(A Psalm of thanksgiving.) Shout aloud unto Jehovah, all the earth!
Psalm 100 closes a run of psalms that trace the Lord's coming to reign. Here the call to praise reaches past Israel to everyone — and commentators ask who shouts, how far the call reaches, and whether that moment has come.
Commentators read this psalm as the finish line of a sequence. One writer traces the steps:
In Psalm 95 comes the summons to Israel to return while it is still called "today." In Psalm 96 the nations are summoned. In Psalm 97 He is coming. In Psalm 98 He is come. He has shown His righteousness, He has remembered His mercy. In Psalm 99, having come and made known His salvation, He sits between the cherubim, taking His place in Jerusalem. Then Psalm 100 summons the nations to come up and worship in peace.
One writer contrasts two ways of treating God's name: the dread that will not speak it, and the shout that says it out loud:
The hundredth psalm closes this series with the full anthem of praise. Nothing else remains. Perfection is found, and rest; and both are in God. There is little need of interpretation. The Lord's name is now to be in every mouth. This is not the superstitious dread of men afraid to speak it. It is shouting it aloud for sheer gladness: joyous service, with a song.
Commentators differ over how wide the opening call reaches. One writer weighs the older wording and leaves the question open:
"All ye lands" is a free translation. It is better rendered "all the land" (of Israel) or "all the earth." Israel's claim to be His people and the sheep of His pasture seems to extend it to the earth. It is, however, very doubtful to me whether it is not simply "all the land of Israel."
The invitation comes from Israel, and it crosses an old boundary. One writer points to the psalm's title and to the change of heart behind the call:
Its title is "A psalm of thanksgiving," and how fitting! Here Israel calls for universal thanksgiving; no more grudging toward the nations. The Lord's mercy, once enjoyed, makes His people generous.
The call is not only to sing but to serve. The same people had served before, in very different conditions:
The Lord has taken His place in Zion, and sits between the cherubim (Ps. 99). All the earth is summoned to serve the Lord with joy, and to come before His presence with exultation. The godly remnant had indeed "served" in circumstances of sorrow; now all can serve with joy. When surrounded with enemies, the godly came into His presence with fear; now all can come with exultation.
Some sing this psalm today. One writer says its true moment has not yet come:
Sometimes people ask us to sing it, but I tell my friends we shall have to wait a little before we can sing it to its own tune. It is hardly the moment yet to sing it in the Spirit... It will be a wonderful moment for the earth one day, when the whole world sings that psalm rightly, in full chorus.
Another writer applies the psalm's call to serve with gladness to believers today. Sadness no longer fits people whose ruin is behind them:
Our thankful hearts gladly respond to the singer's stirring words — "Serve the Lord with gladness!" Our wretched lost condition is behind us for ever, and it is not fitting to serve with sadness! The apostle Paul had plenty of trials, weaknesses, persecutions and imprisonments to sadden him. But he had in Christ what nothing could take from him. So he wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice."
- Throne first. The shout follows the reign. The Lord already sits in Jerusalem before this call goes out.
- Shout, not murmur. People once feared to speak God's name; now they shout it aloud for sheer gladness. Nothing more remains.
- Reach disputed. The opening call may reach all the earth, or only the land of Israel. Commentators differ, though Israel's own words push it wider.
- Grudge gone. Mercy makes God's people generous. Those who once grudged the nations now call them in to give thanks.
- Service transformed. Servants who once came in fear now come with joy. Commentators differ on whether that gladness waits for the coming day or belongs to believers already.
Serve Jehovah with joy come before his presence with exultation.
Psalm 100 is the last of a run of psalms that trace the Lord taking His throne, and it opens with an invitation aimed at the whole earth. Who is speaking here? When will this song be sung in full? And what does glad service look like?
The joy here does not stand alone. One writer reads Psalms 95–100 as one sequence. The call to glad service comes only after the Lord has taken His seat.
In Psalm 95 we have the progress of the testimony — the Jews are called; in Psalm 96 the Gentiles. In Psalm 97 the Lord appears. In Psalm 98 God carries out judgment in favour of Zion. In Psalm 99 He is seated between the cherubim. In Psalm 100 all lands are called up with joy to worship before Him.
Serving God was nothing new for the godly remnant — the faithful few left in Israel. What changes here is the mood of the service and of the approach.
The call goes out to all the earth to serve Jehovah with joy, and to come before His presence with rejoicing. The godly remnant had indeed "served" in times of sorrow; now all can serve with joy. When enemies surrounded them, the godly came into His presence with fear; now all can come with rejoicing.
The word "gladness" carries real weight in the verse.
All lands are called to shout with joy to the Lord (v. 1), and to serve Him with gladness too (v. 2). How much higher this is than service that is all but forced out of a person, either by a command or by the pressure of conscience! And there is no longer the same uncertain fear in coming into the Lord's presence. Instead there is joyful singing.
Another writer traces that freedom back to the believer's place as a son:
The believer is a servant because he is a son. The Lord's service is perfect freedom — "His yoke is easy, and His burden is light." He serves God as a redeemed sinner and an adopted child, moved by the love of Christ. He works not for liberty, but as having liberty; not for life, but from life.
Verse 3 tells us who is speaking, and that shows how wide the invitation reaches.
"Serve Jehovah," will they say, "with gladness, come before His presence with singing" (100:1-2). Who is speaking? The third verse explains. God's earthly people, Israel, are the speakers... But when the Lord appears for them, will that call pass unheeded? Then all lands must come to His courts. Jerusalem will be recognised as the chief city of the whole earth, and the Temple will be rebuilt as the house of prayer for the whole world.
Because this is a real place and a real people, one writer cautions against turning the psalm's imagery into a picture of church buildings:
How often is this Psalm used in a spiritualized way, making the gates and the courts some church building. But we worship in spirit and in truth and not in an earthly house. The gates and courts have reference to that future temple, which will be a house of prayer for all nations.
Many sing Psalm 100 today. Yet some commentators hold that its full moment has not yet come.
People sometimes ask us to sing it, but I tell my friends we will have to wait a little before we can sing it to its own tune. This is hardly the moment yet to sing it in the Spirit... It will be a wonderful moment for the earth one day, when that psalm is sung as it should be, in full world-wide chorus.
Israel began serving God with a song. It did not last.
Then they began to serve by singing to Him who had saved them... But Jehovah soon had to say this about the nation He had set free from Egypt, His "son": "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things" (Deut. 28:47). Their singing gave way to grumbling and turning back.
The same writer brings the verse home to us today:
Our miserable lost condition is behind us for ever, and it is not fitting to serve with sadness! The apostle Paul had plenty of trials, weaknesses, persecutions and imprisonments to sadden him. But he had in Christ what nothing could take from him. So he wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice."
- Throne — the call to glad service comes after the Lord has taken His place. Psalm 99 seats Him; Psalm 100 calls all lands up with joy.
- Gladness — the change is in tone, not task. Service once carried on in sorrow becomes service in joy, and fearful approach becomes singing.
- Freedom — gladness rules out service forced by command or by the pressure of conscience. The servant works from liberty, not for it.
- Reach — Israel gives the call, but the invitation is to every land. All lands will come to His courts, and the Temple will be the house of prayer for the whole world.
- Warning — Israel once served without gladness, and their singing gave way to grumbling. Commentators differ on how far the psalm can be sung today, but none excuse sad service now.