You entered His gates and you’re in His courts… now what?

Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise…” but do you know what happens next? Worship opens the gates to the dwelling place of the Lord because He chooses to inhabit or dwell within the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3). As you worship and minister to the Lord from a grateful heart, you are stepping into the place where the glory of God resides and the Bible is full of descriptions of the beauty and wonders that exist in His presence. What’s next? “…be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”

Worship is movement, grateful, enthusiastic, obvious movement- a direct reflection of the attitude in your heart. Maybe that isn’t comfortable for you, but it is the truth.

“Be thankful” and “bless His name” are two distinct words in the Hebrew text: yadah and barak. When your worship takes you into His presence, what happens next is this picture, painted by those two, intentional words of the writer: Lift up your hands, throw them forward and speak of His greatness, and then fall to your knees before the king and lavish Him with blessing. Now that is worship! There is activity in the dwelling place of God, worship activity: Kneeling, waving, dancing, shouting, clapping, singing, instruments playing… In His presence is “fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). When you are just overfilled with joy, do you just sit or stand still, barely moving your lips or weakly clapping, or crossing your arms, or staring straight ahead? No way! Then why on earth would your worship be that way? Worship is movement, grateful, enthusiastic, obvious movement- a direct reflection of the attitude in your heart. Maybe that isn’t comfortable for you, but it is the truth.

Challenge yourself to put your worship on display. To show the Lord, and those around you, that you are grateful. Worship is your testimony. Do you know when the Psalmist wrote,” be thankful to Him and bless His name” he was really saying this: Lift up your hands, throw them forward and speak of His greatness, and then fall to your knees before the king and lavish Him with blessing and honor Him because of His honorable reputation, character. Every person who worships the Lord has a reason- whether it be good or bad, selfish or obedient. But entering His gates and into His courts isn’t the same as what people are doing when they simply show up and sing songs to Jesus. Worship is specific and intentional and purposeful. And once you get to that place, do what the Psalmist did and take it up a notch!

Thought for today

I love to ask this question: What’s your WHY? If you don’t understand why you worship, you won’t understand how to access His dwelling place, or how to give the Lord what He has asked for. God is so faithful! He invites you in. He has given you the key to the gates of His habitation, but it doesn’t stop at the gates- it continues! Remember, gratitude is the point of origin for worship. If you can’t think of something to be grateful for, you won’t be able to praise and worship the Lord, and you certainly won’t want to fall down and cry out and raise your hands or jump with joy. Today is a new day! Start now! Right now! “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name.” ~Psalm 100:4

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