Joy Unleashed

Published June 19, 2026

Friday, June 19, 2026 | Brandon Bachtel

Psalm 100

It was late Wednesday evening, January 4, 2006, and I was sitting in my living room with some friends watching the Texas Longhorns take on Reggie Bush and the USC Trojans for the National Championship. Facing 4th-and-5, Vince Young ran into the end zone to give Texas a 41–38 lead with just 26 seconds remaining.

We lost our minds. We were jumping, yelling, screaming, and high-fiving. The Texas Longhorns had likely just won one of the greatest games in modern college football history.

Acting like fools, we were exuberant over our team and the National Championship victory.

I'd imagine there is a moment in your life that you can relate to. Maybe it was your child scoring the game-winning goal in a soccer match. Perhaps it was the walk-off home run you hit in high school or the last-second score during a playoff game for one of your teams.

It's interesting that the moment that likely comes to mind is not centered on worshiping and singing to God.

Yes, I said it. We often get more excited about our sports teams than we do about extolling praise to our Savior!

In Psalm 100, we are encouraged to come into the presence of God with shouts of gladness, joyful noise, and celebratory singing that reveals hearts overflowing with thanksgiving and praise because of God's faithfulness and steadfast love toward His people.

It may seem strange, but we could likely increase our fervor in worship. Our zeal for God should be more evident than our zeal for our favorite player or team.

After all, the psalmist encourages us to enter God's courts with praise!

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