Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.
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.
- BSB Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs.
- NKJV Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
- NASB Serve the Lord with jubilation; Come before Him with rejoicing.
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! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”
- Ps 95:2Let’s come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let’s extol him with songs!
- Ps 71:23My lips shall shout for joy! My soul, which you have redeemed, sings praises to you!
- Acts 2:46–47Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
- 2 Chr 20:27–28Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Yahweh had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
- Deut 28:47Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;
- Ps 107:21–22Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
- Ps 42:4These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
- Deut 12:12You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
- Deut 16:11You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are among you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
- Deut 16:14You shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates.
- 1 Kgs 8:66On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
- Ps 63:4–5So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.
- 2 Chr 31:2Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites after their divisions, every man according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of Yahweh’s camp.
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.