“O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”
Psalm 95:1-3 (Amplified)
Let us sing. Make a joyful noise. Come … with thanksgiving … and songs of praise. These are good ways to come before the Lord. Sometimes I find myself doing quite the opposite. Maybe I should call it the depressed version of the previous scriptures…
“O come, let us whine to the Lord; let us make a mournful noise to the Rock of our salvation!
Let us come before His presence with complaining; let us make a sorrowful noise to Him with songs of woe!”
We have so much to be thankful for. God is very good to us and has blessed us in many ways we sometimes take for granted.
When the Lord sees me coming, I don’t want Him to think, “Here she comes again. What is it this time?” I don’t want Him to endure my complaints, whining, and gripes. I want Him to think, “Here she comes again! I can’t wait to hear what she has to say!” I realize the Lord lives inside me so technically He knows all about me and isn’t surprised by anything I do or say; but even so, I want to bring Him joy and make Him glad to spend time with me.
Not long ago I visited with someone who tends to dwell upon the negative. After barely saying hello, she jumped into negative conversation. I heard how one person had offended her, and then another after that. Before she took a breath, she had complained about half a dozen people and disappointing situations. I tried a number of times to steer the conversation in a more positive direction, but to no avail. I realized it was fruitless. She was unhappy and she was determined to remain unhappy.
When I was newly married, I remember being told to withhold complaints and negative things when my husband arrived home from work after a long day. Allow him to settle in, have a nice dinner, and later bring up those problems and issues I needed to share with him.
I think this is also a good way to begin prayer. Instead of immediately jumping into all the negative things, how much better to greet God with thanks and praise. Later there will be time to talk to Him about my problems.
When He sees me coming, I want to have a smile on my face, praise in my heart, and a joyful noise for Him to hear. I’m sure He’d like that, too.