As I turned my computer on this morning and loaded my Bible software, I glanced at the daily passage it had on the front page. I almost always read them and appreciate them, but the one today really spoke to me. It is Psalm 84:1-2: How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
It got me to thinking about the ways in which our living God causes us to sing for joy. So that is what I want all of us to wonder about and ponder this week. If you have something, I want you to share it with someone so that they can be uplifted and inspired by how God lifts you up.
We all have a relationship with God, and we all stay connected with God in different and various ways, but what is something about God, Jesus, and/or the Holy Spirit that really makes you joyful and excited?
For the psalmist it seems to be the ability to be in the house of the Lord. It goes on to say that happy are those who live in your (God’s) house. It goes on to say that happy are those whose strength is in God and whose hearts lead straight to Zion. Then he talks about God being our sun and shield bestowing favor and honor and ends the psalm by saying that everyone who trusts in God is happy.
If we connect that to our story from Luke’s gospel last week about greed, I see that the psalmist doesn’t mention anything personally about money or land. Singing for joy to God does not focus on the things of this world but focuses on all the good things that God provides for us. When we focus on those things the psalmist cannot help but then give praise to God for all of it.
It reminds me of the conversations I had with a few people on Sunday who helped with I-HELP this weekend. They talked about the joy of the ladies who received so much from this congregation while they stayed here. Our ladies talked about how much joy they received in seeing what they did make a huge impact on the lives of these women in transition. I-HELP was a powerful experience for those who helped, and it gave them a sense of joy and excitement by serving their neighbor; and by doing that they were serving God.
So, I’ll ask again…what are the things that God does for you that causes you to sing for joy? Think about it, pray about it, thank God for it, and share it so that that joy may abound.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian