Catholic Commentary on Psalm 100

"Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." (Psalm 100:3)

The Jubilate

Psalm 100, the Jubilate Deo in the Latin tradition, is one of the most joyful psalms in the Psalter and one of the most universally beloved in Christian worship. In five short verses it calls all the earth to shout for joy, to worship with gladness, to come before him with joyful songs. It states the ground of all worship in a single verse that is perhaps the most important statement about human identity in the Old Testament: Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Three relationships are declared: he made us, we belong to him, and we are held by him as a shepherd holds his sheep. These three statements answer the three most fundamental human questions: where do I come from? To whom do I belong? Who is responsible for my safety? The Catechism grounds the human person's dignity in the first of these: created by God, in his image, the human person is of incomparable worth (CCC 356). The psalm ends with a triple declaration of who God is: good, faithful in love, and faithful through all generations. These are the reasons for joyful worship now and always.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, you belong to God. Not to your career, not to your anxieties, not to the culture's definition of you. He made you. You are his. You are the sheep of his pasture. Take five minutes today to sit with that truth before you do anything else. Let it settle. Then worship with gladness, because gladness is the appropriate response to belonging to the God who is good.

Prayer

Lord God, you made us and we are yours, the sheep of your pasture. We enter your gates with thanksgiving and your courts with praise. You are good and your love endures forever; your faithfulness continues through all generations. Receive our worship with joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.