Psalms 100:1

Introduction

All nations are exhorted to praise the Lord, Psa 100:1, Psa 100:2; to acknowledge him to be the Sovereign God and their Creator and that they are his people and the flock of his pasture, Psa 100:3; to worship him publicly, and be grateful for his mercies, Psa 100:4. The reasons on which this is founded; his own goodness, his everlasting mercy, and his ever-during truth, Psa 100:5.

This Psalm is entitled in the Hebrew מזמור לתודה mizmor lethodah, not "A Psalm of Praise," as we have it, but "A Psalm for the confession, or for the confession-offering," very properly translated by the Chaldee: שבחא על קורבן תודתא shibcha al kurban todetha, "Praise for the sacrifice (or offering) of confession." The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Ethiopic have followed this sense. The Arabic attributes it to David. The Syriac has the following prefixed: "Without a name. Concerning Joshua the son of Nun, when he had ended the war with the Ammonites: but in the new covenant it relates to the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith." It is likely that it was composed after the captivity, as a form of thanksgiving to God for that great deliverance, as well as an inducement to the people to consecrate themselves to him, and to be exact in the performance of the acts of public worship.

Verse 1

Make a joyful noise - הריעו hariu, exult, triumph, leap for joy.

All ye lands - Not only Jews, but Gentiles, for the Lord bestows his benefits on all with a liberal hand.
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