Psalm 100

What’s Happening?

The people of Israel would have sung Psalm 100 as they entered the temple to worship God and enjoy his presence. Generally, worship in God’s temple was restricted to only native-born Israelites. However, this song begins by inviting the whole earth to praise God (Psalm 100:1). Foreigners are invited to come before God and worship him in his temple with joyful songs as if they are native-born (Psalm 100:2). The middle verse of Psalm 100 gives the reason why God is inviting a multinational crowd into a space usually reserved for Jews. God is the Maker of all people, so everyone belongs to him (Psalm 100:3). Normally, only Israelites are called God’s sheep. But in this psalm, God is described as a shepherd of a global flock. The gates of God’s temple are flung open and invite all genuine lovers of God to worship him regardless of nationality or ethnicity (Psalm 100:4). In Psalm 100, all nations come together in God’s temple to celebrate that God’s love and faithfulness is for all people forever (Psalm 100:5).

Where is the Gospel?

Since the first days of creation, God has wanted to share his love and goodness with the entire world. And even when he chose to be in a special relationship with only the Jews, it was so that the whole world would eventually be included among God’s people (Genesis 12:3). Psalms like this one remind us that God has always intended to include the entire world in a loving relationship with him. However, God’s special relationship with the Jewish people was not fully extended to the rest of the world until the Maker of the world became a person in Jesus (Philippians 2:5-7). 

Jesus was a native-born Israelite and said he had come to be Israel’s shepherd (Matthew 10:5-6; 15:24). But Jesus broke down the barriers that generally divided Jews from the rest of the world (Mark 7:19; John 4:1-26). In response, non-Jews frequently flocked to Jesus, and he healed and helped them just as he did with his fellow Jews (Matthew 15:21-28; Luke 7:1-10; John 4:1-26). However, Jesus’ inclusion of foreigners brought hostility from the Jewish religious establishment. After Jesus publicly criticized them for the exclusion of foreigners from God’s temple, they conspired to arrest and kill him (Matthew 21:12-13, 45-46; Luke 22:1-6). 

But in Jesus’ death, God’s plan to invite all people to worship him was completed. When Jesus died, a special curtain that divided God’s presence from the rest of the world was torn in half. It was a symbol that worshiping God was no longer the special privilege of the Jewish people but of all genuine lovers of God (Matthew 27:50-51; Ephesians 2:14-16). Jesus is the way all God’s people are invited to enjoy God’s presence (John 14:6). He is the gate swung wide open, inviting everyone to treasure God’s goodness and enjoy his presence (John 10:7). Then, when Jesus rose from the dead, he told his closest followers that their first job was to take the good news of his death and resurrection to the lost sheep of the world (Matthew 28:19). Jesus has made a way for Psalm 100 to finally come true. 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who welcomes the nations into his presence. And may you see Jesus as the one who gives access to God for people from every nation.