Five verses, no lament, no enemies, no hint of trouble anywhere in it — this may be the single most purely joyful psalm in the entire book, and its logic is almost embarrassingly simple: God made us, therefore be glad.
A study in Psalm 100 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 9 min read
Make A Joyful Noise Unto The LORD, All Ye Lands
“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.”
Psalm 100:1-2
“Serve the LORD with gladness” pairs two words not always found together — service can easily become mere duty, but this psalm insists gladness belongs inside it, not added on afterward as an optional extra.
It Is He That Hath Made Us, And Not We Ourselves
“Know 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.”
Psalm 100:3
“Not we ourselves” is a small phrase carrying real weight — a direct denial of any self-made origin, the entire basis for the joy commanded in verse 1 resting on this one settled fact about where existence actually came from.
“And through the psalmist the message was given to Israel, ‘Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know 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. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.’”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 288
White places this psalm inside her discussion of the Sabbath as a gift, not a burden — the commandment tied directly to the fact of creation, the same connection this psalm makes between being made by God and the gladness that naturally follows from it.
Enter Into His Gates With Thanksgiving
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
Psalm 100:4
Thanksgiving comes specifically at the gates, before the worshiper has even reached the inner courts — gratitude as the entry point into worship, not something saved for the deepest, most solemn part of the experience.
His Mercy Is Everlasting
“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
Psalm 100:5
The psalm’s final line supplies the actual reason behind everything commanded before it — not joy manufactured out of nothing, but joy responding to three specific, stated facts: God is good, His mercy does not run out, and His truth outlasts every single generation that has ever needed it.
