Psalm 100 invites us to enter God's Presence. A verse in the New Testament,
Hebrews 4:16, tells us the same thing, to come "boldly before the throne of Grace".
In Psalm 100, notice the progression in approaching God's Presence:
GATE--COURT--PRESENCE.
Enter His GATES with thanksgiving. Enter His COURTS with praise.
Come before His PRESENCE with singing.
To think in terms of approaching God, think in terms of walking toward Him, physically.
It illustrates how open He is to us spiritually. When we think of approaching God,
let us keep in mind the physical aspect of entering any gate or courtyard. We would
naturally walk through them on our two feet. Then, think in terms of GOD'S
GATE and GOD'S COURTYARD. To ENTER HIS GATES, we would walk
through them. To ENTER HIS COURTS, we would walk into them. To COME
BEFORE HIS PRESENCE, we would move forward and toward Him, we would not
cower outside the Gates. Then, we would stand before Him. Job was told by God
to stand before Him like a man. (Job 8:3)
When praying, we can stand, walk, kneel, or be prostrate. If we were actually in God's
Presence, we would all fall on our faces, fainting with fear. But in this passage
of Scripture, God is teaching us not to fear Him, but to approach Him openly and
standing on our two feet, spiritually speaking. It can be said: Kneel Physically but Stand
spiritually, Stand Physically but Kneel Spiritually.
As we have seen, enter and come mean to move forward, to walk toward, right into
God's Presence. A New Testament verse, James 4:8, gives the same invitation, "draw
near to God". Think about it, God is inviting us to come into His Presence. How do we
comprehend such a thing? Remember, at the burning bush, Moses was told to take his
shoes off because he was on Holy Ground, yet we are invited to come into God's
Presence anywhere, any place, shoes and all. (Exodus 3:5)
A friend of mine said, "I took my eyes off the Lord and instead of walking up to His
throne, I have been crying outside the Gate and not realizing it was unlocked and that I
could just go right in". We hear Christians say that they bombard the Gates of Heaven
with prayer. Why do they stay outside the Gates to pray, when they are welcome to enter, to
walk right in?
How, then, do we express ourselves as we approach and move toward God? We use
words that come from an attitude of thanksgiving and praise. We sing to Him audibly or
silently, out of a singing heart. We are even requested to make a joyful noise unto Him.
Colossians 3:16 says to sing to the Lord with Grace in your hearts, with Psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs.
Not only does God want us to approach Him, He wants us to know Who He is and
what He is like. We must know and understand that Our Lord is the One and Only
God and King of the Universe and that He is Good, Merciful and Truthful. He will
never change. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) James 1:17
says that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from
the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning".
We ask, why does God want us to approach Him, to come into His Presence? Because
He is our Creator and we are His creation, He loves us. We are His People, and the
Sheep of His Pasture, He wants us to be near Him. John 4:23 tells us that He searches
for true worshipers to worship Him. Responding to God's invitation will fill our inner
beings with the knowledge that He loves and cares for us. Being blessed by such
knowledge will stir within us a desire to worship and serve Him with an overflowing
gladness of heart.
"BUT AN HOUR IS COMING, AND NOW IS, WHEN THE TRUE WORSHIPERS
SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH; FOR SUCH PEOPLE
THE FATHER SEEKS TO BE HIS WORSHIPERS. JOHN 4:23(NAS)
Mulraine Stap
Song
"The Lord Liveth"