Be Joyful In The Lord: A Response To Psalm 100

We come now to psalm 100, a real milestone in our journey through the psalter and one of the great psalms, cherished by generations of hymn singers as ‘Old Hundredth’, the name of the tune to which it has been traditionally sung, though there are many beautiful versions of this psalm titled Jubilate Deo in the prayer book.

In my response to the psalm I have reflected on that great hymn singing tradition and the sense of connection and kinship it gives us with our forbears and the long tradition of our faith, something celebrated in the psalm itself in its final line:

For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth from generation to generation.

But I also reflect on the essential and timeless truths, truths which our age has mostly forgotten, which are embedded in this psalm:

Be ye sure that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

As always you can hear me read the poems by clicking on the play button or the title and you can find the other poems in this evolving series by putting the word ‘psalm’ into the search box on the right.

The full set of these poems has now been published as a book David’s Crown which you can buy from UK Amazon Here, or, in North America, it is available from Amazon Here.

C  Jubilate Deo

Love bids us welcome with them to the feast

Let us be joyful therefore, let us sing

Old Hundredth with our forbears. One high priest

 

Calls us together in a great thanksgiving

To come before his presence with a song,

Enter his courts with praise, be glad and bring

 

Our very best to him. For we belong

To him since he has made us, and our hearts

Will find their peace in him alone. We long

 

Therefore to come at last beyond the gates

Of time and space, and with the saints to taste 

That joy for which the whole creation waits.

 

But whilst we wait there is no time to waste

In keeping faith with each new generation,

And showing them his mercy and his grace.

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