3 Be certain that the Lord is God; it is he who has made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep to whom he gives food.
<JOD> Your hands have made me, and given me form: give me wisdom, so that I may have knowledge of your teaching.
O come, let us give worship, falling down on our knees before the Lord our Maker. For he is our God; and we are the people to whom he gives food, and the sheep of his flock. Today, if you would only give ear to his voice!
And they will be certain that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, the children of Israel, are my people, says the Lord. And you are my sheep, the sheep of my grass-lands, and I am your God, says the Lord.
For this reason let those who by the purpose of God undergo punishment, keep on in well-doing and put their souls into the safe hands of their Maker.
Let Israel have joy in his maker; let the children of Zion be glad in their King.
And we are certain that the Son of God has come, and has given us a clear vision, so that we may see him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Or are you not conscious that your body is a house for the Holy Spirit which is in you, and which has been given to you by God? and you are not the owners of yourselves; For a payment has been made for you: let God be honoured in your body.
All this he let you see, so that you might be certain that the Lord is God and there is no other.
Your hands made me, and I was formed by you, but then, changing your purpose, you gave me up to destruction. O keep in mind that you made me out of earth; and will you send me back again to dust? Was I not drained out like milk, becoming hard like cheese? By you I was clothed with skin and flesh, and joined together with bones and muscles. You have been kind to me, and your grace has been with me, and your care has kept my spirit safe. But you kept these things in the secret of your heart; I am certain this was in your thoughts:
<Maschil. Of Asaph.> Of God, why have you put us away from you for ever? why is the fire of your wrath smoking against the sheep who are your care? Keep in mind your band of worshippers, for whom you gave payment in the days which are past, whom you took for yourself as the people of your heritage; even this mountain of Zion, which has been your resting-place.
My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body. I will give you praise, for I am strangely and delicately formed; your works are great wonders, and of this my soul is fully conscious. My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book all my days were recorded, even those which were purposed before they had come into being. How dear are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the number of them! If I made up their number, it would be more than the grains of sand; when I am awake, I am still with you. If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood. For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name. Are not your haters hated by me, O Lord? are not those who are lifted up against you a cause of grief to me? My hate for them is complete; my thoughts of them are as if they were making war on me. O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested: See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.
We have become as those who were never ruled by you, on whom your name was not named.
Keep watch over the flock of God which is in your care, using your authority, not as forced to do so, but gladly; and not for unclean profit but with a ready mind; Not as lords over God's heritage, but making yourselves examples to the flock. And at the coming of the chief Keeper of the sheep, you will be given the eternal crown of glory.
Give attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy Spirit has given into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his blood. I am conscious that after I am gone, evil wolves will come in among you, doing damage to the flock;
But you have no belief because you are not of my sheep. My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me: And I give them eternal life; they will never come to destruction, and no one will ever take them out of my hand.
For this is what the Lord has said: Truly, I, even I, will go searching and looking for my sheep.
You who give good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain; you who give good news to Jerusalem, let your voice be strong; let it be sounding without fear; say to the towns of Judah, See, your God! See, the Lord God will come as a strong one, ruling in power: see, those made free by him are with him, and those whom he has made safe go before him. He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young.
So we your people, and the sheep of your flock, will give you glory for ever: we will go on praising you through all generations.
But now, O Lord our God, give us salvation from his hands, so that it may be clear to all the kingdoms of the earth that you and only you, O Lord, are God.
This day the Lord will give you up into my hands, and I will overcome you, and take your head off you; and I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth today, so that all the earth may see that Israel has a God; And all these people who are here today may see that the Lord does not give salvation by sword and spear: for the fight is the Lord's, and he will give you up into our hands.
Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order. Give me an answer, O Lord, give me an answer, so that this people may see that you are God, and that you have made their hearts come back again. Then the fire of the Lord came down, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain. And when the people saw it, they all went down on their faces, and said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.
So today be certain, and keep the knowledge deep in your hearts, that the Lord is God, in heaven on high and here on earth; there is no other God.
They have said, With our tongues will we overcome; our lips are ours: who is lord over us?
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King over all gods.
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and an eternal king: when he is angry, the earth is shaking with fear, and the nations give way before his wrath.
I am the good keeper; I have knowledge of my sheep, and they have knowledge of me, Even as the Father has knowledge of me and I of the Father; and I am giving my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep which are not of this field: I will be their guide in the same way, and they will give ear to my voice, so there will be one flock and one keeper.
For when I came by, I was looking at the things to which you give worship, and I saw an altar with this writing on it, TO THE GOD OF WHOM THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE. Now, what you, without knowledge, give worship to, I make clear to you. The God who made the earth and everything in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, is not housed in buildings made with hands;
Seeing that it is God who said, Let light be shining out of the dark, who has put in our hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But at that time, having no knowledge of God, you were servants to those who by right are no gods: But now that you have come to have knowledge of God, or more truly, God has knowledge of you, how is it that you go back again to the poor and feeble first things, desiring to be servants to them again?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Psalms 100
Commentary on Psalms 100 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 100
A Psalm of Praise. The Arabic version ascribes this psalm to David, and very likely it is one of his: the Targum calls it
"a hymn for the sacrifice of thanksgiving;'
and so Jarchi. It is supposed to have been used when peace offerings for thanksgivings were offered up, Leviticus 7:11. The Syriac inscription is very odd;
"concerning Joshua the son of Nun, when he made the war of the Ammonites to cease;'
though it more rightly adds,
"but in the New Testament, when the Gentiles are converted to the faith:'
and indeed the scope of the psalm is to exhort the Gentiles to praise the Messiah, to serve and worship him, from the consideration of his goodness and mercy, truth and faithfulness.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Or, "all the earth"F3כל הארץ "omnis terra", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, &c. ; that is, as the Targum, all the inhabitants of the earth, who are called upon to shout unto him as their King; as the angels did at his birth, the disciples when he made his public entrance into Jerusalem, the apostles at his ascension to heaven, the saints when the marriage of him, the Lamb, will be come, and both men and angels when he shall descend from heaven to judge the world; and such a joyful noise or shout should be made unto him as to a triumphant conqueror, who has got the victory over sin, Satan, death, and the grave, and every enemy of his and his people, and made them more than conquerors through himself; see Psalm 95:1.
Serve the Lord with gladness,.... Not with a slavish fear, under a spirit of bondage, as the Jews under the legal dispensation; not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit: with spiritual joy and freedom of soul, as under the spirit of adoption; readily, willingly, cheerfully; without sinister and selfish ends and views; as their Lord and Master; taking delight in his person, and pleasure in his service; rejoicing in him, without having any confidence in the flesh:
come before his presence with singing; to the throne of his grace with thankfulness for mercies received, as well as to implore others; and into his house, and at his ordinances, beginning public worship with singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; see Psalm 95:2.
Know ye that the Lord he is God,.... Own and acknowledge him to be God, as well as man; and though a man, yet not a mere man, but the great God and our Saviour, the true God and eternal life; so a man, as that he is Jehovah's fellow; or our God, as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions; Immanuel, God with us, God in our nature, God manifest in the flesh:
it is he that hath made us; as men, without whom nothing is made that was made; in him we live, move, and have our being; and, as new creatures, we are his workmanship, created in him, and by him; regenerated by his Spirit and grace, and formed for himself, his service and glory; and made great and honourable by him, raised from a low to an high estate; from being beggars on the dunghill, to sit among princes; yea, made kings and priests unto God by him; so, Kimchi,
"he hath brought us up, and exalted us:'
and not we ourselves; that is, did not make ourselves, neither as creatures, nor as new creatures; as we have no hand in making either our souls or bodies, so neither in our regeneration, or in the work of God upon our hearts; that is solely the Lord's work: there is a double reading of this clause; the marginal reading is,
and we are his; which is followed by the Targum and Aben Ezra: both are approved of by Kimchi, and the sense of both is included; for if the Lord has made us, and not we ourselves, then we are not our own, but his, and ought to serve and glorify him: we are his by creation; "we are also his offspring", as said AratusF4 του γαρ και γενους εσμεν. Arati Phaenomena, v. 5. , an Heathen poet, cited by the Apostle Paul, Acts 17:28,
we are his people; by choice and covenant; by his Father's gift, and his own purchase; and by the power of his grace, bringing to a voluntary surrender and subjection to him; even the Gentiles particularly, who were not his people, but now his people, 1 Peter 2:9,
and the sheep of his pasture; his sheep also by gift and purchase, called by him, made to know his voice, and follow him; for whom he provides pasture, leads to it, and feeds them with it himself; see Psalm 74:1.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,.... The same with the gates of Zion, loved by the Lord more than all the dwellings of Jacob; the gates of Jerusalem, within which the feet of the saints stand with pleasure; the gates of Wisdom, or Christ, where his followers watch and wait; the gates into his house, the church, and the public ordinances of it, to be entered into with thankfulness for all mercies, temporal and spiritual; for the Gospel, and Gospel opportunities and ordinances:
and into his courts with praise; with the sacrifice of praise, as in Psalm 96:8, of these courts, see Psalm 65:4,
be thankful unto him; for all blessings of grace in him and by him; for all things, and at all times:
and bless his name; by ascribing honour, blessing, and glory to him, saying, "blessed be his glorious name for ever", Psalm 72:19.
For the Lord is good,.... Both in a providential way, and in a way of grace, and does good; he is the good Shepherd, that has laid down his life for the sheep; and the good Samaritan, that pours in the wine and oil of his love and grace, and his precious blood, to the healing of the wounds made by sin: while he was on earth, he went about doing good to the bodies and souls of men; and he continues to do good unto them, and therefore should be praised, served, and worshipped:
his mercy is everlasting; or "his grace"F5חסדו "gratia ejus", Cocceius, Gejerus; "gratia et misericordia ejus", Michaelis. ; there is always a sufficiency of it for his people; and his lovingkindness, which may be also here meant, is always the same; having loved his own which were in the world, he loves them to the end, John 13:1.
and his truth endureth to all generations; or his faithfulness in fulfilling his promises, and performing his engagements; he was faithful to his Father that appointed him, and to the covenant he made with him; and he is faithful to his people, to keep what they commit to his care and charge now, and to give them the crown of righteousness at the last day, which is laid up for them; and upon all these considerations, and for these reasons, ought to be praised and adored.