Have you ever thought about what praise and worship will be like in heaven? An evangelist asked all who wanted to go to heaven to raise their hands. Everyone in the audience did so, except for one elderly man sitting near the front of the auditorium. The preacher pointed his finger at him and said, ‘Sir, do you mean to tell us that you don’t want to go to heaven?’ ‘Sure I want to go, but the way you put the question, I figured you were getting up a busload for tonight!’¹ Heaven is the most wonderful place ever and as a believer in Jesus it is your eternal destination. And trust me, you want to go there. The praise and worship there is out of this world.

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Worship In Heaven Is at The Throne, Praise Is at the Gates

Psalm 100 (ESV) — A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS. 1 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.

Praise and Worship: Who is Psalm 100 Directed To?

• Who is Psalm 100 referencing?
• The answer to this question is found in verse one: ‘make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.’
• So, the Psalm is not just to the nation of Israel but to all of the earth.
• Psalm 100 is a universal Psalm with a universal message, ‘All the earth should praise the Lord.’
• The inhabitants of mankind should enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

Praise and Worship: The Layout of the Tabernacle and Psalm 100

• With the universality of Psalm 100 in mind let’s switch gears and ask this question: have you ever thought of how heaven is laid out?
• It probably has a few things in common with the Tabernacle of the Old Testament.
• The Tabernacle had front gates through which one could enter.
• Those gates lead you into the outer courts.
• Behind the courts was the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.
• The innermost portion is, of course, the Holy of Holies where the Presence of God sits on the Mercy Seat.
• To get to the Presence, you have to first go through the gates and then through the courts.

Praise and Worship: The Throne of God

• The Throne of God located in the city of God may have a similar layout.
• We know that there is a city because Revelation tells us there’s one.

Revelation 21:10 (ESV) — 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,

• When you go through the gates of that city, you won’t be at the Throne.
• The Throne is probably at the center of the city.
• The Bible describes for us those twelve gates.

Praise and Worship: The Twelve Gates of God’s City

Revelation 21:10–16 (ESV) — 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal.

• I was going to just highlight the twelve gates and how they are made out of one pearl but this whole passage is so delightful to read, that I couldn’t just help myself so I included all of it.

Revelation 21:17–26 (ESV) 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

• My my is it not thrillingly fun to read?
• Think about the description and then gravitate to what the Psalmist said.
• You enter the gates with thanksgiving and when you get on the other side of the gates into the courts then praise comes out of your mouth.
• Why?
• Probably because of what you are seeing when getting inside the city.
• Worship doesn’t happen at the gates or the courts of God.
• It happens only at the Throne.

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