Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with Gladness; come before Him with joyful singing…  Psalm 100

Most of life is spent doing very ordinary things.   We have a daily routine that remains, very much, the same week after week…month after month…and year after year.  Yet in the midst of life’s monotony- God invites us to enjoy His presence and to participate in building His eternal kingdom.  Ironically, the world’s solution to the monotony of life is to get new stuff and go on bigger adventures…however, God’s Word reminds us that contentment and joy come from within…from a heart that delights in its maker.

I’ve been studying the 100th Psalm over the last few months, and I have been reminded again of God’s calling upon our lives during the ordinary routine of life.  In this Psalm we are reminded to know and do two things.  First, we are to know that…”the Lord Himself is God,”(vs.3).  If God is God, then we are not!  It easy for us to get this confused!  Now, we would never admit that we think that we are God, but we often live our lives as if we were!   We need to know that God is God…and we are not!  Simply put: if God is God, then we are to live our lives in humble surrender to Him.

We also need to know that “the Lord is good,”(vs.5).   Intellectually, we believe this to be true, but when hardships come (and they do come)– we question God’s goodness.   Our first response to difficult situations is to question…”where is God in this?”   The answer is: He is right there…in the middle of the trial!   The first chapter of James reminds us that trials are some of God’s gracious gifts to us!  We need to know that God is good…always and all the time; if we are going to trust God through the difficulties of life, then we must know that He is always good!

Now, if we know these two things…that God is God and we are not, and that God is good…always and all the time, then our response will be manifested in two ways.  First, we will have a word of praise on our tongue…Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth!  The person who has truly discovered these two truths will have a heart of joy and gladness!  In fact, it is quite difficult to believe them and not be joyful!  Finally, a heart that God has filled with joy is one that longs to serve Him Gladly!   He is our maker. He is God, and he is good.  May we take great delight in serving Him and His eternal kingdom!