 4:7.].

Say, then, whether you have not reason to rejoice, and to serve your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart [Note: Deu 28:47.].]

As we proceed in the psalm, we find,

III.

A further statement of our duty

[Whilst we are filled with joy, our God must have the glory. We must wait upon him in his public ordinances, as well as in our private chambers; and must enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: we must be thankful unto him, and from our inmost souls must bless his holy name. Indeed, if we duly contemplate his character, and the wonderful things which, of his sovereign goodness, he has wrought for us, we shall find our minds constantly attuned to this holy exercise: methinks, our every feeling will be gratitude, and our every word be praise. This is the return which our God looks for at our hands: Whoso offereth me praise, glorifieth me. It is a better sacrifice than all the cattle upon a thousand hills [Note: Psa 50:8-14; Psa 50:23.]; and in the name of Jesus, our great Redeemer, we should be offering it continually, to the latest hour of our lives [Note: Heb 13:15.]. The inanimate and the brute creation praise their God: but we should bless him [Note: Psa 145:10.].]

We find also,

IV.

Additional grounds for the performance of it

[The perfections of our God will afford us matter for praise to all eternity. His goodnesswho can contemplate it, and not be filled with the profoundest admiration and gratitude? It is seen, wherever we turn our eyes. But O! how is it seen in the gift of his only-begotten Son for a lost and perishing world! Well may we say, What manner of love is this, wherewith the Father hath loved us! Think of it, my Brethren: yea, dwell upon it day and night. It is not possible to have your minds too frequently or too intensely occupied with this mysterious subject.

His mercy, toohow inconceivable, both in its extent and duration! There is not a sinner in the universe to whom it will not reach, provided it be sought in Gods appointed way: nor shall it be withdrawn from any to whom, for Christs sake, it has been once imparted. Not but that God will punish sin: as he has said, If his children forsake my Law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail; my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips: for once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David [Note: Psa 89:30-35.].

What His mercy has vouchsafed to promise, His truth will assuredly fulfil: it shall endure, in its full extent, to all generations; nor shall a jot or tittle of it ever fail.

And now I ask, Is there not ground for praise and thanksgiving? Is it not rather a wonder that any who profess to be his people, can find time for any other employment?]

See, then, in this psalm,
1.

What is the proper effect of religion upon the soul

[Religion is supposed to generate gloom. But see it in the Psalmists own experience; and see it in all whom he here addresses. Is this gloom or melancholy? Is it not the very reverse? Doubtless, as far as we deviate from religion, we have need to weep and mourn: but, in proportion as we conform to it, and imbibe its spirit, it will fill us with unutterable joy. What is it that the glorified saints are now doing in heaven? Are they not beholding all the glory of their God and Saviour, and singing his praise for all the wondrous works which he has done? This, then, is religion in perfection: and the privilege of Gods people now is, to be assimilated to them, in mind, in spirit, in employment. Be aware of this, my beloved Brethren; and learn, not only to estimate religion aright, but to have it reigning in your hearts, and exemplified in your lives.]

2.

How to attain it in perfection

[It is not from ruminating on your own character, so much as from contemplating the character of your God and Saviour, that you are to attain this heavenly joy. Doubtless you must study well your own hearts; else you will be strangers to humility and contrition: but joy can flow only from the knowledge of your God, in all the perfections of his nature, and in all the wonders of his love. Behold then, with increasing earnestness, the glory of your Lord, and you shall be changed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

Here is a Psalm, and a glorious one it is, in which the Whole church, nay, the whole earth, is called upon to praise Jehovah: for creation, redemption, providence, and grace; and all the blessings connected with the whole. Few are strangers to this blessed Psalm, who ever heard of God in Christ.

A Psalm of Praise.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

No service can be real, that is not free, and performed with gladness. Think, my soul, with what freeness, and gladness of heart, thy Jesus entered upon his service, when he cried out, at the call of the Father, Lo! I come: I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my bowels; forming part of myself, so congenial it is to my whole soul. Psa 40:7-8 . My soul, what sayest thou to this view of thy Saviour? Oh! how precious to behold Him everywhere, and in all things!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 100:3

This text is closely associated with the personal history of Melanchthon, but the facts are quite wrongly given by Dr. John Ker in his book on the Psalms. Dr. Ker supposed that the use of the verse related to a bereavement which took place shortly before the Reformer’s death. It was, on the contrary, a passage which accompanied him in thought from the year 1529, when at the age of thirty-two he lost his baby son George, who was born at Jena on 25 November, 1527. Luther, writing to Jonas on 17 August, 1529, tells of this bereavement, and says that Melanchthon was suffering under it the more severely, because he had no previous experience of such a loss. Luther wrote: ‘Hic cogitare potes, quid nobis sit operae et curae, ut hunc hominem tenerrimi et patheticissimi cordis solemur. Scis, quanti referat hunc hominem vivere et valere. Nos omnes cum eo aegrescimus et moesti sumus’ (Enders. Luther’s Briefwechsel, vol. VII. p. 147). In letters of the time Melanchthon told his friends of the loss of little George, who was a child of rarest promise. He calls him ‘suavissimus puer,’ and we may conjecture that this child was all the dearer because the elder boy, Philip, who grew up and lived to old age, was delicate in body and dull in intellect. On 2 September, 1529, Melanchthon wrote to Myconius: ‘I have lost my younger son, a very sweet boy’. His letters of the time are full of expressions of grief. ‘Nothing in life was ever dearer to me than that little boy. There shone in him some rare gifts of mind. No words can tell anything of the wound I received when I lost him.’ Not for years afterwards did Melanchthon venture to write of the passage which had comforted him in sorrow. After his own almost fatal illness at Weimar in 1540, he was attempting to comfort a friend in bereavement, and we find this passage: ‘At the time of my son’s death these words, ” Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos ,” brought me wonderful comfort when they came suddenly before me as I was looking through the Psalms’ ( Corpus Reformatorum, vol. III. p. 1069).

In later years we find allusions to the same text in his letters of consolation. Thus, in July, 1549, he wrote to an acquaintance in Hamburg:

‘I remember that a certain friend of mine, who was in deep grief because of the death of his son, came by chance on a journey, while his sorrow was still fresh, on that passage in the Psalms, ” Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos “. This admonition of providence so penetrated his thoughts that it was, he said, as if some Divine flame had been suddenly kindled in his heart while he was reading that text, and afterwards he became much more resigned.’

C.R. vol. VII. p. 429.

The text was chosen by Edward FitzGerald for his tombstone.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

XVI

THE MESSIANIC PSALMS AND OTHERS

We commence this chapter by giving a classified list of the Messianic Psalms, as follows:

The Royal Psalms are:

Psa 110 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 72 ; Psa 45 ; Psa 89 ;

The Passion Psalms are:

Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 ;

The Psalms of the Ideal Man are Psa 8 ; Psa 16 ; Psa 40 ;

The Missionary Psalms are:

Psa 47 ; Psa 65 ; Psa 68 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 100 ; Psa 117 .

The predictions before David of the coming Messiah are, (1) the seed of the woman; (2) the seed of Abraham; (3) the seed of Judah; (4) the seed of David.

The prophecies of history concerning the Messiah are, (1) a prophet like unto Moses; (2) a priest after the order of Melchizedek; (3) a sacrifice which embraces all the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament; (4) direct references to him as King, as in 2Sa 7:8 ff.

The messianic offices as taught in the psalms are four, viz: (1) The Messiah is presented as Prophet, or Teacher (Psa 40:8 ); (2) as Sacrifice, or an Offering for sin (Psa 40:6 ff.; Heb 10:5 ff.) ; (3) he is presented as Priest (Psa 110:4 ); (4) he is presented as King (Psa 45 ).

The psalms most clearly presenting the Messiah in his various phases and functions are as follows: (1) as the ideal man, or Second Adam (8); (2) as Prophet (Psa 40 ); (3) as Sacrifice (Psa 22 ) ; (4) as King (Psa 45 ) ; (5) as Priest (Psa 110 ) ; (6) in his universal reign (Psa 72 ).

It will be noted that other psalms teach these facts also, but these most clearly set forth the offices as they relate to the Messiah.

The Messiah as a sacrifice is presented in general in Psa 40:6 . His sufferings as such are given in a specific and general way in Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 . The events of his sufferings in particular are described, beginning with the betrayal of Judas, as follows:

1. Judas betrayed him (Mat 26:14 ) in fulfilment of Psa 41:9 .

2. At the Supper (Mat 26:24 ) Christ said, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him,” referring to Psa 22 .

3. They sang after the Supper in fulfilment of Psa 22:22 .

4. Piercing his hands and feet, Psa 22:16 .

5. They cast lots for his vesture in fulfilment of Psa 22:18 .

6. Just before the ninth hour the chief priests reviled him (Mat 27:43 ) in fulfilment of Psa 22:8 .

7. At the ninth hour (Mat 27:46 ) he quoted Psa 22:1 .

8. Near his death (Joh 19:28 ) he said, in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 , “I thirst.”

9. At that time they gave him vinegar (Mat 27:48 ) in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 .

10. When he was found dead they did not break his bones (Joh 19:36 ) in fulfilment of Psa 34:20 .

11. He is represented as dead, buried, and raised in Psa 16:10 .

12. His suffering as a substitute is described in Psa 69:9 .

13. The result of his crucifixion to them who crucified him is given in Psa 69:22-23 . Compare Rom 11:9-10 .

The Penitential Psalms are Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 . The occasion of Psa 6 was the grief and penitence of David over Absalom; of Psa 32 was the blessedness of forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah; Psa 38 , David’s reference to his sin with Bathsheba; Psa 51 , David’s penitence and prayer for forgiveness for this sin; Psa 102 , the penitence of the children of Israel on the eve of their return from captivity; Psalm 130, a general penitential psalm; Psa 143 , David’s penitence and prayer when pursued by Absalom.

The Pilgrim Psalms are Psalms 120-134. This section of the psalter is called the “Little Psalter.” These Psalms were collected in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, in troublous times. The author of the central psalm of this collection is Solomon, and he wrote it when he built his Temple. The Davidic Psalms in this collection are Psa 120 ; Psa 122 ; Psa 124 ; Psa 131 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 133 . The others were written during the building of the second Temple. They are called in the Septuagint “Songs of the Steps.”

There are four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents,” viz:

1. The first theory is that the “Songs of the Steps” means the songs of the fifteen steps from the court of the women to the court of Israel, there being a song for each step.

2. The second theory is that advanced by Luther, which says that they were songs of a higher choir, elevated above, or in an elevated voice.

3. The third theory is that the thought in these psalms advances by degrees.

4. The fourth theory is that they are Pilgrim Psalms, or the songs that they sang while going up to the great feasts.

Certain scriptures give the true idea of these titles, viz: Exo 23:14-17 ; Exo 34:23-24 ; 1Sa 1:3 ; 1Ki 12:27-28 : Psa 122:1-4 ; and the proof of their singing as they went is found in Psa_42:4; 100; and Isa 30:29 . They went, singing these psalms, to the Feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Psa 121 was sung when just in sight of Jerusalem and Psa 122 was sung at the gate. Psa 128 is the description of a good man’s home and a parallel to this psalm in modern literature is Burns’s “Cotter’s Saturday Night.” The pious home makes the nation great.

Psa 133 is a psalm of fellowship. It is one of the finest expressions of the blessings that issue when God’s people dwell together in unity. The reference here is to the anointing of Aaron as high priest and the fragrance of the anointing oil which was used in these anointings. The dew of Hermon represents the blessing of God upon his people when they dwell together in such unity.

Now let us look at the Alphabetical Psalms. An alphabetical psalm is one in which the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are used alphabetically to commence each division. In Psalms 111-112, each clause so begins; in Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 145 ; each verse so begins; in Psa 37 each stanza of two verses so begins; in 119 each stanza of eight verses so begins, and each of the eight lines begins with the same letter. In Psa 25 ; 34 37 the order is not so strict; in Psa 9 and Psa 10 there are some traces of this alphabetical order.

David originated these alphabetical psalms and the most complete specimen is Psa 119 , which is an expansion of the latter part of Psa 19 .

A certain group of psalms is called the Hallelujah Psalms. They are so called because the word “Hallelujah” is used at the beginning, or at the ending, and sometimes at both the beginning and the ending. The Hallelujah Psalms are Psalm 111-113; 115-117; 146-150. Psa 117 is a doxology; and Psalms 146-150 were used as anthems. Psa 148 calls on all creation to praise God. Francis of Assisi wrote a hymn based on this psalm in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister. Psa 150 calls for all varieties of instruments. Psalms 113-118 are called the Egyptian Hallel. They were used at the Passover (Psalm 113-114), before the Supper and Psalm 115-118 were sung after the Supper. According to this, Jesus and his disciples sang Psalms 115-118 at the last Passover Supper. These psalms were sung also at the Feasts of Pentecost, Tabernacles, Dedication, and New Moon.

The name of God is delayed long in Psa 114 . Addison said, “That the surprise might be complete.” Then there are some special characteristics of Psa 115 , viz: (1) It was written against idols. Cf. Isa 44:9-20 ; (2) It is antiphonal, the congregation singing Psa 115:1-8 , the choir Psa 115:9-12 , the priests Psa 115:13-15 and the congregation again Psa 115:16-18 . The theme of Psa 116 is love, based on gratitude for a great deliverance, expressed in service. It is appropriate to read at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Psa 116:15 is especially appropriate for funeral services.

On some special historical occasions certain psalms were sung. Psa 46 was sung by the army of Gustavus Adolphus before the decisive battle of Leipzig, on September 17, 1631.Psa 68 was sung by Cromwell’s army on the occasion of the battle of Dunbar in Scotland.

Certain passages in the Psalms show that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices. For instance, Psa 118:27 ; Psa 141:2 seem to teach very clearly that they approved the Mosaic sacrifice. But other passages show that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important and foresaw the abolition of the animal sacrifices. Such passages are Psa 50:7-15 ; Psa 4:5 ; Psa 27:6 ; Psa 40:6 ; Psa 51:16-17 . These scriptures show conclusively that the writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the Royal Psalms?

2. What are the Passion Psalms?

3. What are the Psalms of the Ideal Man?

4. What are the Missionary Psalms?

5. What are the predictions before David of the coming Messiah?

6. What are the prophecies of history concerning the Messiah?

7. Give a regular order of thought concerning the messianic offices as taught in the psalms.

8. Which psalms most clearly present the Messiah as (1) the ideal man, or Second Adam, (2) which as Prophet, or Teacher, (3) which as the Sacrifice, (4) which as King, (5) which as Priest, (6) which his universal reign?

9. Concerning the suffering Messiah, or the Messiah as a sacrifice, state the words or facts, verified in the New Testament as fulfilment of prophecy in the psalms. Let the order of the citations follow the order of facts in Christ’s life.

10. Name the Penitential Psalms and show their occasion.

11. What are the Pilgrim Psalms?

12. What is this section of the Psalter called?

13. When and under what conditions were these psalms collected?

14. Who is the author of the central psalm of this collection?

15. What Davidic Psalms are in this collection?

16. When were the others written?

17. What are they called in the Septuagint?

18. What four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents”?

19. What scriptures give the true idea of these titles?

20. Give proof of their singing as they went.

21. To what feasts did they go singing these Psalms?

22. What was the special use made of Psa 121 and Psa 122 ?

23. Which of these psalms is the description of a good man’s home and what parallel in modern literature?

24. Expound Psa 133 .

25. What is an alphabetical psalm, and what are the several kinds?

26. Who originated these Alphabetical Psalms?

27. What are the most complete specimen?

28. Of what is it an expansion?

29. Why is a certain group of psalms called the Hallelujah Psalms?

30. What are the Hallelujah Psalms?

31. Which of the Hallelujah Psalms was a doxology?

32. Which of these were used as anthems?

33. Which psalm calls on all creation to praise God?

34. Who wrote a hymn based on Psa 148 in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister?

35. Which of these psalms calls for all varieties of instruments?

36. What is the Egyptian Hallel?

37. What is their special use and how were they sung?

38. Then what hymns did Jesus and his disciples sing?

39. At what other feasts was this sung?

40. Why was the name of God delayed so long in Psa 114 ?

41. What are the characteristics of Psa 115 ?

42. What is the theme and special use of Psa 116 ?

43. State some special historical occasions on which certain psalms were sung. Give the psalm for each occasion.

44. Cite passages in the psalms showing that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices.

45. Cite other passages showing that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

PSALMS

XI

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS

According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:

1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.

2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.

3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.

4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.

5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.

6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.

7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.

At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.

The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.

The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.

They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”

The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:

1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.

2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.

3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .

In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.

It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.

There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.

The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.

The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.

The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:

Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)

Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)

Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)

Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)

Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)

They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.

There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:

Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.

Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:

1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.

2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.

3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.

4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.

5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.

All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:

In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).

In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).

In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).

In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).

The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .

QUESTIONS

1. What books are commended on the Psalms?

2. What is a psalm?

3. What is the Psalter?

4. What is the range of time in composition?

5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?

6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?

7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?

8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.

9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?

10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?

11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?

12. How many psalms in our collection?

13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?

14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?

15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?

16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?

17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?

18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?

19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?

20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?

21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?

22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?

23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?

24. How many of the psalms have no titles?

25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?

26. How do later Jews supply these titles?

27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?

XII

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)

The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:

1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).

2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).

3. The nature, or character, of the poem:

(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).

(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).

4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).

5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).

6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).

7. The kind of musical instrument:

(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).

(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).

(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).

8. A special choir:

(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).

(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).

(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).

9. The keynote, or tune:

(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).

(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).

(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).

(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).

(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).

(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.

(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.

(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.

10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).

11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)

12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).

The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.

The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.

David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:

1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.

2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.

3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.

4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.

5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.

As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:

1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.

2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.

3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.

4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.

5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.

6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.

The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.

Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.

Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:

I. By books

1. Psalms 1-41 (41)

2. Psalms 42-72 (31)

3. Psalms 73-89 (17)

4. Psalms 90-106 (17)

5. Psalms 107-150 (44)

II. According to date and authorship

1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )

2. Psalms of David:

(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).

(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).

(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).

3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).

4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).

5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).

6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )

7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )

8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)

III. By groups

1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.

2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )

3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)

4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )

5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”

IV. Doctrines of the Psalms

1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.

2. The covenant, the basis of worship.

3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.

4. The pardon of sin and justification.

5. The Messiah.

6. The future life, pro and con.

7. The imprecations.

8. Other doctrines.

V. The New Testament use of the Psalms

1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.

2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.

We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:

1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )

2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )

3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )

4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )

5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )

6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )

7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )

8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )

9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )

The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.

There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.

It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.

The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.

Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:

1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.

2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.

3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.

The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.

QUESTIONS

1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.

2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?

3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?

4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?

5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.

6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?

7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?

8. What other authors are named in the titles?

9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?

10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.

11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?

12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.

13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?

14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?

15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?

16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?

17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.

18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?

19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?

20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?

XVII

THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS

A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.

Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.

The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:

1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.

2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.

3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.

In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).

This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.

It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:

1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.

2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.

We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.

1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.

The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.

The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”

In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).

But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .

Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).

This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.

2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:

(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).

(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .

(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”

(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).

What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!

3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.

(1) His divinity,

(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;

(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .

(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .

(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .

(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .

(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .

(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.

(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .

4. His offices.

(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).

(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).

(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).

(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).

(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).

5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:

(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .

(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.

(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .

(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).

And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).

And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).

Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).

These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .

(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).

(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .

(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).

(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).

(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).

(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).

(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).

The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).

The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).

The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).

His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).

In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).

His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).

Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).

With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).

We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.

QUESTIONS

1. What is a good text for this chapter?

2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?

3. What is the last division called and why?

4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?

5. To what three things is the purpose limited?

6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?

7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?

8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?

9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?

10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?

11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.

12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?

13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?

14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?

15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.

16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.

17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.

18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Psa 100:1 A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

A Psalm of praise ] Suavis et gravis, short and sweet; appointed, likely, to be sung at the thank offerings, quando pacifica erant offerenda, say the Italian and Spanish annotators. See Psa 100:4 . Enter with thanksgiving, or with thank sacrifice, Lev 7:12 .

Ver. 1. All ye lands ] Both Jews and Gentiles, Rom 15:10-11 , for your common salvation.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Its title is “A psalm of thanksgiving,” and how just! Here Israel calls to universal thanksgiving; no churlishness to the Gentile more. Jehovah’s mercy enjoyed makes His people bountiful.

The previous group of psalms anticipated in the Spirit of Christ, the revelation of Jehovah to the joy of His people and the nations, indeed of all the earth. The last of them demonstrates the great change by divine grace, when Israel will welcome the Gentiles to His courts, not only without jealousy, but with all their hearts. A fresh cluster now follows.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

Title. A Psalm. Hebrew. mizmor. App-65.

praise = thanksgiving. the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. ye lands. Hebrew the land; Israel in the land.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Psa 100:1-5 :

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness ( Psa 100:1-2 ):

Now if you can’t serve the Lord with gladness, it’s better that you not serve Him. It is a shame and a disgrace that people gripe about what they’ve done for the Lord or their service for God. But that’s usually the result of people being pushed into something that God hasn’t led them into. And the church, unfortunately, has been very guilty of pushing people into jobs or into things that the people’s heart really isn’t in it. People are oftentimes pushed to support a new building program or pushed to support a new budget or something for the church. And everytime the month comes around and you get your little notice that your pledge is due, you get upset, you know, and you write out your pledge and mail it in, but you’re angry about it. You’ve been pressured into it. They caught you at a weak moment.

“Serve the Lord with gladness.” If you can’t give joyfully to the Lord, you’re much better off not to give, because if you give grudgingly, that’s going to go against you. That’s not going to count. That will count against you. So you’re much better off not to give at all. If you can be happy about not giving at all, you’re much better off doing that rather than giving grudgingly to God. And that’s giving of your time and serving the Lord or giving of your finances or whatever. If you can’t give unto the Lord with a joyful heart, if you cannot serve the Lord with gladness, then it’s best you not serve Him at all. God doesn’t want any kind of grudging in your gifts to Him. God doesn’t want your giving ever to be out of pressure, out of constraint, out of someone pushing you. And if ever any of the pastors around here are trying to push you to do something, you come to me and we’ll see that it’s taken care of.

People come up and say, “You know, we’ve been coming here for a long time and we really like to teach a Sunday school class, but how do you go about teaching a Sunday school class here?” I said, “You just found out. You got to ask.” We won’t come around and nail you for anything. You want to do something for the Lord, you’re going to have to ask. If you desire to give anything, you’re going to have to ask how to do it. We’re not going to ask you. You call us. We will not come to people to support God or God’s work. That’s ridiculous. If you don’t, out of your own heart of love and thanksgiving, want to serve the Lord with gladness, then don’t serve Him at all.

come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD ( Psa 100:2-3 )

Now, here’s… Make a joyful noise. Serve the Lord. Come before His presence. Why? Because the Lord,

he is God ( Psa 100:3 ):

God has rights. We talk about human rights; there are also divine rights. And His rights to our service, His rights to our praise, because He is God. Because He is God He is worthy of our praise. Because He is God He is deserving of our service unto Him.

it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves ( Psa 100:3 );

The self-made man. What a tragedy. “It is He that hath made us.” When Belshazzar was feasting with his lords at the time of the siege of the Medo-Persian army, and in order to add a new dimension to the feasting, Belshazzar called that they bring the gold and silver cups that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple of Jerusalem and pour their wine in these golden cups that have been sanctified for use in the temple of God. And as they were drinking their wine out of the golden cups and praising the gods of gold and silver, suddenly they had a very sobering experience, because over on the plaster of the wall there appeared a hand and the writing was on the wall, and it began to burn there on the wall and stayed there. Words that they could not understand. “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.” And this king, it says, his joints were loose and his bones began to smite against each other.

And they called for the wise men to come in. They said, “We don’t know what it means.” Finally the queen said, “There was a man unto your grandfather’s reign named Nebuchadnezzar of the children of Israel. God gave to him understanding and visions and dreams and so forth. And they called Daniel in. And he said, “Can you interpret that?” And Daniel says, “Yes, I can, but first of all I want to talk to you, King. Your grandfather was a great king over all the earth and God gave him dominion over the world. And yet, his heart was lifted up with pride. And so God allowed your grandfather to go insane and for seven seasons, he ate with the oxen out in the field. He lived like a madman until he knew that the Lord in heaven reigned over the earth and put on the thrones those whom He would”.

And he said, “The very God in whose hand your breath is, you have not glorified.” I mean, he really laid the message on the king. “You failed to glorify God. Look, your life depends on Him. You are dependent. He is the One that has made you. Your very breath is dependent upon Him. The very God, in whose hand your breath is, you have not glorified. Therefore, the writing came on the wall and its interpretation is, ‘Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting.’ And your kingdom will be taken from you tonight. Divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”

But the idea that God in whose hand your breath is. How dependent we are upon God. “It is He that hath made us.” And yet that very breath that we receive from God we use many times to blaspheme God. The very breath that God has given to us, we use to utter filthy epitaphs or stories or whatever. What a shame! The very God in whose hand your breath is. And at that time, that king’s breath was foul with the smell of the wine. Drunk. And though he was drunk and the breath permeated with the smell of the wine, yet it was the breath that God had given to him. The very God in whose hand your breath is. “He has made us, not we ourselves.”

for we are his people, the sheep of his pasture ( Psa 100:3 ).

You are living in God’s earth. You are using and abusing God’s earth. “The earth is the Lord’s, the fullness thereof; and all they that dwell therein” ( Psa 24:1 ). You’re breathing God’s air. You’re drinking God’s water. You’re eating God’s food. You’re burning God’s oil. You’re heating your home with God’s gas. You’re eating God’s cattle, God’s fish. “The earth is the Lord’s.” We are actually just grazing in His field. Everything that we have, everything that we see, everything that we’re surrounded with belongs to God. And yet, how we abuse it and try to use it just for ourselves. “The sheep of his pasture.” Therefore,

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good ( Psa 100:4-5 );

He lets you sponge off of Him all the time.

his mercy is everlasting ( Psa 100:5 );

Again, look how long He’s put up with you.

and his truth endureth to all generations ( Psa 100:5 ).

So praise the Lord. For what? For His goodness. For His mercy. And for His truth. May God just cause your week to be filled with thanksgiving and praise all week long unto Him. Don’t wait ’til Thursday. Get a head start on thanksgiving.

Shall we pray.

Father, we are so grateful that Your truth endureth to all generations. And that we can study Thy truth and learn of Thee. Now Lord, let us put into practice those things which we have learned. May we not be hearers of the Word only, deceiving ourselves. But Lord, let us be doers of the Word. Let us, O God, truly give thanks and praise unto Thee. Honor and glory unto our King. Help us, Lord, to hate evil. Help us, O Lord, to walk with Thee in the beauty of holiness. O Lord, minister to Your people tonight that we might dwell in the secret place of the Most High, abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

May the Spirit of God, by whose inspiration David penned these Psalms, bless them to us as we read them! This is entitled a Psalm of Praise. Note here that this is the only Psalm which bears that title; there are others which have titles very much like it, but this one is singled out from all the rest to be, in a very special sense, a Psalm of Praise. Martin Luther was very fond of it, and it has even been said that he composed the tune which are have just sung, and which is commonly called the Old Hundredth; though others attribute it to a German named Franc.

Psa 100:1. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Do you notice the missionary spirit here? The Jews looked upon God as the God of Israel, and they had but very faint desires for the conversion of other nations; but the Holy Ghost speaks more by David than David himself may have known: Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all ye lands. We ought to express the praise of God, not merely to feel it, and to express it by what is here called a joyful noise; and all our songs to God should have in them a measure of joyfulness. The gods of the heathen were worshipped with dolorous noises, with sorrowful sounds, and cries of misery, but the God of heaven is to be worshipped with a joyful noise: Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Oh, that the day were come when China, and India, and all Asia, Africa, America, and Europe, would take up the gladsome note of praise to Jehovah!

Psa 100:2. Serve the LORD with gladness:

What a text that is! Serve the Lord, obey him, yield to him your homage; but serve him with gladness. He wants not slaves to grace his throne, he loves willing worship, happy worship, for he is the happy God. Serve the Lord with gladness.

Psa 100:2. Come before his presence with singing.

Singing is delightful, but singing in Gods presence is heavenly. Do not the spirits that are made pure and holy come before his presence, and come before it with singing? I wish that whenever we sing, we would sing as in the presence of God. I am afraid that we sometimes go through the tune mechanically, and the words languish on our lips: Come before his presence with singing.

Psa 100:3. Know ye that the LORD he is God:

One says, Man, know thyself, and another says, The proper study of mankind is man. Not so; man, know thy God; the proper study of mankind is God. He who knows God knows himself; that is, he knows himself to be nothing. Know ye that Jehovah, he is God. There is but one God, it is the same God in the Old Testament as in the New, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Psa 100:3. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;

Note the negative, as if to deny that we had any hand in our own making, and this is also worthy of notice spiritually. It is the Lord who hath made us Christians, and not we ourselves; he has created us in Christ Jesus. There are some who lay such stress upon the human will, and I know not what besides in man, that it is necessary to put in the negative as well as the positive: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.

Psa 100:3. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Praise him, then. Praise him because he is your Maker; praise him more sweetly because he is your Shepherd. If we are his people, here is his electing love, here is his effectual calling, here is the grace of his Spirit that made us so. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. He leads us, he feeds us, he protects us, he has bought us with his precious blood. Truly, this is good reason why we should make a joyful noise unto God, and serve him with gladness: We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Are you his people? O my dear hearer, ask thyself, art thou one of the sheep of his pasture?

Psa 100:4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Gratitude is that oil which makes the wheels of life revolve easily; and if anybody ought to be grateful, surely we are the men and women, for whom the Lord has done so much: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.

Psa 100:5. For the LORD is good;

Should we not praise so good a God?

Psa 100:5. His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

His truth, that is to say, his truthfulness, his faithfulness to his people. This is a blessed Psalm, and it seems to me to reach the highest point of praise when it tells us that The Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

This exposition consisted of readings from PSALM 100. and 101.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Psa 100:1

ALL PEOPLE THAT ON EARTH DO DWELL;

“THE OLD HUNDREDTH”

This Psalm was reduced to poetry by William Kethe and was included in the Geneva Psalter. The music by Louis Bourgeois is that usually sung in “The Doxology,” and it is one of the most popular hymns ever written. Many of the commentators have mentioned this. We believe that Kethe’s poetical rendition is an acceptable commentary on the five verses of this psalm, and we are including it here:

ALL PEOPLE THAT ON EARTH DO DWELL

(Psa 100:1-5)

“All people that on earth do dwell,

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;

Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;

Come ye before Him and rejoice.

The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;

Without our aid He did us make;

We are his flock, He doth us feed,

And for His sheep he doth us take.

O enter then His gates with praise,

Approach with joy his courts unto;

Praise, laud, and bless His name always,

For it is seemly so to do.

For why? The Lord our God is good;

His mercy is forever sure;

His truth at all times firmly stood,

And shall from age to age endure!

Psa 100:1

“Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all ye lands.”

Despite the fact of Leupold’s rejection of this rendition, preferring to read it, “Shout aloud unto the Lord, all ye inhabitants of the land,” there can be no doubt of the accuracy of the translation as it stands verbatim in the KJV, the ASV, and the RSV, the three most dependable versions of the Holy Bible. The trouble with Leupold’s translation is that it allows the interpreter to restrict the meaning to Israel, “the land” being understood as the land of Israel. Our marginal reference in the American Standard Version assures us that the Hebrew text here reads this passage as “all the earth.”

E.M. Zerr:

Psa 100:1. Noise is not in the original but joyful is. The clause means to express joy unto the Lord for all his acts of kindness to the children of men. All ye lands means all the people of the earth, for they had all been benefited by the Lord’s favors.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This is the last song of the series, and forms a fitting conclusion to the movement which commenced in Psa 93:1-5. There the Divine assumption of the throne and government was the subject. Here it is that of the benefits resulting to the whole earth. All lands are called upon to sing the song of His reign. The strength of their song is to be their service rendered with gladness. Israel is viewed as the witness to the Divine power and goodness.

The peoples are supposed to see the position of the chosen people in all its desirableness, and they are reminded that their well-being is the result of the government of God.

Then the great invitation is given to the outlying people to enter His gates, to yield to Him, and share in His benefits. This is the true position and witness of Gods chosen people according to His purpose for them, and through them, for others. It is a glimpse of a glory not realised by ancient people. They never learned how to invite the outsider into the place of privilege. Because of their failure to do this, Israel as an earthly people is scattered and peeled. The Church, the spiritual Israel, fulfills, or ought to fulfil this function.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Universal Praise

Psa 100:1-5

If we could enter into the spirit of this psalm, every day would be a Thanksgiving Day. The psalmist invites all the earth to enter into the courts of Gods house with joyful songs. In many of the Psalms the minor chords overpower the major ones, and weeping prevails over rejoicing. But this psalm is full of unclouded sunlight. The reason for this gladness is suggested in the words: We are His: His by creation, by providence, and by grace; and His also by the glad consecration of our hearts to His service. We belong to Him by right; it is for us to see to it that we are also His by choice. And His ownership involves His shepherd-care. We are His flock; it is for Him to lead us into green pastures and beside still waters.

To the psalmists eye the nations of the world pour into the Temple through the wide-open portals. Hark! he cries. Listen to the burst of thanksgivings which roll forth from the mighty throng! The great attraction is the goodness of Jehovah, and the everlastingness of His love and troth. This psalm reveals the true genius of religion. We cannot be satisfied till all men share our knowledge of the love of God. There is nothing which will better promote the true happiness and gladness of mankind.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Psalm 100

Psa 100:1 : The lands are required to receive the good tidings from heaven, which implies that they are to cast off and reject their own gods. They are to turn from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. A joyful noise is to be made, because a glad message has come.

Psa 100:2 : He who sends the message claims obedience. “Serve Jehovah.” There is sorrow not in the service, but for not having served before; and there is sorrow remaining because the service is still so poor and defective. But there is no sorrow in the service.

Psa 100:3 : That Jehovah may be really served, He must be known. Jehovah is a God of wisdom, and He will have an intelligent worship. To know that Jehovah is God is to know His character and perfections as revealed in Holy Scripture, and most specially as revealed in Christ Jesus, His Son, in whom all lies in perfect harmony and most glorious display.

Psa 100:4 and Psa 100:5 : The exercises which we are here called unto are praise, and blessing, and thanksgiving: praise because of God’s excellences; blessing because of the happiness of God in Himself; thanksgiving because of His benefits.

J. Duncan, The Pulpit and Communion Table, p. 344.

References: Psa 100:2.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 9; Ibid., Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 769. Psa 100:3-5.-Ibid., vol. xx., No. 1197. Psa 100:4.-Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 312. Psa 100:5.-Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1265.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Psalm 100

Nothing but Praise

It is Israels voice in praise which we hear in this brief Psalm, which so fittingly concludes this series of great millennial Psalms. They exhort that all the earth should make a joyful noise unto the Lord, to serve Him and come before Him with singing. The third verse tells us that they are the speakers. All are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and come into His courts with praise. How often is this Psalm used in a spiritualized way, making the gates and the courts some church building. But we worship in spirit and in truth and not in an earthly house. The gates and courts have reference to that future temple, which will be a house of prayer for all nations.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

praise: or, thanksgiving

Make: Psa 32:11, Psa 47:1, Psa 47:5, Psa 66:1, Psa 66:4, Psa 95:1, Psa 95:2, Psa 98:4, Isa 24:14-16, Isa 42:10-12, Zep 3:14, Luk 19:37

all ye lands: Heb. all the earth, Psa 67:4, Psa 68:32, Psa 117:1, Psa 117:2, Deu 32:43, Zec 14:9, Rom 15:10

Reciprocal: Deu 12:12 – And ye Deu 26:11 – rejoice Deu 27:7 – rejoice 1Ki 8:66 – joyful 1Ch 15:16 – lifting up 1Ch 15:25 – with joy 1Ch 16:28 – ye kindreds 2Ch 5:13 – as one 2Ch 29:30 – they sang Ezr 3:13 – and the noise Neh 12:27 – gladness Neh 12:42 – sang loud Job 8:21 – rejoicing Psa 27:6 – I will Psa 81:1 – make Psa 89:15 – know Psa 145:1 – Psalm of praise Psa 149:2 – rejoice Isa 25:9 – we will Phi 3:1 – rejoice Rev 19:7 – be glad

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The Final Praise.

A psalm of thanksgiving.

The hundredth psalm closes this series with the full anthem of praise. Naught else remains. Perfection is found and rest; and both are in God. There is little need of interpretation. Jehovah is now to be in every mouth, not the superstitious dread of men afraid of uttering His Name, but shouting it aloud for very gladness: joyous service, with a song. Jehovah is indeed the manifest God, to whom belong His people: the creatures and the cared for of His hand. Strangely it may seem, but most beautifully, surely, the thankful approach of the worshiper falls into the fourth place, which speaks of the practical life. The life will now be praise (comp. Heb 13:15-16). And the psalm ends with the record of Jehovah’s ways, which are the theme of the praise itself: “for Jehovah is good: His loving-kindness is for ever; and His truth endureth from generation to generation.”

Amen.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

Psa 100:1-2. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord Partly, with voices, and songs of rejoicings, and thanksgiving; and partly with musical instruments, as the manner then was; all ye lands That is, 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 obeyed. Serve the Lord with gladness Devote yourselves to, and employ yourselves in, his service. Come before his presence with singing In the ordinances which he has appointed, and in which he has promised to manifest himself to his people. In all acts of religious worship, whether in secret or in our families, we may be truly said to come into Gods presence; but it is in public worship especially that we enter into his gates, and into his courts, as expressed Psa 100:4, which should be with thanksgiving for so great a privilege, and with praise for his goodness manifested herein.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Title. A psalm of praise, or thanksgiving. Chaldee, for the sacrifice of confession. The subject appears to be general, and has received no particular application. There is not the slightest ground for supposing this psalm to have been written after the Babylonish captivity.

Psa 100:1. Make a joyful noise. The sublimity of the subject demands the highest vocal powers. The Hebrews sung with heart and voice, and virtually reprove our modern theatrical tunes, and sombrous airs.All ye lands, all the habitations of the earth. Enter his courts with praise, for he feeds us with good things. This is a song of welcome to the Hebrew festivals.

Psa 100:3. He hath made us, and not we ourselves. This is Gods first claim to our service. Men act as if they were their own masters, and could scarcely claim greater independence, had they even created themselves. It is necessary therefore, that they should be reminded of the claims of their Maker.

REFLECTIONS.

This bold and beautiful psalm was written in a high spirit of prophecy. Consonant to the covenant, and to all the prophets, it invites the gentile world to participate with the Hebrew nation in their joys and devotion. It disparages a gloomy worship; for the tears of repentance should always crystallize into the joys of remission. Hence the gentiles are exhorted to serve the Lord with gladness, and with songs. What else should be the sentiments of the christian church, when both jews and gentiles are made the children of God, and the firstborn of Mount Zion which is above?

The gentiles are farther exhorted to know and acknowledge that JEHOVAH, and he alone, is the maker and ruler of heaven and earth; for all enlightening worship is founded on sanctifying views of the divine perfections. Such a knowledge of the one true and eternal God, makes way for a belief in the godhead, and in christianity at large.

The gentiles are invited to worship with the Jews, because they were the Lords people, and the sheep of his pasture. These are the very arguments which St. John employs to the same effect. These things write I unto you, that ye may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Truly, the poor lost sheep are invited to the happy fold and family of heaven.

It exhorts them to a grateful and constant attendance on public worship. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. So the christian church, which is now his temple, opens her arms to all who shall come with a willing mind, and fervently join in glorifying the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, whose goodness and mercy endure for ever.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

C. A Processional Hymn (see Psa 100:4).The Ps. invites the Israelites to be joyful, declares Yahweh is the only God and the Maker of all, and that He is specially the God of Israel.

Psa 100:2. Serve: offer sacrifice to (see Isa 19:21; Isa 19:23).

Psa 100:3. we are his: this suits the context better, but He hath made us, i.e. made us what we are, viz. the people of redemption, is also a possible reading.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

PSALM 100

A summons from the restored nation of Israel to all the nations of the earth to worship the Lord within His courts.

(vv. 1-2) Jehovah has taken His place in Zion, and sits between the cherubim (Ps. 99). All the earth is summoned to serve Jehovah with joy, and to come before His presence with exultation. The godly remnant had indeed served in circumstances of sorrow; now all can serve with joy. When surrounded with enemies the godly came into His presence with trepidation, now all can come with exultation.

(v. 3) Restored Israel, speaking from their experience of Jehovah’s loving-kindness, can bear witness to all the earth. They can say to the nations, Know that Jehovah is God. He hath made us; all that we are we owe to Him, and not unto ourselves. In conscious relationship they can say, We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. It is not only that He has created us and that we are His creatures, but He has made us to be His people.

(v. 4) As of old so also in the millennial day, His house is a house of prayer for all nations. Hence all are invited to pass through His gates into His courts, there to give thanks unto Him, and bless His name. The house of prayer becomes a house of praise.

(v. 5) Restored Israel recognizes that all the blessing they have been brought into is the outcome of the everlasting mercy and unchanging faithfulness of Jehovah. Through all their long history of failure, the mercy (or loving-kindness) of Jehovah never ceased. It endures for ever (JND). It had been the hope of the godly in the darkest day. Realizing that God’s loving-kindness endures for ever, they knew that finally the nation would come into blessing. At the same time God’s faithfulness is as enduring as His mercy: therefore it follows that, while mercy brings them into final blessing, faithfulness must pass them through the great tribulation on the way to the blessing. God shows mercy because of man’s need and His own love: God acts in faithfulness because of man’s sin and His own holiness.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

100:1 [A Psalm of praise.] Make a {a} joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

(a) He prophecies that God’s benefits in calling the Gentiles will be so great that they will have wonderful opportunity to praise his mercy and rejoice.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Psalms 100

An unknown writer invited God’s people to approach the Lord with joy in this well-known psalm. We can serve Him gladly because He is the Creator, and we can worship Him thankfully because He is good and faithful.

"Known as the Jubilate (’O be joyful’), it is a psalm much used in liturgical worship; but William Kethe’s fine paraphrase, ’All people that on earth do dwell’, has even wider currency wherever English is spoken. Finer still, but somewhat freer, is Isaac Watts’ version, ’Before Jehovah’s aweful [sic] throne’." [Note: Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 356.]

"Its [this psalm’s] position after the psalms proclaiming Yahweh’s kingship (96-99) suggests the classification with these psalms. More than likely it functions as a hymnic conclusion of this collection." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 638.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. Happy service 100:1-3

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

All people should shout praises to the Lord joyfully. We should willingly serve Him with happy hearts. We should sing out with joy to honor Him.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 100:1-5

THE Psalms of the King end with this full-toned call to all the earth to do Him homage. It differs from the others of the group, by making no distinct mention either of Jehovahs royal title or of the great act of deliverance which was His visible exercise of sovereignty. But it resembles them in its jubilant tone, its urgent invitation to all men to walk in the light which shone on Israel, and its conviction that the mercies shown to the nation bad blessing in them for all the world. The structure is simple. A call to praise Jehovah is twice given, and each is followed by reasons for His praise, which is grounded, in the first instance (Psa 100:3), on His dealings with Israel. and, in the second, on His character as revealed by all His works.

Psa 100:1 consists of but a single clause, and, as Delitzsch says, is like the signal blast of a trumpet. It rings out a summons to “all the earth,” as in Psa 98:4, which is expanded in Psa 100:2. The service there enjoined is that of worship in the Temple, as in Psa 100:4. Thus, the characteristic tone of this group of psalms echoes here, in its close, and all men are called and welcomed to the Sanctuary. There is no more a Court of the Gentiles. Not less striking than the universality of the psalm is its pulsating gladness. The depths of sorrow, both of that which springs from outward calamities and of that more heart-breaking sort which wells up from dark fountains in the soul, have been sounded in many a psalm. But the Psalter would not reflect all the moods of the devout soul, unless it had some strains of unmingled joy. The Christian Year has perfect days of sunlit splendour, when all the winds are still, and no cloud darkens the unbroken blue. There is no music without passages in minor keys; but joy has its rights and place too, and they know but little of the highest kind of worship who do not sometimes feel their hearts swell with gladness more poignant and exuberant than earth can minister.

The reason for the worlds gladness is given in Psa 100:3. It is Jehovahs special relation to Israel. So far as the language of the verse is concerned, it depends on Psa 95:7. “He hath made us” does not refer to creation, but to the constituting of Israel the people of God. “We are His” is the reading of the Hebrew margin, and is evidently to be preferred to that of the text, “Not we ourselves.” The difference in Hebrew is only in one letter, and the pronunciation of both readings would be the same. Jewish text critics count fifteen passages, in which a similar mistake has been made in the text. Here, the comparison of Psa 95:1-11 and the connection with the next clause of Psa 100:3 are decidedly in favour of the amended reading. It is to be observed that this is the only and it is natural to lay stress on the opposition between “ye” in Psa 100:3 a, -and “we” and “us” in b. The collective Israel speaks, and calls all men to rejoice in Jehovah, because of His grace to it. The psalm is, then, not, as Cheyne calls it, “a national song of thanksgiving, with which a universalistic element is not completely fused,” but a song which starts from national blessings, and discerns in them a message of hope and joy for all men. Israel was meant to be a sacred hearth on which a fire was kindled, that was to warm all the house. God revealed Himself in Israel, but to the world.

The call to praise is repeated in Psa 100:4 with more distinct reference to the open Temple gates into which all the nations may now enter. The psalmist sees, in prophetic hope, crowds pouring in with glad alacrity through the portals, and then hears the joyful tumult of their many voices rising in a melodious surge of praise. His eager desire and large-hearted confidence that so it will one day be are vividly expressed by the fourfold call in Psa 100:4. And the reason which should draw all men to bless Gods revealed character is that His self-revelation, whether to Israel or to others, shows that the basis of that character is goodness-i.e., kindness or love-and that, as older singers have sung, “His lovingkindness endures forever,” and, as a thousand generations in Israel and throughout the earth have proved, His faithful adherence to His word. and discharge of all obligations under which He has come to His creatures, give a basis for trust and a perpetual theme for joyful thanksgiving. Therefore, all the world has an interest in Jehovahs royalty, and should, and one day shall, compass His throne with joyful homage, and obey His behests with willing service.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary