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[1]
Psalm 100 is the seventh and last of the “kingship Psalms.” Yahweh’s kingship is highlighted in this Psalm
with the mention of “shouting” (v.1; Ps 95:1; 98:4, 6); “serve” (v.2a) and Yahweh
shepherding His sheep (v.3). “Outstanding in the
entire range of the Psalms is the much-beloved and cherished “Old Hundredth.”
It is among the five psalms (Pss. 15, 43, 125, and 127, being the others)
that have but five verses; only five others (Pss. 117, 123, 131, 133, and
134) are shorter than it.” (Charles Lee Feinberg, “‘Old Hundredth’ – Psalm C”
Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 100:53). |
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[2] “Shout joyfully” occurs 5x in Book IV of the Psalter, all of which are in the kingship Psalms (95:1,2; 98:4,6; 100:1). To shout joyfully to Yahweh is to recognize His Kingship (cf. Joshua 6:5,10,16,20; 1 Samuel 10:24; Psalm 47:1-2; 60:8; 66:1; 108:9; Zeph.3:14-15; Zech.9:9). |
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[3] Yahweh occurs 4x in Psalm 100. Psalm 100 contains few repeating words but
is remarkable because almost every word in the Psalm occurs in at least one
of the other six Kingship Psalms (the only exceptions are: ourselves [v.3]; gates [v.4]; praise [v.4] and good
[v.5]): shout joyfully
(v.1; 95:1,2; 98:4; 98:6) all the earth (v.1;
96:1,9; 97:9; 98:4) serve (v.2; 97:7) gladness (v.2;
97:11) come (vv.2,4;
95:6,11; 96:8,13; 98:9) before (v.2; 95:2;
96:9,13; 97:3,5; 98:6,9) joyful singing
(verb: rânanah) (v.2) sing for joy (noun: ranan) (95:1; 96:12; 98:4,8) know (v.3; 94:11;
95:10; 98:2) made (v.3; 95:5,6;
96:5; 98:1; 99:4) people (v.3;
94:5,8,14; 95:7,10; 96:3,5,7,10,13; 97:6; 98:9; 99:1,2) sheep (v.3; 95:7) pasture (v.3; 95:7) thanksgiving (v.4;
95:2) courts (v.4; 96:8) give thanks (v.4;
97:12; 99:3) bless (v.4; 95:6;
96:2) name (v.4; 96:2,8;
99:3,6) lovingkindness
(v.5; 94:18; 98:3) everlasting (v.5;
93:2) faithfulness (v.5;
96:13; 98:3) generations
(v.5; 95:10) Psalm 100 is therefore a “summary Psalm” of God’s Kingship and the beauty of it is that all the ends of earth are called to worship Him and become His covenant people. Psalm 100 anticipates the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) |
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[4] In the Old Covenant all the earth/land of Israel gathered for worship anticipating the day when all the earth would assemble before Yahweh (cf. Psalm 96:2,3,7,10,13; 97:1,5,9; 98:2,3,4,9). “All the earth” is found 7x in Book IV (96:1,9; 97:9; 98:4; 100:1; 104:24; 105:7). |
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[5] The word “serve” has the sense of worship (Psalm 97:7; cf. Deut.6:13; 10:12; 11:13; Psalm 2:11; 102:22) and reminds us of God’s deliverance of His sheep from Egypt. This was the message that Moses preached to Pharaoh, “Let My son go that he may serve Me” (Exodus 4:23); “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness” (Exodus 7:16). The same word God used saying “Let My people go that they my serve me” is used of Israel’s service/slavery to the Egyptians (Exodus 1:13-14; 6:5; 14:5,12). When Moses went to Pharaoh and said, “Let My people go that they may serve Me” he was challenging Pharaoh’s authority and saying that there is One even greater than Pharaoh to whom the Israelites were accountable. Everyone serves one of two taskmasters. There are those who are slaves and servants to sin. And there are those who are slaves and servants to Jesus Christ. John 8:34-36 If you don’t serve Jesus Christ, then Psalm 100 contains an invitation to do so, as the service of Jesus Christ is a joyous and liberating experience. |
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[6] “Know that Yahweh Himself is God” is the fourth of seven imperatives and the weight of the imperatives fall on this one: shout, serve, come know enter, give thanks, bless (Schaefer , 245f.). To “know” God is
covenant language. Yahweh said of
Abraham, “I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of
Yahweh by doing righteousness and justice…” (Gen.18:19). It was the hope of Israel that all the
earth would one day “know” God by blessing the seed of Abraham (see Exodus 5:2; 7:5; 14:4,18; Josh.4:24; 1
Sam.17:46-47; 1 Kings 8:43,60//2 Chron.6:33; 18:36; 2 Kings 19:19//Isa.37:20;
Psalm 46:10; 83:18; Isaiah 45:6; Ezek.25:3-5; cf. Job 37:7; Isaiah 11:6-9;
Habakkuk 2:14). |
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[7] Verse 3 is remarkably similar to the language of Psalm
95, “For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of
His hand.” |
