God’s Word for You
Psalm 100:1-2 C major 9
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Sunday, March 29, 2026
Psalm 100
A Psalm of thanksgiving.
1 Shout to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
The heading of this Psalm is unique in the Bible. Many Psalms begin or end with “Give thanks to the Lord” or something similar, but here the heading sets this song apart. It is not necessarily meant only for the thank offering (Leviticus 22:29) but there is no reason to rule out its use with such a sacrifice. “Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of the Lord’s works with songs of joy” (Psalm 107:22).
Verse 1 calls for a “shout” to the Lord. The whole earth is called on to make this joyful noise. While some would claim that this cannot be “the special contribution of the tone-deaf,” they do not offer any passage from Scripture to support their claim. Perhaps such commentators have not really ministered to God’s people, or have not done so with very much compassion. Notice that the one called upon to make this joyful and praise-filled shout is not the trained choir of the church, but “the earth,” and in point of fact, “all the earth” (כָּל־הָאָרֶץ). Who or what should we presume to omit from this all-encompassing noun and its even more all-encompassing adjective? Should the heavens not proclaim God’s righteousness? Psalm 97:6 commands it. Should the earth not be glad, nor the distant shores rejoice? Psalm 97:1 commands that. Shall the great sea creatures and all the ocean depths not praise the Lord? Psalm 148:7 commands it. And the same Psalm commands praise from lightning and hail, snow and clouds, storms winds that do his bidding, mountains and hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, and a whole list of human beings from kings to children (Psalm 148:7-12. It seems that here, we could substitute “all creation” for “all the earth” and not be ashamed, but be confident that we have done full justice to the text. Or didn’t Jesus mean what he said when the Pharisees rebuked his disciples for what the crowds were shouting on Palm Sunday, and he replied: “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:39).
In verse 2, the shout is turned to a call for service. But then the service turns out to be more praise: “Come into his presence with singing.” What a joyful Psalm this is! There is not a hint of dread or fear in it. The words throw our thoughts forward to that glorious day when Paul’s prophetic insights will be fulfilled. Remember that he said, “The creation was subjected to humiliation, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). Now, although this passage is understood by many to apply only to man, so that fallen and sinful man will be released from his bondage to sin, it can also rightly be taken to refer to the rest of creation, which was surely also “subjected to humiliation” when the curse of sin struck everything. For then the good earth began to produce thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:18). And Isaiah proclaims that when the Lord “binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted,” that “the moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days” (Isaiah 30:28). So it is not outrageous in the least to say that all of creation serves God and will continue to serve him after Judgment Day, remade and renewed as “a new heaven and a new earth” (Isaiah 66:22; Revelation 21:1).
Redeemed mankind will especially praise God then, along with the holy angels, and sing his praises with joy and vigor, and chase one another’s voices up and down and all around every chord and harmony, now rising in a hearty solo, now joining in the everlasting chorus and refrain. And surely we will sing the “heavenly chord,” C major 9, often called the most beautiful chord in music. But we’ll sing other things, too.
Today we do this with our groans and our grunts, our sighs as we serve him by the sweat of our faces. But we serve, and we love him, and we stop to breathe in the good spring air he sends us once again, year upon year, to remind us of his promise of renewal and the resurrection. For in our risen Savior Jesus we have freedom from all guilt and shame, and full forgiveness of our sins. We cannot help but shout for joy. And if one or two of us cannot today do much more than shout or make some inarticulate grunt, our Savior loves this sound along with every C major 9 chord we play or sing.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.