One Last Happy New Year Lesson
With the new year arriving and snatching us from the bliss of the holiday season, I thought I would let you know a little secret about myself. Our joy doesn’t need to end! When we continue into God’s word we find that His joy becomes our joy. Psalms 119:161-162 “Princes persecute me without a cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your word. 162 I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure.” You see, God understands us better than we understand ourselves; because of this we need to recognize when He explains what will and will not help us. Let’s examine Psalm 100.
Psalm 100:1-5, “1 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the LORD, He [is] God; [It is] He [who] has 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 to Him, [and] bless His name. 5 For the LORD [is] good; His mercy [is] everlasting, And His truth [endures] to all generations.”
Verse one makes it clear that it does not matter where we are or what the circumstances are, God needs to be our sole focus “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands.” Verse 2 expounds on this focus “Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.” We are to come to His presence. Now you might be wondering what does this mean? Well it has two applications, first is that during His 1,000 year reign discussed in Revelation 20 we need to physically go to Him. Second, this focuses on the current age we are in and meditate and spend time with Him spiritually.
God hates pride, pride brought about the fall of a third of the angels and is continuesly found as a root source to many sinful situations. This is why God calls us to be humble. When we are humble we see things that pride would blind, we can learn things that were unreachable before. This is why verse 3 is monumental for us to understand. “Know that the LORD, He [is] God; [It is] He [who] has made us, and not we ourselves; [We are ]His people and the sheep of His pasture.” God made us, God saves us, and God is Lord over us. Simple but a hard truth for many to grasp. This is why Proverbs 9:10 identifies fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom and understanding as the knowledge of the Holy One. Without humility to recognize our own faults, how can we ever be able to learn?
If there is any other reason to start this year off with joy, I can think of no other reason than verses four and five. “4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, [And] into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, [and] bless His name. 5 For the LORD [is] good; His mercy [is] everlasting, And His truth [endures] to all generations.”
In Christ we can go before the Lord, like verse two there is different application depending on the age we live in. However, as believers we can triumphantly go before the Lord knowing we are His children. We can regonize His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations.
So as 2023 gets really going, do not trip at the starting line with falling into dispare that the holiday season is over or worried as to what this year might bring. In Christ, we have an ever loving and righteous God. It’s a simple lesson that has monumental influence in how we start this new year.
So with that said, I will give you one last Happy New Year!
JL