The Gate to God's Heart

I will enter His Gates with thanksgiving in my heart. 

I will enter his courts with praise.

David was a kid who knew the “courts” of the Lord. God called him “a man after my own heart.” That could mean, “a man who fits my purposes,” and it probably does. It could also mean, “a man who pursues my heart; a man who woos his God: a man chasing after Me,” and it probably does. I fancy that as a boy out in the fields overseeing his father’s flocks, he spent many an hour practicing with his sling shot, (much to the dismay of Goliath), meditating on God’s word and singing songs to his Lord. His legendary sensitivity to the voice of God was due in large part to his familiarity with the gate to His house. Here in this psalm he shows us his normal approach to Yahweh: thanksgiving.

When we leave our communion with our Father to those times of crises and critical need, our confidence in the contact is feeble. All the more reason for thanksgiving. When we begin our supplications with a list of things we are thankful for, we perk up our faith. We think, ”God has helped me before, He will do it again.” When we begin by naming His attributes, we become confident that He is able. When we begin as Christ recommends, by hallowing is name, our love for Him is activated, and as we know: our faith works through love. And the Love we share with Him is the core of our happiness.