Serve the LORD With Gladness

Our love for and our thanksgiving toward God is revealed in the way in which we serve.  Psalm 100:2 says, “Serve the LORD with gladness”.

A look at the meaning behind the word “serve” reveals that it is very similar to the term in the New Testament translated “bondservant”.  It means to be a slave of the LORD or to be indentured.  According to Swanson, “A servant would give considerable energy and intensity to give aid to another, often in a social arrangement of having lower status than free.“^[1]  So when our service is to the LORD we are placing ourselves below Him submitting to serve in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Baker in the Complete Word Study Dictionary put it this way “When the focus of the labor is the Lord, it is a religious service to worship Him. Moreover, in these cases, the word does not have connotations of toilsome labor but instead of a joyful experience of liberation.”^[2]

So our committed service to the LORD, no matter what it is, is a worship service.  How often does the mother serving her family washing the clothes or dishes remember this?  How about the janitor as he serves by cleaning toilets or mopping floors?

Not only must we remember who we are serving, but we are to serve with gladness that is joy, delight with a feeling or attitude of joyful happiness and cheerfulness!  Baker stated, “It refers to the reality, the experience and manifestation of joy and gladness. It refers to a celebration of something with joyful and cheerful activities.”^[3]  Our service when directed toward God can indeed bring us joy and gladness and put us in a good disposition. 

When we are fulfilling service to God in this manner as we strive to please Him in the things we do reveals our love for Him.  1 John 5:2–3 (NKJV) ²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. ³For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

We are called to serve out of our love and when it is done out of our love for God it brings joy not a burden.  Paul said the same thing about our giving in I Cor. 9:7, “give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity”.   Our service of love should be the same way not grudgingly as a teenager may pull the trash to the street, but with gladness because we have been given the privilege of serving Him.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton  FW #39

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^[1] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

^[2] Ibid,  794-95.

^[3] Warren Baker, The Complete Word Study Dictionary : Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 1161.

Make A Joyful Shout to the LORD!

 Much of America just celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday.  Yet, how did we express our thankfulness?  To whom did we express our thankfulness?  Was our thankfulness focused primarily on the “things” that I have noting that I have more than last year or more than someone else?  Were they focused on the people that I have in my life because I realize that I would be lonely without them? 

In Psalm 100:1 the psalmist says, “Make a joyful shout to the LORD all you lands…”

The command here often translated “joyful noise” is not simply singing as we have often been challenged that we must sing out.  Some have even said that it doesn’t matter if we are on key or not because we are to make a “joyful noise.”  However, the meaning behind this statement “joyful shout” is a clear audible forceful action, a shout of triumph!

I’ve seen enough grown men watching football games to know that they respond with excitement to their teams scoring an amazing touchdown or making a great defensive play, sometimes to the detriment of their recliner.  Yet are we willing to get excited about our God and what he has done for us?   I have one friend who in his excitement for his team would pick up his 40 lb. English bulldog and toss him up and down in celebration when his team did well.  Fortunately for the dog, he was a Cubs fan, and it was rare.

Notice also in this phrase that not only was there to be a triumphant shout, but there was also to be a clear recipient.  That recipient is to be the LORD,   the covenant God of Israel and the “I AM that I AM” as Moses got to know Him. Are we so generic in our thanksgiving that we never give credit where credit is due?  Did we go through the whole thanksgiving celebration without mentioning the LORD of Creation who has blessed us?

The final part of the phrase reminds us of who is to be making this “shout of praise;” it was “all you lands”.   All mankind is to be lifting their voice in praise for the awesome deeds that he has done.  No one is exempt from the command.  Yet, many will never come to know the Almighty, All-powerful God well enough to realize that it is “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

I hope that as you reflect upon not only Thanksgiving, but the coming celebration of the birth of our Savior that you will indeed be able to “Make a joyful shout the LORD”.  

The video edition of this is available at www.youtube.com/churchoflittleton   FW #38