Serve the Lord with Gladness! Come into His presence with singing
Psalm 100:2
The old ball and chain. What do I have to do today? I remember as a child that each week my father asked me to cut the grass. Now, asking me to cut the grass was the same thing: “If you don’t cut the grass by the time I get home from work, there will be dire consequences that may or may not include severe punishment. This was back in the early 80s, so you can imagine what severe punishment was. Those were the days when punishment was real.
But here’s the thing. After a few times, I began to enjoy cutting the grass and making our yard look good. I began to take pride in how I cut it and started to take on additional landscaping jobs like the bushes and weed control. I was becoming a master yard cutter! I took pride in doing a good job and making our yard look spectacular. There was no need to ask me to cut the grass anymore. I just kept it cut neatly. What I did, I did with gladness.
Now, as far as taking the trash out, that was a different story! No joy there.
We Always Worship Someone
It doesn’t matter where we are or what we’re doing; we always serve someone or something. There are some popular recipients of our service. The first is ourselves because some of us are prideful enough to think the world spins around us and that it would not exist without our influence.
Think about it. Without us, the world just wouldn’t be the same. I’m sure that George Washington and Billy Graham could have said the same thing. However, they had one thing in common. They selflessly served someone other than themselves.
In this case, to serve means to worship, and worship does not mean go to church. When I was growing up, and my parents said we were going to worship, they meant we were going to church. But Scripture is entirely different when it comes to worship. Most of the worship mentioned in Scripture is a personal and intimate kind of worship between God and us. It is the kind of worship you do when no one is looking. It happens in your house as you walk around praying and singing to the Lord while giving Him thanks for all He continues to do despite our issues.
I encourage you today to worship the Lord in the aloneness of your home. Take some time and find that alone space and sing a song of worship to Him. You don’t have to be a Tony Bennett or Lady Gaga to sing. It comes from the heart. God doesn’t even care if you’re on pitch. It’s about your heart.
We Worship with Gladness
The attitude in which we worship is essential to God. He wants us to worship Him with gladness, not drudgery. He wants us to come willingly to Him and praise Him for who He is. Our recognition of who God is should cause us great joy and gladness and encourage our willing praise and worship.
We don’t worship God because of what He gives us or how much money he allows us to make. We worship Him because He sent Jesus as a substitute for the penalty we deserve. Penalty? What penalty? The penalty that sin writes on our hearts. That penalty is death (Romans 6:23). But here’s the great news.
But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
That’s it! That’s the reason we worship. And because He sent Christ for us our response should be this:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
So when the Psalmist says that we should serve (worship) the Lord with gladness, he says that our joy should overflow, and our worship is uninhibited by distractions so easily and strategically placed in our lives. Turn the television off. Unplug your computer. Sit in the stillness and worship the Lord with gladness and great joy.
When is the last time you truly worshiped the Lord with gladness and great joy by yourself, alone, undistracted, and freely? You should try it today.