1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness:
come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye 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.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.
Comments by Joan Boney
Joy, gladness, thanksgiving are so important in dealing with the Word of God and in coming to God.
If we are striving with man, it is impossible to be at peace at the same time.
Even when we strive "for a good thing", it is difficult to be at peace for it causes us to think on the evil doer with whom we strive and grief replaces the joy and gladness.
I do not like to continue in strife or grief for I think such is dangerous in reading the Bible and I want to read the Bible with a pure heart and hear what God would say to me.
If I am striving with a person, they are on my mind in the strife and I'm not sure I can read Bible with a pure heart.
Therefore when strife does surface (even when it is over God and God's way), I call out quickly to God asking HIM to restore me so I can live in joy, peace, gladness and read the Bible correctly. And I do everything I can do to resolve the situation with the other person, talking to the person immediately, trying to end the problem immediately if at all possible.
it is HE that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
If we belong to God, at some point God revealed HIMSELF to us and gave us HIS Spirit, recreating us from that which we once were and making us into the image of HIMSELF by HIS Spirit.
4 Enter into HIS gates with thanksgiving,
be thankful unto HIM
One day I felt myself being a little down over some minor thing that was wrong at the house. God had mercy on me and brought to my mind all the things that were right at my house and I began to thank HIM for all these right things. My grief turned into joy!
We must work at keeping ourselves in joy, peace, gladness in God.