Psalm 100 · Make a Joyful Noise

KJV scripture foundation

Psalm 100 (KJV):

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

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: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Context

Psalm 100 is titled in the KJV A Psalm of praise. It stands at the crown of a small group of Psalms (95-100) that call the whole earth to worship the LORD as King.

It is only five verses. The Christian household can memorize the whole Psalm and use it as its opening prayer of the day.

Reflection

Verse 3 anchors the Psalm: Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. Every joyful noise the Christian makes rests here — we did not make ourselves.

Verse 4 gives the household its posture: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Thanksgiving is how the Christian arrives before God.

Verse 5 gives the household its confidence: the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Three attributes: good, merciful, true. Three times: goodness now, mercy always, truth for the generations.

Family application

Psalm 100 is a great household Psalm because it commands joyful noise. Even a very small child can make a joyful noise. God receives noise from the youngest voice as gladly as song from the trained.

Pray it aloud in the morning. Sing it as a hymn (Isaac Watts’s Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne is a paraphrase). Use it to open Sunday household devotions.

Prayer

LORD our God, thou hast made us, and not we ourselves. We are thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture. Receive our joyful noise this morning. Enter our house with thy goodness, thy everlasting mercy, and thy truth. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Christian tradition

• Chanted at Sunday morning worship in most Christian traditions.
• Paraphrased by William Kethe (1561) as “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” (the Old Hundredth) — sung in every corner of the Christian world.
• Isaac Watts, Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne (1719) — another beloved paraphrase.

Related Atlas pages

• Psalm 1 — the gateway
• Psalm 23
• Psalm 121
• Psalm 139 (if built)

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Pray (Chapel) — the household’s opening prayer of the day.
• Sing (Choir Room) — the Old Hundredth is the household’s Psalm 100 hymn.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — five verses to memorize together.
• Kids (Kids Kingdom) — a joyful noise is welcome from every child.
• Read — Psalms — read Psalms 95-100 as the Psalms of the King.

Further reading

Psalm 100 (KJV) — the whole Psalm.

Psalms 95-100 (KJV) — the LORD is King group.

William Kethe, “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” (1561).

Isaac Watts, “Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne” (1719).

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Psalm 1
• Psalm 23
• Psalm 121
• Psalm 46
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas’s main room.