A short psalm of thanksgiving - the old 100. The enthronement Psalms end with a short Psalm titled 'A Psalm of Thanksgiving' God's character is drawn from to base the thanks on and uses 6 imperatives in worship. Corporate worship is emphasized. Where the previous Psalm 99 may have emphasized God's holiness, Psalm 100 emphasizes God's goodness. The emphasis is on group worship. There are two rounds of emotional exaltation grounded in who God is. The praise here is public, expressed out loud and in a corporate setting rather than an individual experience. After this Psalm will be an application Psalm, in Psalm 101 and then a series of Psalms the book of Hebrews will use as argument that Jesus is better than the angels, starting with Psalm 102 which is a prayer of an afflicted one as he pours out his complaint to the Lord, perhaps a prayer that could be made to Jesus but not to any mere angel.

1. Discussion Guide
week 11 - Psalm 100
A psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100 and its worship imperatives

2. Psalm 100 English Standard Version (ESV)
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
A Psalm for giving thanks.
100 Make a joyful noise to the Lord,
all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100: A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100 and its Worship Imperatives

3. This psalm ends the enthronement Psalms
bookending them with shepherd and sheep
images with both Psalm 95 and 100.
35 other Psalms thank God but this is the only
one where the Biblical title is
“A Psalm for Giving Thanks”
Psalm 100: A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100

4. Psalm 100: A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100
Opening exaltation
includes:
making a joyful noise
singing
gladness

5. Psalm 100: A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100

6. Ponder
A Psalm for giving thanks.
100 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
.
In the account of Jericho there are 7 cases
of making loud noise!
In this case all the earth
(or at least all the land of Israel)

7. Think and discuss:
How important is worship as community
as far as ‘making a joyful noise’

8. Ponder
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!

9. Think and discuss:
How important are emotions in serving God
How should worship combine truth and
emotions?
Is being nonchalant appropriate in worship?

10. Ponder
Come into his presence with singing!

11. Think and discuss:
Why is singing important?
What does singing add to truth
that merely saying it might not have?

12. Psalm 100: A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100
Opening exaltation
includes:
making a joyful noise
singing
gladness
That expression was a result of
knowing God and aspects of God’s
authority. God as
maker
owner
shepherd/caregiver

13. Ponder
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

14. Think and discuss:
What difference does knowing God make in life?
What difference does it make in worship?
What difference does it make that
‘He is our Maker’
‘we are His”, said twice
and we was are his sheep?
What ongoing difference does it make that
we are in His ‘pasture’? as far as present
and future care?

15. Psalm 100: A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100
Continuing exaltation
includes:
thankfulness
praise
blessing His name

16. Ponder
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

17. Psalm 100: A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100
Continuing exaltation
includes:
thankfulness
praise
blessing His name
And this is grounding in who God is:
Good
loving
faithful

18. Ponder
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

19. Think and discuss:
What might it mean to bless God’s name
The Psalms say ‘The Lord loves the Gates of
Zion more than all the dwellings of Zion’
What might the gates represent?
Why is the entrance to worship so important
or the corporate worship aspect?
Which is it?

20. Psalm 100: A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100
And what comes after Psalm 100?

21. After Psalm 100?
After the enthronement Psalms
a way of further emphasizing application to life:
The application Psalm 101
and for those in distressed and perhaps feeling overwhelmed and
inadequate to the task of appropriately responding to the King,
Psalm 102 subtitled
‘a prayer of one who is afflicted when he pours out his complaint to
the Lord’ and used as an argument why Jesus is better than the
Angels in the book of Hebrews… after all…
this is a prayer you can make to Jesus but not to an angel
Likewise the book of Hebrews, which makes heavy use of Psalms
in making points will argue Jesus is better than the Angels in Psalm
103 and 104 as well
Psalm 105 will be a long remembrance of what God did for His
people and Psalm 106 a penitential Psalm of what God’s people
did in response and Book 4 closes.

22. fin’
discussion guide : A Psalm of Thanksgiving
The Old 100 and its Worship Imperatives