Psalm 100:1

This brief verse opens one of the best-loved psalms of praise with a burst of joy. "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD" is a call to glad, exuberant worship -- the joyful noise is a shout of celebration, the spontaneous sound of people overflowing with gladness in God. There is nothing reserved or hesitant about it. This is worship that cannot stay quiet.

And the call goes out to "all ye lands." Like other psalms of its kind, Psalm 100 refuses to keep praise small. It summons not just one nation but every land, every people, to join the celebration. The LORD is presented as worthy of worldwide praise, and the whole earth is invited into the joy. The very next verses will explain why -- that the LORD is God, that He made us, that He is good and His mercy endures forever. But the psalm begins with the response before the reasons, as if the joy is so natural it bursts out first. The verse invites every reader, from every place, to add a glad voice to that universal chorus. Worship, it suggests, is not a duty grudgingly performed but a joy gladly shared across all the earth.