Psalms 100:4

Therefore shall the men of all nations enter with thanksgiving into the gates of His Temple and into the courts of His Temple with praise (Psa 96:8), in order to join themselves in worship to His church, which - a creation of Jahve for the good of the whole earth - is congregated about this Temple and has it as the place of its worship. The pilgrimage of all peoples to the holy mountain is an Old Testament dress of the hope for the conversion of all peoples to the God of revelation, and the close union of all with the people of this God. His Temple is open to them all. They may enter, and when they enter they have to look for great things. For the God of revelation (52:11; 54:8) is "good" (Psa 25:8; Psa 34:9), and His loving-kindness and faithfulness endure for ever - the thought that recurs frequently in the later Hallelujah and Hodu Psalms and is become a liturgical formula (Jer 33:11). The mercy of loving-kindness of God is the generosity, and His faithfulness the constancy, of His love.

It is with good reason that many sing this psalm very frequently in their religious assemblies, for it is very proper both to express and to excite pious and devout affections towards God in our approach to him in holy ordinances; and, if our hearts go along with the words, we shall make melody in it to the Lord. The Jews say it was penned to be sung with their thank-offerings; perhaps it was; but we say that as there is nothing in it peculiar to their economy so its beginning with a call to all lands to praise God plainly extends it to the gospel-church. Here, I. We are called upon to praise God and rejoice in him (Psa 100:1, Psa 100:2, Psa 100:4). II. We are furnished with matter for praise; we must praise him, considering his being and relation to us (Psa 100:3) and his mercy and truth (Psa 100:5). These are plain and common things, and therefore the more fit to be the matter of devotion. A psalm of praise.

100:4 Gates and courts were part of the Temple in Jerusalem.