| Introduction In these days of modern media, every President knows that he needs a good spin-doctor to put a positive spin on the news, so that the President looks good. President Kennedy had many serious health problems throughout his life. He had a serious kidney disease, along with several other illnesses that caused severe chronic pain. He took pain medication and received multiple steroid injections every day. But in spite of his precarious health, he managed to convey to the public that he was young, energetic, and physically fit. He had some good spin-doctors! Politicians know that bad press can ruin their reputation and result in defeat at the polls. Sadly, most politicians don't focus on truthful, upright behavior, but rather on how to convey the image of being truthful and upright, even if they aren't. They want good press, but not always stemming from good character. From day one, Satan has been on a campaign to smear the truth about God's goodness so that people will not follow him. When he tempted Eve in the Garden, his main ploy was to get Eve to doubt that God intended good for her by forbidding her and Adam from eating the fruit. Satan told her (Gen. 3:5), "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The slander was, "God is trying to keep you from a good thing." And the extension of that thought is, "God is not really good." The devil has used this falsehood in varying forms to keep people from following the Lord. Satan promotes the lie, "If you follow God, you'll have to stop doing the things you enjoy and start doing things that you hate. God wants you to get rid of your ice cream and eat spinach for dessert! Isn't it fun to be a Christian!" Our church, our homes, and our individual lives as Christians should reflect joy and gladness in the Lord! If not, our good God gets bad press from those professing to be his people. 1 Peter 2:9 says that God has made us to be a people for his own possession "so that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…." So, our job is to give good press to our good God, not by spinning or bending the truth, but by conveying by our demeanor and words how excellent he truly is. Because the Lord is good, we who belong to him should be people of joy, submission, and praise. A. It's easy to say that, but do you really believe it? 1. Some of you have gone through very difficult trials. 2. You may be in difficult trials right now. 3. Do you believe that God is good and that he is using these trials to work together for your good, so that you will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:28-29)? Ps. 119:67-68– Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. You aregood, and do good; teach me Your statutes. Ps. 119:71– It isgood for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes. 4. Even in our afflictions (especially in our afflictions!), we must submit to God and affirm his goodness by faith. B. Satan knows that if he can get you to doubt God's goodness, you won't trust him, and if you don't trust him, you won't obey him. C. The psalmist mentions two facets of God's goodness, which frequently occur together in the Psalms: his lovingkindness and his faithfulness. 1. God's mercy (lovingkindness) is everlasting – this Hebrew word comes from the word for stork. 1) The Hebrews noticed how storks had an uncommon love for and protection of their young. 2) They built their nests securely in the high trees. 3) And so they said, "God's love for his own is like that!" a) He nurtures us and protects us from all enemies. b) He cares for us and feeds us. c) His love does not depend on us, but on his eternal nature, which is good. 2. God's truth (faithfulness) is to all generations. b. He is not moody, where one day he acts one way toward us and the next day he's different. c. He is faithful to his covenant promises. d. He is true to all his revealed purposes. Ps. 119:75-76– I know, O Lord, that Your judgments areright, and thatin faithfulness You have afflicted me. Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to Your word to Your servant. II. We who belong to a good God should be people of joy, submission, and praise, 1-4. A. We who belong to God should be people of joy, 1-2. 1. Is that your image of the Christian life? There's no allowance there for grumpiness! 2. The psalmist is telling us four things: a. Joy in the Lord should be exuberant – Shout joyfully! 1) This word refers to the spontaneous shout of victory that greeted a king returning from battle. a) The messenger would run from the battlefield with the good news, "Our king has won the victory! The king and the army will march into the city tomorrow!" b) The excited people would line the streets, waiting for the glorious moment. c) When the king rode through the city gate in triumph, the crowd would roar with applause and cheers. 2) If God has worked a victory in your life, whoop it up! If he has answered your prayer, shout for joy! b. Exuberant joy in the Lord is commanded for all. 1) The psalmist does not say, "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all of you who have exuberant personalities!" He says, "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth." 2) There's a missionary focus to the verse. a) For all the earth to shout joyfully to the Lord, they must know who he is. b) And one way that they should know that he's worth shouting about is that they see joyful Christians. c) Are you giving God bad press or good press as the pagan world observes your life? d) We saw at the end of Nehemiah 12 that when the people of God gathered to worship, their JOY was heard at a distance. c. Joy in the Lord should permeate our service for him – Serve the Lord with gladness. 1) There are two parts to the command: "Serve the Lord; and, do it with gladness." 2) Do you serve the Lord? Do you do it with gladness for all that he has done for you? 3) People serve sports, recreation, computer games, movies, music, business, possessions, the stock market, and many things other than the Lord. 4) As Bob Dylan sings, "You gotta serve somebody." Make sure you serve the Lord with gladness! "Can you bear to be waited upon by a servant who foes moping and dejected to his every task? You would rather have no servant at all, than one who evidently finds your service cheerless and irksome." George Bowen in Treasury of David d. Joy in the Lord should be expressed in singing – come before his presence with singing. 1) Don't miss the first part of that command, that in coming to sing, you are to come before him – we gather in his presence. 2) If our singing is lackluster, my hunch is that we've forgotten that we're offering it to him. 3) Does the way that we sing as a church give our good God good press or bad press? 4) We who belong to God should be people of joy. B. We who belong to God should be people of submission, 3. 1. You won't find the word submission in this verse, but it's written all over it. 2. Why does the psalmist insert this verse in a psalm dealing with joy and thanksgiving? 3. What does the fact that the Lord is God and that he made us and that we are his people and his sheep have to do with thanksgiving? A lot! a. Verse 3 describes a relationship of submission to God and submission is directly related to thankfulness. b. If you're grumbling or griping about your circumstances, you're not subject to God's sovereign hand in your life. c. You're implying that you could do a better job than God at running your life if he'd just give you the chance. d. It's not until you willingly submit to God as God that you can also say, "Thank you, Lord, that you are good and that you will work this trial together for my good." e. Verse 3 gives us four reasons why we should submit to the Lord: 1) We should submit to the Lord because he is God. a) That means we are not God! b) Even when we don't understand why something is happening to us, we need to acknowledge, "Lord, you're the only true and living God. I submit to you." 2) We should submit to the Lord because he is our Creator. a) Evolution has gained such a large following, not because there is scientific evidence for it, but because it eliminates the need for proud man to submit to God. b) If God created us, then we must be in submission to him! 3) We should submit to the Lord because he is our Redeemer – we are his people. 4) We should submit to the Lord because he is our shepherd. a) This reminds us of Psalm 23 and of John 10, where Jesus claims to be the good shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep. b) His sheep know his voice and follow him as he leads them to abundant pasture. C. We who belong to God should be people of praise, 4. 1. Dozens of times in the Bible we are commanded to praise the Lord, which implies that we are to do it whether we feel like it or not. 2. If we never feel like praising the Lord, something serious is wrong with our Christian life! 3. But there are times when you must begin praising God because he commands it. a. The feelings will follow. b. As we grow to know him better and to experience his love and faithfulness more deeply, we will praise him more and more. c. Heaven will be filled with praise because we will see God in all his majesty and splendor. d. You can't see such a glorious God without praise welling up in your heart. Before his conversion, John Wesley was deeply impressed by a conversation he had with the porter of his college. Wesley discovered that the man had only one coat and that he had not eaten that day because he was so poor. Yet the man was overflowing with gratitude toward God. Wesley said, "You thank God when you have nothing to wear, nothing to eat, and no bed to lie upon! What else do you thank him for?" "I thank him," answered the porter, "that he has given me my life and being, and a heart to love him, and a desire to serve him."
That poor man gave his good God good press and it was one factor that God used to bring John Wesley to saving faith. Because God is good, we who belong to him should give him good press by being people of exuberant joy, glad submission, and thankful praise.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2018/11/serve-lord-with-gladness-psalm-100.html
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