by Eric Holter on April 15, 2004
“Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power.”
Psalms 110:3
When Jesus comes to rule the earth, when his strong scepter stretches forth from Zion, His people will volunteer freely and willingly to serve Him. We will volunteer freely, without being pressed into service. We will not volunteer under compulsion, nothing else will compete for our attention or draw us away from serving the Lord our king. We will not serve out of self-disciplined determination. Rather, our motivation will be full and free, like the sun shining forth at dawn, like dew that saturates the ground. We will sign up for duty – not for pay, or to gain some other desire we think might result from serving. We will volunteer freely, willingly, gladly!
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by Eric Holter on April 10, 2004
“The upright see it and are glad;
But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things;
And consider the loving kindness of the Lord.”
Psalms 107: 42-43
This Psalm displays the loving kindness of the Lord through how He delivers His people in their distresses. Four different kinds of distress are described; hunger and thirst from wandering in a wilderness, the misery of being under the yoke of hard labor, suffering the affliction that results from our own foolish and rebellious ways, and the grave danger of being on a ship tossed about on high seas.
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by Eric Holter on April 5, 2004
“Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.”
“Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe His word.
But they grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord. “
Psalms 106: 12, 24-25
What a contrast between belief and unbelief in the hearts of God’s people. When we walk in faith, believing in his Word, we sing his praises! Joy fills our hearts and we delight to be in His presence. “Whistle while you work” goes that simple song, but O how profound. His yoke is easy and his burden is light when we trust him and look to him to “act on behalf of the one who waits for him” (Isaiah 64: 4). The hardest of tasks lose their oppressive weight when we, like Paul, work hard, “yet not I but the grace of God with me” (1 Corinthians 15: 10). To work and serve “so as by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11) results in our singing and delighting in God’s praise and glory.
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