Psalm 105:1: "Give thanks to he LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."
People regularly ask me, "What do you think is God's will for my life?" Whereas many times they are looking for specific guidance for their lives (an occupational path, a dating opportunity, etc.) I like to reorient their thinking to know that God's will is communicated directly to them through His Word. Although they may not find the level of specificity that they wanted when they inquired of me for their answer, I attempt to reassure them that their obedience to these prescribed commands will result in God's pouring forth His abundant wisdom for their specific questions.
Let's look at God's will for us:
Give thanks to the Lord: As true believers in Jesus Christ, we are to have a spirit of thankfulness to Him for His countless blessings that include (but are not limited to) His eternal life, His protection from the Evil One, His constant communion with us, His abundant wisdom (that He gives lavishly without reproach), His supernatural response to prayer, et al. These tremendous benefits are the reason why we can be thankful in everything (Philippians 4:6-7). Although we may not rejoice in some of our circumstances (for some are truly abysmal), we can maintain a spirit of thankfulness knowing that our loving Lord has blessed us already with more than we could ever comprehend.
Call on His name: God has given us the tremendous privilege of having opportunity to commune with Him. Whereas we may have heard this truth since infancy (and should be in a spirit of utter rejoicing that the Lord of Hosts grants us permission to approach His throne with confidence [Hebrews 4:15-16]), we are apt to minimize prayer's importance in our lives. Some in fact have relegated prayer to a brief, ritualistic formulation at the start of a meal or just prior to bedtime. The great 19th-century Baptist missionary, William Carey, once said, "prayer-secret, fervent, believing prayer-lies at the root of all personal godliness." If we want to experience the blessings of God . . . the power of God . . . the intimacy with God, then we would do well not to forsake out focused communion with our Lord in prayer. I'm sure that we would be overwhelmed if an earthly king were to contact us and grant us permission to meet him in his palace; how much more should we appreciate the perpetual invitation that the King of Kings has offered to us to approach His glorious throne of grace!
Make known among the nations what He has done: When the believer has been so impacted by His Lord, which has brought a spirit of thanksgiving to his soul and a desire to fellowship with His Lord in prayer, he cannot help but want to share what God has done (and is doing) in his life. Jesus in His infinite wisdom knew that for a person to experience the abundance of life, both on the earth and in eternity, then he would need to be in a personal relationship with the Lord. This must be why Jesus shared with His disciples the urgency of sharing the gospel with others; in fact, Jesus' last words on the earth just prior to His ascension were for the disciples to share His precious gospel with the world (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:16f). The gospel is the "good news" that God is redeeming those who would respond to His offering of grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whereas our sin of rebellion against the Lord brought alienation from the Lord, God in His infinite mercy has offered us the gift of forgiveness for our sins and the hope of being adopted into His royal family (Romans 8:23).
Sing to Him, sing praise to Him . . . Glory in His holy name: We are called to worship the Lord exclusively and passionately. When our souls are filled with the joy of intimacy with the Almighty, we cannot help but praise Him for His awesome holiness and His abundant grace that He has lavished upon us through the Lord Jesus Christ. People who do not have the joy of the Lord in their lives and who do not find the overwhelming desire to worship Him personally and passionately would do well to re-examine their alleged profession of Him as their Lord. Although worship may take many different forms, what the worshipper will find irresistible is his longing to praise the Savior and marvel at the wonderful works He has done for His creation.
Look to the Lord and His Strength: We must never forget that our Lord is a "refuge for the oppressed . . . He is a stronghold in times of trouble" (Psalms 9:9; 46:1). When we are in trouble, we should pray for the Lord's strength and deliverance (James 5:13). When we are tempted to sin, we should petition the Lord for strength to rise above the lure of the temptation (Mark 14:38). When we seek the Lord in a spirit of contrition and humility, we should not fear that we will not hear from the Lord. He WILL answer us and illumine us with words of truth and strength that will carry us through any ordeal (Psalm 50:15).
Seek His face always: Our consumption should be in the Lord alone. We should meditate upon Him in every moment of our lives. The Psalmist has this disposition when he wrote Psalm 119:147-148: “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.” Whether early morning or late in the evening, we would do well to meditate upon the Lord and His Word of Truth to us, and we should fellowship with Him in a spirit of unadulterated devotion. We will never later regret such a path of communion with the One True God!
Well, here we have it . . . the very will of God for our lives. May we never attempt to excuse our wayward behavior by claiming that we had no idea what God desires for our lives. May we surrender our wills to His glorious will and be transformed by our intimate fellowship with our glorious and loving Lord!
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