Make a joyful noise

Today in Adult Bible Fellowship we broke down Psalm 100. Bit by bit word by word. Which is my favorite things to do in any kind of group bible study.

The first verse is a get command:  

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord"

We say this to a lot of people when they say they cannot sing. But really we haven't taken this phrase into a consideration as to what does this really mean. As I always do I open my Bible and read it and read it and listen to the other people in the group. Then as I listen to them talk I look up in the commentary as to what Dr. MacArthur had to say about it. 

Looking at my bible commentary its said to look at Psalm 66:1, so I did:

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth"

In which it reads to shout with loyalty, pay homage as in 1 Samuel 10:24:

"And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted,

“Long live the king!”

The people shouted this after God showed where the hiding Saul was hidden then dragged up to Samuel and then as you see "Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen" (Side Note: read this passage again 1 Samuel 10:17-24- is it me or is Samuel trying to say something else than paying homage to Saul?)

anyway...

From looking at these three scriptures: Psalm 100:1; Psalm 66:1 and 1 Samuel 1-24; tells us that in Psalm 100 the author is telling the people to  first above anything else right now, pay homage to the King our King The Lord Our God. 

Then the rest of we read here:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

    Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!

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.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

So the phrase, "Make a joyful noise" or as in the New American Standard Bible "Shout joyfully to the Lord" Show Homage in voice. Like when we see our favorite singer or star or as in my case my favorite Football coach when I saw him once at my bank in Oklahoma, I saw this giant of a guy, at least to me he was taller than I by a foot or so, So when he got closer to me outside in the parking lot I shout hello, Coach Switzer.

I acknowledge that he was there and I saw him and knew he was there.

When we are in our daily lives we must do the same. In prayer first acknowledge Him first, it may be a Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, He is Risen. In song  SHOUT To the Lord all you earth Praise His name. Forever in majesty Praise to His name. 

"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

from Grace Gems "My Father's Eye!"

My Father's eye!

(James Smith, "The Pastor's Evening Visit")

"Your Father who sees in secret." Matthew 6:6

Can anyone hide himself from the Lord in secret places?

Can I, under any circumstances, escape His notice?

Impossible!

The eye of God has been fixed upon me every second of this day; it is now at this moment fixed fully upon me. But it is my Father's eye! My Father sees in secret!

He sees my needs--and my woes.

He sees every secret working of my foes--and will save me from them.
He sees every secret influence which is likely to injure me--and will prevent it.

He sees . . .
  the secret workings of my heart,
  my hidden thoughts,
  my unuttered desires,
  my soul conflicts,
  my private temptations.

But He sees also my secret sins!
Every evil thought,
every unfitting word,every improper action--
passes under His eye!

Solemn consideration this!

May it make me cautious. May it preserve me . . .
  from yielding to temptation,
  from nourishing sinful thoughts, and
  from acting inconsistent with my profession.

My heavenly Father sees me!

He sees me at this moment!

He sees me every moment!

He sees my most secret motives, thoughts, and purposes!

He who thus sees me--hates every sin with an infinite hatred!
"There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do!" Hebrews 4:13

Long intermission

Hello,
       So this is an old blog of mine that I am going to start using again. it has been a long time coming too. After my long intermission I find myself more focused. Although I still have my demons that I am constantly fighting I know the path ahead of me is paved by God, we are promised that in Psalm 150:105 "Thy Word is lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Though God's word is the only way I could have gone through these last four years.
        Speaking of that, This month and June marks the four year anniversary of my family and I moving from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Alliance, Ohio. I remember how full our little apartment front room was. As it filled from the far corner to the middle of the room to the other  corner near the sliding glass window near the dining area. We as a family had limited options to sit. It was cozy and a well learned lesson on pre-planning.
        We were out of room to live, to do anything inside the apartment, the kids were out of school about the middle of May we were just packing and waiting for what we dubbed, "The Big Move" Day. We were anxious, we were impatient and we were getting on each others nerves, but we survived by Praying and reading the Bible. When we did this the days seemed to float by. I just wish now looking back that we, my wife and I had started that on day one of filling up the front room.
        The move itself seemed to go smooth although it started raining on us the last hour of loading the truck, it didn't start down pouring until after we got everything inside the truck.  It was a God thing for sure.
         I remember those 1000 miles we drove was filled with conversations with my kids and mom and texting on my phone, my kids actually typing I would just tell them what to say to my wife, who was driving our van behind the moving truck, just to clear that up. We would say oh wow what is that. Isn't that a nice view and oh no, what is that smell, when we drove by a pig farm in Missouri.
        In the quiet times when the kids would get bored and go to sleep, i would pray to God for the path ahead and guide us to Alliance in Safety. I would also do a lot of praising God for things just to keep the line of communication with God through the Holy Spirit, especially at 2 in the Morning when we got to St. Louis, the road were dark and I was getting sleepy and still had two hours until we got to the hotel, God kept me awake.
        That is my God!
        He told us through His word that he has a plan and purpose for our lives. Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." and in Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. This was on my mind from December 25th, 2011 the day we as a family after five months of praying and talking together, all came to the same conclusion that this is God's will for us to go to Alliance, Ohio.
        It is still in my heart and still lay claim to these verses in my life here four years later.
It has been a short time it feels just like yesterday that we were pulling into our home on Main street here in Alliance. It also has been tough for me personally, after following a few events that I will speak about later, I found myself in the office of a  therapist, one thing I promised myself I would never do. There I was though, She is a friend of several people I had met in my first year here, and was trusted. This is when everything seemed to just fall apart, but in hindsight I see that God used this time from July 2013 to August 2014, as time for God to answer a prayer that I made with Him several years ago that I repeatedly prayed to Him. That prayer was For God to show me the 'root' of my problems that I had the mental anguish that lead to physical ills and limitations. (Which I will also tell about in later blog posts.)
        To end tonight this post though I want to share something that has been a walking pattern the last four years. I went to Adult Bible Fellowship this morning and Phil our teaching Pastor at WellSpring Bible Church, located at The Carnation City Mall, was teaching Psalm 139. If you know this Psalm then you know that King David the author, wrote "Where can I go from your Spirit? if I go to the Heavens you are there If I make my bed in the depths you are there." from vs. 7-8. What a wonderful reminder that there is nowhere that God is not here.  Phil said that, this is a tremendously good thing, this is a tremendously terrifying thing as well, something to that. That sums up me to a tee. I have done things that I have done things that I am not proud of. And think back at that and think of God you saw that, He sees everything he saw what we were in for before, during and as it was going to happen the last four years. And now for good and for bad I am so grateful.
         So, this blog is reopened and I hope you like what you read let me know here or on Twitter or Facebook.