LIVE IN LIGHT OF WHO GOD IS!
Psalm 100:1-2
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Three straightforward commands: Praise! Serve! Worship!
The first one implies a godly attitude toward Jehovah. It
might be helpful to think about what will therefore not be present in our lives, when they are filled with joyful
praise: Ingratitude, bitterness, anger, unhappiness, strife, complaining, and quarreling
cannot coexist with praise.
‘Serve’ is an action!
Faithful serving is the result of careful planning; it requires being attentive
to needs and it implies sacrifice. Our service will always be weak if we do not
keep in mind that we are serving our Lord, and not people. The needs of people
will be met, but our focus point needs to be Christ! When people are our focus
point, we will soon be disappointed by their lack of reciprocation and
gratitude.
‘Worship’ is a way of
life, not an event. We too often tend to look at worship as a church event,
in which we can participate or be spectators. The music and/or the environment
become our focal point. Reality is that we continually live in the presence of
God, and we should continually have an attitude of praise toward the Lord
because of who He is and what He does in our lives. Corporate worship with our
brothers and sisters in Christ ought to simply be a public expression of our daily
devotion to the Lord!
As we rehearse these commands, we realize that all too often
we fail to obey them from day to day. And that is the reason the psalmist
invites us to focus on our relationship with God.
Psalm 100:3
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
These are things we must know: The Jehovah is God! God made
us! We are His people! We are His sheep!
Jehovah is the creator, the One who controls and sustains
the world. He is perfectly aware of all, completely wise in His assessments, totally
in control of all, and lovingly providential towards His creation.
God has created each person; He is intimately aware of all
needs, He knows exactly what each person can bear, and what everyone is going
through. He does not need to study us to find out: He made us!
We are His, not someone else’s! We are His property; our
wise God will always deal with much care for His own.
We are His people; we are part of a community. We represent
Him because we are part of His own. Scriptures remind us so often of our
privileged position, to have become children of God.
God saw us when we were sheep without a shepherd and had
compassion on us. He is committed as the Good Shepherd to care for us, to
protect us, and to lead us.
Careful reflection on
these truths cannot leave us indifferent! We must show a visible response
to His kindness!
Psalm 100:4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
Gratefulness and
praise are the only acceptable responses to God. Thankfulness and praise
should be springing from our lips continually. People around us should be very
aware of our dependence on, and satisfaction with, what the Lord is doing in
our lives.
Yet there are times when we are going through trials and difficulties,
that we may be tempted to question the character of God and the motives that
drive His dealings with us.
Psalm 100:5
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
The psalmist reminds us that God is good – perfectly loving
– faithful forever.
God is holy; there is no hint of evil in His motives or
actions. All that happens to us is funneled through His perfect and loving
plans for our lives. Bad things can happen to us, but God intends them to
produce that which is good in our lives.
God’s perfect love
will endure forever. God does not love us in exchange for our behavior or
ability to love Him back. He set His love upon us in eternity past, when we could
not offer anything to Him. In fact, He loved us in spite of the fact that He
knew we would rebel and offend Him with everything in our lives. His perfect
love cannot be deterred by our actions!
God will not change.
He will be faithful to His character and to every promise He has made. Our
faithfulness does not drive God, for He is faithful to Himself.
Our service, praise and worship are dependent upon knowing
our God, remembering what He has done, and resting in His unchanging character.
So, now, go out and live in light of these truths!
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