Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Serve the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with singing, for serving Him and entering His presence are acts of worship to be done in joy expressed in song. This gladness rests on knowing the Lord as God and Creator, who made His people and cares for them as the sheep of His pasture. It rests further on who He is and how He acts, for He is good, His mercy lasts forever, and His truth and faithfulness endure through every generation.
In this setting His people are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Families are to seek the Lord and approach Him with joyful thanksgiving and praise for that same goodness, everlasting mercy, and enduring truth. That joyful and thankful service and worship belong with the Sabbath as part of God's law, which was given for humanity's good and is to be received as a blessing and not as a burden.
Serve the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with singing, for serving Him and entering His presence are acts of worship to be done in joy expressed in song. This gladness rests on knowing the Lord as God and Creator, who made His people and cares for them as the sheep of His pasture. It rests further on who He is and how He acts, for He is good, His mercy lasts forever, and His truth and faithfulness endure through every generation.
In this setting His people are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Families are to seek the Lord and approach Him with joyful thanksgiving and praise for that same goodness, everlasting mercy, and enduring truth. That joyful and thankful service and worship belong with the Sabbath as part of God's law, which was given for humanity's good and is to be received as a blessing and not as a burden.