When We Love, We Serve With Joy

Psalm 100:2–5

Psalm 100:2 says, "Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!" Serving the Lord is a joyful thing. And at the same time, serving the Lord must be done with joy. If there is no joy in serving the Lord, then it is not true service, and it is not true faith either. Nor is it a sign of being in a good relationship with him. Whenever we serve the Lord, it must be done with joy.

So when is it possible to serve someone with joy? It is possible when we love them. Preparing for someone we love, sacrificing for them, doing the things that make them glad — these things become a joy to us as well. Because we know it will please them, it becomes something we look forward to, something exciting.

But if we are serving the Lord, doing the Lord's work, and yet there is no joy, no sense of anticipation — that is evidence that our relationship with the Lord is not healthy. All that remains then is the drudgery of labour done out of obligation. And that wears us out. That is why love must always be overflowing between us and the Lord. When we love, we look forward with anticipation, and we do not grow weary. Even when we work, there is no exhaustion — only overflowing joy.

Verse 3 continues: "Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." The psalmist commands us to know that the LORD is God. Knowing this ought to be self-evident to us, because God is the one who made us.

A thing that has been made belongs to the one who made it. We belong to the Lord. The Lord is the one who is our Master. We are his, and we are the sheep of his pasture. A shepherd takes responsibility for his sheep. A false shepherd does not take responsibility for the sheep, but our true Shepherd, the Lord, takes responsibility for us. Knowing this, we can enjoy peace. When we live within that faith, we can always give thanks, always praise, and dwell continually in the Lord's presence.

Verse 4 says: "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" The gate into the Lord's house is entered through thanksgiving, and his courts through praise. Anyone who is able to give thanks and offer praise is someone who is conscious of the Lord and trusts him. Giving thanks even when circumstances are difficult is only possible through trust. We praise the Lord for what he has already done, and we praise him for what he will yet do.

And verse 5 tells us why: "For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." Because the Lord is good, and his love endures forever. What a grateful, wonderful thing it is, that a God who is good, a God abounding in love, remains unchanging even to this.

Hallelujah.