Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.  This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.

Psalm 118:19 – 21

“The gate of the Lord.”  I grew up with a gate at end of our walkway at home, many, many years ago.   When I came home and walked through that gate a special feeling came upon me.  There was a world outside, in which I just inhabited, and a more blessed world inside, home!  I can still feel the delight of opening that iron gate and rushing into the house.  Nothing else felt quite like that.

This experience helps me to understand God’s gracious gift, a gate that opens the way to fellowship with the Lord.  It is like passing from one world into another, from the huge world where I feel that I am a stranger to the more meaningful world by far, the world of walking with God, the world that opens to me when I open that gate!

I like the readiness of the psalmist – open for me the gates of the righteous.  I am comforted by knowing that any righteousness I may have is a gift of God, not my own doing.

I remember the click of the gate closing behind me as I ran into the embrace of our home.  That reminds me of a greater joy, the exhilaration of knowing I am saved by the sacrificial work of Jesus, not my own righteousness!