KJV · Chapter 100/150
1Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
A brief and joyful psalm of gratitude, inviting all the earth to serve the Lord with gladness, acknowledging that he is the Creator and that his people are like sheep under his care, and that his mercy endures forever.
This psalm was traditionally sung by those entering the temple to offer thanksgiving sacrifices (as its Hebrew title suggests), becoming one of the best-known and most widely used hymns of praise in liturgies to this day, across many traditions. Its simple structure — an invitation to rejoice, the theological reason (God as Creator and Shepherd), and a reaffirmation of God's eternal goodness — makes it a compact summary of the entire theology of praise found in the Psalms. The application today is that simple, joyful gratitude is, in itself, a legitimate and powerful form of worship.