Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs.
Parallel translations
- WEB Serve Yahweh with gladness. Come before his presence with singing.
- KJV Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
- NKJV Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
- NASB Serve the Lord with jubilation; Come before Him with rejoicing.
- NLT Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Serve the LORD with gladness and come before Him singing. Worship is to be joyful, not grudging.
Overview
To 'serve' God here means to worship Him, and that worship is marked by gladness and song. Joy is not optional but the proper spirit of those who belong to God. Such glad service flows from grace, finding its deepest motive in the redemption accomplished by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Phil 4:4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
- Ps 95:2Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him in song.
- Ps 71:23When I sing praise to You my lips will shout for joy, along with my soul, which You have redeemed.
- Acts 2:46–47With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart,
- 2 Chr 20:27–28Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies.
- Deut 28:47Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- Ps 107:21–22Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.
- Ps 42:4These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.
- Deut 12:12And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
- Deut 16:11and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
- Deut 16:14And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
- 1 Kgs 8:66On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things that the LORD had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.
- Ps 63:4–5So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands.
- 2 Chr 31:2Hezekiah reestablished the divisions of the priests and Levites—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—for the burnt offerings and peace offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for singing praises at the gates of the LORD’s dwelling.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 100:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.