1)
Make a joyful noise unto
the LORD, all ye lands.
2)
Serve the LORD with
gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3)
Know ye that the LORD he
is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and
the sheep of his pasture.
4)
Enter into his gates with
thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless
his name.
5)
For the LORD is good; his
mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all
generations.
|
U |
nfortunately, it is sometimes
difficult for us to see the goodness of the Lord. This is because, for too
long, we have based our opinion on what we determine as good. Fortunately, what
we see as good is not a determining factor in how good God is. Whenever we
"indulge" ourselves in questioning God, we will find ourselves
charging Him with not being as "good" as we would like Him to be. The
depth of God's goodness toward us is most often shown in what He won't do for us, and the only thing(s)
He won't do are those which would be detrimental to us.
Since God is omniscient, He knows
that we are unable to direct our paths. So, for us to be able to "find our
way," He provides us with a set of rules to be followed. This
"discipline" is what earns for a Church the reputation of a cult. You
see, the devil would blind man to the difference between "discipline"
and "domination" and thereby, blame God for the devil's actions. But
God, being a perfect gentlemen, does not force His
rules on anyone. His standard is simply this: be obedient to His commands and
live, or follow your own will—and die. Nevertheless, the choice is ours.
It is precisely because Man often
makes illogical decisions that the Lord does not allow us to make our own. In
that Man's primary concern is himself, it only stands to reason that our
greatest interest will be in doing things our way, rather than God's way.
Perhaps we have no more glaring
examples of our determination to "do our own thing" than that of
allowing our minds to tell us that cigarette smoking was okay; using our
"intellect" to condone our social drinking or
"rationalizing" our drug use. The only approach the Lord can take,
the only leverage He has is to get us to empty ourselves of our own will. If we
will not do this, He has no means to control us—and no one can own anything
that he cannot control.
The sad truth is that most people do
not get saved out of a great desire to accomplish something for the Lord. Most
of us came to the Lord because we wanted Him to do something for us. No doubt,
this misconception of why God grants us salvation is the cause of much
inactivity among the saints. Salvation is given to us not solely for our
benefit, but for the benefit of others. And how are people most benefited? By
witnessing that we are totally committed to the Lord.
The secret is out. No one can live
simultaneously for flesh and God. One who lives after the flesh will sin—and
God is too good for that. The Lord is too good for us to continue reaping His
blessings and keep them to ourselves. Or, worse yet, reaping His blessings but
keeping to ourselves the fact that we are saved!
We have been given the opportunity
not only to be free from sin and live in eternity with the Lord, but to testify
that serving God is right! The poor, pitiful, sad world in which we live has so
little to look forward to. Without the hope, the only hope which comes from the
saints of God, Man is most miserable.
The fact that "the Lord is
good" should inspire us to serve Him with gladness. The service that we
render should be sweet to us because we are given the opportunity to offer it
and because the Lord Himself is sweet to us.
Simply recognizing that "the
Lord is good," that is, being able to say this, to preach this, to teach
this or any other thing will mean nothing—unless one can also identify the Lord
as a Healer, an Answerer and a Deliverer.
A mistake that too many people make
is in believing that God is good only to them. We need never make the mistake
of believing that He is working for us because we are "special." We
must never forget that He is good by nature.
Of course, that nature is shown in
the patience He exercises in even drawing us to salvation. Though many feel
that they finally came to the Lord,
the Lord actually deals with them for quite a while before they finally
submitted to the Lord. God is good! Therefore, it ought to be easy to make a
joyful noise. No matter what turmoil or upheaval one's life may be suffering,
God deserves praise. Unless we can learn to make joy a reality in lives, the
World will never see that once one is saved, nothing (but the Lord) has power
over him.
Saints, we have allowed people to be
lost for long enough. It is our developed attitudes and philosophies which lead
others to believe that they have a choice: either to get saved, or live saved.
We must dispel the notion that "goodness" will get one into heaven. Nowhere in the scripture are "good" people assured a place in the reality of God's presence. "Saved" people are.