A TOUGH few weeks, days and nights with chronic debilitating pain, pain, pain from my muscle disease, and with it the attack on my mind. The fight to get my mind on truth and to stay there has been a battle, but when I can get my mind on Him, there is a calming of my soul, it does not take the pain away but it gives me hope in the pain. I see Dr on Friday… I am so so worn down through pain. Walking a few steps increases pain. This muscle disease has been so painful, debilitating these past months….
I Hope these thoughts from Psalm 100:2-3 will encourage you…and give comfort to your own soul
“Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” – Psalm 100:2-3
HOW TO SERVE THE LORD- WHERE YOU ARE?
1. SERVE -THROUGH SUBMISSION…Because He is LORD. We are called to “serve,” which implies submission. The basic meaning of the word “serve” is “to till the ground.” Note, our call to service is not part time but full time and the command is to “serve” a Person- “The LORD!” Here is each of our clearly defined objective for our lives, be they young or old. Whatever the circumstance or stage of our lives, we are to about His business, doing our work heartily as unto Him, not for acceptance, but because we are accepted and are His through Creation and His through the Love of powerful and tender Shepherd. He who is God in need of nothing or no one outside of Himself to sustain, who has Created all things by the power of His Word, Who is eternal, Sovereign King! He has created us, not us Him and the proper response is to Submit to Him. We are to serve Him. But how?…
2. SERVE -“WITH GLADNESS.” Our service to the LORD is not one of drudgery, dread, but one of “GLADNESS,”- The word “gladness” literally means “mirth or joy.” The word “gladness” here is a Hebrew word that means “gladness and rejoicing,” it comes from a verb that means “to be glad, or cheerful, or merry.” The basic idea of this root verb means “to brighten up” – like when something good happens and your face lights up, with joy, gladness as a result!
This is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. The Psalmist is saying that a truly Thankful person will have a desire an eagerness to serve the Lord and that service with gladness, excitement for the privilege! Our service to Him is a privilege afforded us by Him and out of a heart of thankfulness our service for Him we can choose to be glad and delight in Him and because of Him! With each new truth we learn about the LORD or reminded of, it should cause our hearts to rejoice in Him and fuel for our hearts to Sing to Him! He gladdens our heart! In The New Testament, we see singing arises from the heart of two of the LORD’S prisoners. “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).
A heart of gratitude is manifested in a willingness and a delight to serve the LORD and with a desire which “brightens up,” gladdens our heart! A truly thankful person serves Him with gladness!
Be glad He has revealed Himself to you. Be glad He has placed you in His service. Be glad you can be glad because of Him! Delight in Who He is. Delight in What He has done. Delight in His Being! Serve Him! But do so with gladness. Come before Him with JOYFUL singing! He is the source of our delight. He is the reason for Song! This is a command– two parts to it,”serve the LORD…” How?”… with gladness!”
With each thought and act Choose Him as the focus of your Service and Song!
3. SERVE – WITH SONG – “Come before HIM with SONG.” How wonderful it is that you have access that is permanent because of Him. You are no longer an enemy but His and so you can come before Him, Jesus who laid His life down for you and was raised as the Great Shepherd of the Sheep. He is the “Good” shepherd who laid His life down for us. He is the “Great Shepherd” of the sheep who was raised again. He is the “Chief Shepherd” who is coming again and to take us to be with Him forever and ever. In Light of who He is, what HE has done, will do, we can come with Song before Him. How wonderful, you can sing to Him, irrespective of where you are, He is the object of our song. Sing His Praises! Sing His Attributes. David in a difficult place remembered how good God had been to him and he chose to sing as a result. Sing of His Goodness -{Psalm 13:6}. Sing with Thanksgiving {Col 3:16}. The First Song in Scripture is the Song of His Deliverance after they had been delivered from Pharaoh’s army through the Red Sea. Sing of His Deliverance. {Exodus 15 }. Mary sang of the SAVIOR– {Luke 1:46-55}. Sing of the Savior. In HEAVEN they sing “A New Song” to the LORD Jesus for Redemption. Sing to Him your Redeemer!
4. SERVE – KNOWINGLY – “KNOW…The LORD IS GOD…” “Know” is a command! The word means “to make distinction.” Be discerning. Understand. Serve Him with Understanding. Know with certainty- make the distinction that “The LORD is God.” Neither any person, be that me, you, nor kings, nor governments are “God.” The LORD is. This is meant to be a comfort for us even in times of difficulties to bow our own hearts before Him and proclaim,”I am not God You are, LORD, GOD. I look to You during this time of great trial.” The word “LORD” speaks of Him as The Self Existent, Unchanging, Sovereign One. The word “GOD” is “Elohim.” which speaks of Him as Creator, Powerful One, Almighty! Know the LORD is GOD!
In Your Circumstances, “THINK” right about God and His relationship to you.
* Make the distinction who is LORD.
* Make the distinction who is God.
This is a call from the psalmist for people to “make the distinction” between the One True God from all others.This is a grand pursuit. A Lofty pursuit. A Transforming pursuit. The proper response is to submit to Him and serve Him with gladness because He is {eternally the same} – “LORD…GOD!” To THINK clearly and know who is the LORD God. To grow in this knowledge of Him should give us courage to trust, “food” for our mind and soul to chew on that results in worship of Him. “Know” intellectually, experimentally, reverentially, trustingly and obediently that the LORD is GOD! The Great Pursuit is to Know HIM.
5. SERVE – THE LORD WHO IS CREATOR. “It is He who has made us and not we ourselves.”
He made us. He is Creator. Speaking the worlds into existence. He made us, we did not make Him, nor did we make ourselves. Here the psalmist makes the declaration where we came from! We did not create our bodies nor our soul. We had no dealings in or being brought into this world. This was His doing. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. He knew us before we were formed and when we were knit in our mothers womb. He chose our gender, the color of our eyes, the freckles, color of skin. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are not an accident but a masterpiece created by God and He chose the generation, time and place you would be born! He is Creator. All things made by Him and for Him! Serve your Creator! In Him we live and move and have our being. He has numbered or days. Our life is but a vapor. He has made us for His own pleasure and we are to Know be sure of, be certain, acknowledge who has made us. He has made us for Himself and indeed created us for fellowship with His Son, and for good works. Your life has purpose. This is Who gives each person dignity. We have all been created by God. And when we come to this realization of Him as our Creator, and submit to Him as our MAKER and SHEPHERD, we are free to respond lovingly in serving Him with the knowledge He is God. Serve the LORD your Creator!
6. SERVE – THE SHEPHERD
Serve the Shepherd! Submit to His Authority, Follow Him. Only “sheep” need a Shepherd. And the LORD God is your Shepherd,to lead, guide, provide and protect.
7. SERVE – THE LORD WITH ASSURANCE – “WE ARE THE SHEEP OF HIS PASTURE.”
Look also at the SECURITY in this verse! “We are…” This is a settled issue from God’s perspective and He desires for us to “KNOW” He is our Shepherd and He is responsible for us. He has marked us out for Himself. We are compared to “sheep” which are helpless and easily scared and in need of a Shepherd, and there is none as “good’ as “THE LORD…GOD.” V 5 tells us “… the LORD IS GOOD and His love endures forever!” The Psalmist gives us the assurance “we are…His sheep.” We belong to Him who is good and loving, His love is everlasting! {Jer 31:3}. This is further reason to serve Him with gladness and sing His praises, that He has redeemed us for Himself and made us His forever, and loves us! He has taken personal, intimate responsibility for us as our Shepherd, and in Him we can rest in the security, “The LORD is my Shepherd I shall not want.” {Ps 23:1}
“THE SHEEP OF HIS PASTURE” — Or, as the Hebrew may be rendered, the flock of His feeding, whom He takes care of and provides for. He that made us, maintains us, and gives us all things richly to enjoy. For the Lord is good — Infinite in goodness, and therefore doeth good. His mercy is everlasting — Is a fountain that can never be drawn dry. His truth endureth to all generations — And no word of His shall fall to the ground as antiquated or revoked: his promises are sure to all the faithful, from age to age.”- {Benson}
THINK on this. You are HIS. He knows your tendency to be easily scared, fearful at times and He wants you to realize He’s got you! He is Big enough, strong enough, wise enough to guide you as your Good, Loving Shepherd.
“KNOW”- make the distinction that the LORD GOD rules, reigns. Know Who He is. Know what He is like. Serve Him with your submission, with gladness and song, celebrating Him as Creator and that He is responsible for you as your Shepherd. Rest Assuredly in your Good Shepherd who is the LORD GOD. You are His… Rest in Him.
“Things that once were wild alarms
Cannot now disturb my rest;
Closed in everlasting arms,
Pillowed on the loving breast.
Oh, to lie forever here,
Doubt and care and self resign
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His, and He is mine.
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His, and He is mine.“- {Irish pastor, George Robinson 1838}
SERVE THE LORD- BE IT FROM A SICK BED or in full health, whatever your circumstance and mine together we can “serve the LORD.” Pray for me and my family if you think of us…