Your Servant Is Listening; Speak O Lord To My Soul

May 29, 2017

Your Servant Is Listening; Speak O Lord To My Soul

Sing praises to God, our strength.

Sing to the God of Jacob.

Sing! Beat the tambourine.

Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

Psalm 81:1-2

In Psalm 80, the psalmist was pleading to the Lord for salvation. In Psalm 81, the psalmist shows us the two sides of salvation. We are saved from sin and death, and we are saved for a life within God’s favor and blessings as His beloved children.

Psalm 81 also provides a pattern for church worship services that is still followed. In the first five verses, there is a call to worship which is followed by God speaking to His people. Many worship services begin with a call to worship, prayers, hymn singing and presentation of tithes and offerings. Then the Word of God is proclaimed, and the congregation listens for God speaking to their souls.

This order, of first worship, then God speaking is incorporated by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12: 1-2,

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

When we gather for Sunday services, may Psalm 81 inspire us to worship God in truth and Spirit. When the pastor proclaims God’s Word, may we pray with expectant hearts, “Your servant is listening; speak O Lord to my soul.”

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.