“A Spirit of Gladness” (Ready to Worship S10E13)

December 20, 2019

Ready to Worship Season 10, Episode 13 for Friday, December 20, 2019

This season on Ready to Worship, we are considering the spirit or attitude that we are supposed to have in worship. In this installment of our study, we are considering a spirit of gladness. In the Psalms, David repeatedly spoke of coming before God with gladness.
In Psalm 9, David declared, ” I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High” (Psa. 9:2). In Psalm 40, he wrote, “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified” (Psa. 40:16). In Psalm 68, he stated, “But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God:
yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him” (Psa. 68:3-4). In Psalm 104, he uttered, “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet:
I will be glad in the Lord” (Psa. 104:33-34). Of course, the most well known expression of David’s gladness is found in Psalm 122. David penned, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psa. 122:1). I think it is fitting to note what David didn’t say. David didn’t say, “I was sad” or “I was mad.” David was neither sad nor mad about going to worship. It wasn’t a burden for him, but a blessing to him. It wasn’t something that interfered with what he wanted to do or that took him away from where he wanted to be. Worship was WHAT he wanted to do. It was WHERE he wanted to be. He was glad when he could be there! What about us? What is our attitude toward Sunday morning? Do we wish that we could sleep in or do nothing all day? Are we envious of others who are going to the woods, the lake, the mall, the golf course, or the game? Do we think of all of the other things that we need to be doing? If these are thoughts that sometimes creep into our minds, then we need to review these verses from the book of Psalms. We should be raring to go to worship. There should be nothing that we would rather be doing. There is no need that even comes close to the need for worship. We should pity those who are doing anything else. As we get ready to worship this week, let’s renew a spirit of gladness. There should be nothing that we would rather be doing than worshipping our God.