Psalm 100:3 His Sheep

Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 100 is headed (like 58 other psalms) A psalm. It is specifically For giving thanks - something we are often slow to give. It is the basis for the famous hymn All people that on earth do dwell so often used to begin a worship service and is ideal for that very thing. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth he urges at the beginning. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. My home church has part of verse 4 as the text over the pulpit. They abbreviate to Enter his courts with praise though the entire verse says Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. That is how to come to God. The Psalm ends by reminding us that the LORD is good and his love endures for ever; his faithfulness continues through all generations but to come back just to verse 3, however, we can say that we here have a command and an observation. The command is to Know that the LORD is God. If we know that then we will be prompt to shout for joy to the LORD and worship him with gladness and with joyful songs. Sadly, there are many who do not know him and so they do not give him praise. Yet the psalmist reminds us that It is he who made us, and we are his. He created us and we belong to him. He uses a picture we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. He is the Great and Good Shepherd and we are his sheep. We often stray but he watches over us and he keeps us and this is one reason why he is so worthy all our praise and all our thanksgiving.