My Mother always encouraged everyone wherever she went to serve the Lord with gladness. I still hear her words ringing in my ears long after she has passed away. May this message stay with you as well!Serve the Lord with gladness!
Apostle Andre Pelser.
2003/02/19
We have learned that the servant of the Lord shall succeed in his task. Now let us find out how we are supposed to serve the Lord. We need to have the right attitude to serve Him. The Lord looks into our hearts and sees our real motives. So we might as well get it right the first time and stick to it!
David gives us three major reasons for praising and serving the Lord with gladness:
1. He is God
2. He made us
3. He is good and everlasting

Equipped with the knowledge of these reasons we can enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving and into the courts with praise.
Psalm 100:1-5 (this was my mother Kitty?s favourite psalm that she always quoted)
1 A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 35:27
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
?Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.?

SERVE. (Ps. 100:2) Philippians 2:17
17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

Make a joyful noise: 7321 ruwa`
1) to shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast
1a) (Hiphil)
1a1) to shout a war-cry or alarm of battle
1a2) to sound a signal for war or march
1a3) to shout in triumph (over enemies)
1a4) to shout in applause

Gladness: 8057 simchah (Simca)
1b) joy (of God)
1c) glad result, happy issue

100:4 praise, tehillah (te-hil-lah, or in the plural, te-hil-lim); Strong?s #8416: A celebration, a lauding of someone praiseworthy; the praise or exaltation of God; praises, songs of admiration. The noun tehillah comes from the verb halal, which means ?to praise, celebrate, and laud.? The Hebrew title of the Book of Psalms is Tehillim, literally the Book of Praises. The Book of Psalms was actually the Psalter or songbook for worship events in the temple in Jerusalem. Suitable for prayer or recitation, but especially designed for singing, the Psalms provide the means for eager hearts to express their praises to Israel?s Holy One.

The Message?s version of Psalm 100:
On your feet now?applaud GOD!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
Know this: GOD is God, and God, GOD.
He made us; we didn?t make him.
We?re his people, his well-tended sheep.

Enter with the password: ?Thank you!?
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.

For GOD is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.

Singing
7445 r^enanah { ren-aw-naw?}
1) ringing cry, shout (for joy)

Thanksgiving:
8426 towdah { to-daw?}
1b) thanksgiving in songs of liturgical worship, hymn of praise
Bless His Holy Name: 1288 barak { baw-rak?}
1) to bless, kneel, adore, salute.

Gates: 8179 sha`ar { shah?-ar}
1) gate
1a) gate (of entrance)
1b) gate (of space inside gate, ie marketplace, public meeting place)
1b1) city, town
1c) gate (of palace, royal castle, temple, court of tabernacle)
1d) Heaven, Sheol (fig)

8176 sha`ar { shaw-ar?}
1) to split open, reason out, calculate, reckon, estimate, root word is to think!

Courts
2691 chatser { khaw-tsare?} (masculine and feminine)
1) court, enclosure
2) settled abode, settlement, village, town