עבדו את ה׳ בשמחה

Rabbi S.R. Hirsch on Tehillim

Perek 100: 2

"It is regrettable that the concept of "Divine service" is understood to consist primarily of the ritual of prayer and sacrifice in the Temple and Synagogues. This is not in accordance with the Jewish idea of Avodoat Hashem. The true "service of G-d," is primarily and most truly performed in the process of day- to- day living. "To serve God" means to devote all one's energy, all the means and talents at one's disposal and every moment of one's life to the execution of God's will, and he whose entire life is devoted to the service of God in this spirit is called- Eved Hashem. Prayer and the offering of sacrifices are called "Divine service" only because through them we prepare and consecrate ourselves anew each time for that which is the actual service of God. They are symbolic acts, as stated in Psalm 50:5 "Karati Briti ali zevach". (cf. Commentary to Shemos 12:25)

In Psalm 99 we read of the earnestness of attitude and resolve with which the nations shall one day enter into the covenant of God and thus come into His presence. Here, in the first verse of Psalm 100, this solemnity is recapitulated in the call to the world to render homage to God with Treuah. At the same time, however mankind is called upon to dedicate itself to this life of solemn Divine service with rejoicing, and to complete it with joy. For it is such life, ash such a life on, that can give us true simcha- the feeling of study and sonctatn spiritual and moral "growth," the continuous growth of all that is truly human in us, a blissful joy of life that is not subject to change n any manner by then outward circumstances which life may bring. Thus, serving God with all our lives should not be to us a burden to be borne because of fear. We are summoned to serve God with gladness, and to serve Him outside the confines of the Temple. For it is only if we thus serve Him in our everyday lives that "Bao Lefanav Brnana," the mood of joy which will remain in our hearts as a result , will accompany us into the House of God."