Servant

“Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord.”  Psalm 113:1.

I have been using random Psalms recently.  I close my eyes, and open the Bible to the middle, and connect to the Psalm I find.

Today’s is very appropriate for me.

Why?  I have thought a lot about Mary’s line in Luke 1:38: “I am the Lord’s servant.”

A servant has a special relationship to a master.

Servants don’t go on vacation unless the master goes on one and they go along.  They are constantly under the master’s guidance.

By being close to the master, a servant knows the master very well.  They have seen/heard the master in action.

Another piece that gets my attention is that the “Praise the Lord,” is followed by “you his servants.”  If I am His servant than I know how great He is and have plenty of reasons to be saying praise about Him.  However, by implication, I can read in that if I’m not praising Him maybe I’m not really close enough to Him (as a servant would be) to be alert to what He has done.

God is worthy of praise.  I’ve seen His doings.  I know that He loves me.  I know about His gift to me.  Totally undeserved, yet done because He loves me. The ultimate gift!

Conclusion: I am His servant and what a Master He is!

Do you praise Him enough?

“Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord.”  Psalm 113:1.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: Ezra 4, Psalm 113, and Luke 9.

The correct answer to the title of this entry is, “No.”

We do not praise God enough.  Why?  We don’t realize all that He has given us.

Even the things that don’t go the way WE had hoped, are for our good.

I sit here in my office and the things I should be thanking Him for just in my office are substantial.  I have books, working equipment, a window, a chair, a TV, quiet etc..  My clothes are warm.  My eyesight is good enough.  The list is endless. Do I realize how undeserving I am of any of it?

A hard person to deal with is one to whom you have given something without any gratitude returned to you.  And then that person wants more!  Outrageous, don’t you think?  However, we are that person when we neglect to praise God for His blessings.

We are not God’s equals.  We are His servants, YET He blesses us.  What a God we have!

“Lord, thank You for loving each of us in ways we never have deserved.  You took care of our sin problem.  We owe You everything.  Forgive me for losing track of Your goodness and not even thinking about it or mentioning it.  That’s wrong!  I love You.  You are a marvelous God.  Thank You, Father.”

You will always have things to praise Him for.