The message was brought by David Osborne.
Psalms 100 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.
David penned many songs of praise to God. Let’s focus on our relationship with God on a daily basis to give praise to him.
J-O-Y: Make a joyful noise. There was a joyful jubilee going on in verse 1. It comes from thinking of good things God has done for us. It’s easy to get a negative mindset. Sometimes we take a step back in our communion with people. We even do it with friends. We might have JOY thieves. One is a pessimistic attitude. It tears down instead of builds up. The only way to come together and make a joyful noise is to overlook flaws. We need encouragement. Practice pointing out good qualities in others not the flaws. As a child, we were taught that if we can’t say anything nice not to say anything at all. How about this? Say something positive. David was bubbling over.
A second JOY thief is discouragement to the point of depression. It is rampant. One in ten persons is on depression medicine. If we concentrate on discouragement we will get depressed. I challenge you to get a piece of paper and jot down in one day what good things God has done. Looking at it, what validity do we have to get depressed on God?
A third JOY thief is bitterness. It overcomes people even in churches. Some get angry with God and blame him for things. Paul had been beaten, stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked and put in prison. Yet he said rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. What we go through is but a shadow next to Paul. Think of Job. He lost it all and he said blessed be the name of the Lord. Don’t let bitterness overtake. God wants us to live joyful Christian lives. Chaos after chaos yet David said make a joyful noise.
Look for open opportunities. Serve. We are servants of the living God. Verse 2 says serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. We should look for open opportunities to serve. If we’ll look I promise you they will be opened. We can look back and see missed opportunities. We can serve with our hands and our lips. Just look for the ways. Come before his presence with singing. Be amazed that Jesus would even let us come into his presence. The Holy of Holies was in the temple. One time a year the High Priest could enter into the presence of the Shekinah Glory. There was a veil that kept people from looking in. It was a place of honor and holiness. The High Priest didn’t go in with a happy-go-lucky attitude. He knew it was an honor. Ropes were even put on him in case he had to be pulled out if God wasn’t pleased. That veil was rent from top to bottom because of Calvary. We can enter anytime into the presence of the living God. We can bring our supplications and come singing worthy is the Lamb. God cares about us and will take our cares upon him. It’s an open door to come into his presence with singing.
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. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. What do I get out of this? Yield yourself. Yield to the knowledge that he is Lord. This spelling stands for Adonai, the creator over all. If we honor God the right way the joy will shine through. He’s not just Creator. He is Supreme Creator. He’s in control. Yes, we have a free will but he’s in control. If we don’t accept his Son we’ll be condemned to hell. The saved will meet him in judgment for what we’ve done with our lives. Our deeds of wood, hay, and stubble will burn. The gold and silver will be rewarded.
There have been days where the joy wasn’t complete. He lives inside us sticking closer than a brother. When joy seems gone, it’s not God’s fault. It turns out we’re not concentrating on heaven and the positive. We concentrated on earth and got discouraged and began to lose joy. When we don’t yield to him we don’t have joy. We’ve got to yield and trust God to take care of things.
We need to have confidence in him. It is he that hath made us and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Sheep are foolish. If one goes this way, others will follow. It one goes this way, others will follow. Be careful not to follow sheep—possibly goats—the wrong way. Have confidence and consecrate yourself to him. This means to be set apart for the glory of God. Be used for the purposes of Christ.
Do you set your mind to worship when you come to church? We must set aside what’s going on in our life and consecrate ourselves. We must also concentrate and be thankful unto him and bless his name. You’ll see family now and Christmas that you might not see often. Make a concentrated effort to bless the Lord. Because we are foolish sheep we love to rake in the blessings but never pay attention to the one who sends them. In spite of the things you go through remember God is good. Get your heart in tune with him and give him praise.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 