Make a Joyful Noise to the LORD
Month 8: Talking with God — The Praying Family · Family Worship
Today's Scripture
Read together: Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name. 5 For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.
Memory Verse
“O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”— Psalm 95:6 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Jeremiah 41–45
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time.The Heart of It
is short enough to read in a single breath. Yet it's one of the great worship songs of the whole Bible. It opens with a shout: "Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!" Then it tells us how to come to God. "Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing… Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise" (). This is a perfect picture of family worship. We don't drag ourselves before God like a chore. We come through the "gates" of thanksgiving, glad to be His. Worship is meant to be joyful, because the One we're coming to is so good.
But the middle of the psalm is the engine that drives all the joy. "Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture" (v. 3). Did you catch the echo of our memory verse? "He is our God, and we are… the sheep of His hand" (). Worship always flows from knowing who God is and who we are. He is the Maker, and we are the made. He is the Shepherd, and we are His sheep. And the psalm ends with the rock under it all. "For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations" (v. 5). Good. Merciful forever. Faithful to your kids' kids' kids. That's the God your family gets to shout to with joy tonight.
Around the Table
says to make a "joyful noise" to God! He made us, and He loves us like a shepherd loves his sheep.
Let's do it: On the count of three, everyone give a happy shout: "Thank You, God!" Then say it again even louder.
We come to God through "thanksgiving." Being thankful is like the gate we walk through to worship.
Let's talk: What are three things we can thank God for right now, out loud, as a family?
Verse 3 says, "It is He who made us, and we are His." Worship flows from knowing God is the Maker. We are the ones He made.
Let's go deeper: How does remembering "I didn't make myself; God did" change the way you'd worship Him?
💬 Conversation Starter
Tonight let's actually do Psalm 100: who can give the most joyful "shout to the Lord," and what are you most thankful to Him for this week?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
says, "It is He who made us, and we are His." We didn't create ourselves. And the universe couldn't make itself out of nothing. That takes a Maker. We can say it gently and confidently (). The joyful, designed world around us points to the good God who made it on purpose.
For Dad · Go Deeper
This is a Family Worship day, so make it a doing day, not just a reading day. practically scripts a worship time for you. Come with gladness, sing, give thanks, and rehearse the truth that God is your good Maker and Shepherd. Try walking your family through the psalm phrase by phrase tonight. Make a joyful noise. Sing a song you all know. Take a round of thanksgiving. Then read verse 5 slowly as the foundation. Dad, the most lasting gift here isn't a polished service. It's that your children grow up expecting worship to be glad. Many adults carry a grim, duty-bound picture of God, because no one ever showed them joy at His feet. End this week as you began it, bowing before your Maker (). But bow with a smile, leading your house to know that the Lord is good and His mercy lasts forever.
Draws on: Tony Evans, Raising Kingdom Kids.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, we make a joyful noise to You tonight! You made us. You shepherd us. And You are so good. Thank You for Your everlasting mercy. Help our whole family serve You with gladness, this week and always. In Jesus' name, amen."
God is good, and His mercy is everlasting. So I can come to Him with a joyful, thankful shout.