"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."
This is probably the second Psalm I ever memorized, the first being Psalm 23. But this is a Psalm of thanksgiving, of rejoicing in the Lord and thanking Him for all the blessings He gives us, and for His precious everlasing love and faithfulness.
Have you noticed people singing in church. Worship the Lord with gladness, the Word tells us. Come before Him with joyful songs. You cannot sing joyful songs with a heart that is being dutiful. No, you must sing unto the Lord with a joyful heart. Any song will be joyous if it is sang with a joyful heart. When we worship the Lord, it should be done with gladness. It doesn't matter what you are going through, that situation should have nothing to do with your attitude to the Lord, your God. Enter into His gates, that means when you begin to worship Him, our Lord, truly worship Him, you will enter into His presence, and in His presence all things can change. Your circumstances can change when you forget about yourself and concentrate on the One whose love no one can take from you. Enter into His courts with thanksgiving, let all those around you see you, a child of God, abandoning yourself in total love and songs of thanksgiving to Him, to the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Totally giving yourself to Him through worship.
We are His sheep. Sheep blindly follow the shepherd, hearing only his voice. The Lord wants us to follow Him, listening only to His voice to guide us, shutting down all other distractions of the world, listen just for His voice, His words of love and wisdom. Just His voice.
Give the Lord thanks always. There is not a day that goes by that the Lord is not intervening on your behalf, moving the pieces around so that you walk in the Light He has put before you. His Light, guiding you through your days, so that you do not stumble and fall, so that you are blessed and well. Thank Him, thank Him, thank Him. We can never thank the Lord enough for the sacrifices He has made for us. Thank Him, thank Him, thank Him.
Our God is so good to us, so very good to us. Think on your day, just this one. Remember how good the Lord has been to you, no matter what your day was like, the Lord was good to you. New mercies this morning, grace for all you needed this day, He has supplied your needs. Not necessary your wants, but you needs. His love will never leave us; there is nothing we can do to keep the Lord from loving us; and His faithfulness will continue forever. He will be faithful in all things to us, all things. He will supply all our needs, He will answer our prayers, He will heal our bodies, He will never leave or forsake us. He will always love us and He will always be faithful to His promises, to His Word.
This Psalm was written so many years ago and was true to the generation during the time it was first written. It is true to our parent's generation, it is so true to our generation and it will be the same for generations to come. The Word of the Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Our God does not change. Any changing comes from us as we are given that beautiful love, renewed by His mercy daily, and given more grace, and more grace; we are changed into children of a loving God that should want nothing more than to worship Him always and to thank Him, thank Him and thank Him.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow. As I think about my Lord and what He has done for me, so many words of thanks to Him spring from my heart. But I am most thankful for the Cross, that wooden cross beam that displayed the most beautiful example of love that ever will be known to man. Thank You for loving me Lord, and for giving me life in You through the Cross. I love You my Lord and will always sing my words of thanksgiving to You, my King, my Savior, my Beloved.
11-23-2011
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