Friday, December 20, 2013

Shout for joy


Greetings:
Part of my daily prayer pattern is to read one of the psalms.
After reading Psalm 100, I was impressed to read it again and study what is says.
It has been said that the Bible is shallow enough that the immature can play without drowning, but it is deep enough that the most mature can never touch bottom.
There's a lot of truth in that statement as we look at Psalm 100.
Psalm 100 (NIV) reads:
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;  give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100 does not contain a single concept that is not expressed elsewhere in the Psalms.
When studying Psalm 100 one gets the impression that it is inappropriate for us to barge into God's holy presence without taking the proper actions and necessary steps. God is willing to meet us anywhere, anyplace, and anytime, but we need to come into his presence with heart and mind, body and soul that acknowledges the presence of the King.
Psalm 100 shows us the pathway into God's presence, as it were, a procession as to visit dignitary or a protocol as to visit a king.
When we come to worship our agenda is to meet God. God's agenda is to meet with us. We raise our voices to get his attention. This is not being rude or disrespectful. As we walk down the path to worship God, we simply cannot be quiet. We are not raising our voices to draw attention to ourselves. We shout for joy because the Lord is among us.
Music is the form through which we often express our gladness, our joy, and our praise. Our songs are not to create our gladness, but to express it.
Through our singing we simply approach God for who he is, for who he was, and for who he will be forever.

These morning messages are now available by email. Simply write me with you email address at schneider.nick@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to your in-box.

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