In my Quiet Time this morning, I was reading and praying through Psalm 101, when verse 6 almost literally jumped off the page to me. It says (in the Amplified, of course): “My eyes shall look with favor upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks blamelessly, he shall minister to me.” (bold typing, mine)
I had just written in my journal my daily prayer for the Lord to show me His glory and that He would help me to be a blessing to Him. But I really never considered going beyond being a blessing to Him by ministering to Him. I pray to minister to people, but never thought to voice the prayer to minister to God.
So, I asked the Lord this question: “How can I minister to you?”. The answer was already right in front of me – “Walk blamelessly”. Then He drew me back to the beginning of Psalm 101, and opened my eyes to the fact that the whole Psalm talks about “HOW” to be blameless – therefore “HOW” to minister to the Lord.
It was such a blessing to me, I wanted to share it with you. And, when my children awake this morning, I’m going to share it with them, too. If there was ever a time where we and our children needed to walk blamelessly, it is in these times. As I went through this list from Psalm 101, I summarized what I understood or received from the verse, then asked the Lord for some practical “hows” from His Word to do what is outlined in this Psalm. I’ve put His answers in italics.
How to Minister to the Lord (or, How to walk blamelessly)taken from Psalm 101
*Behave myself wisely (Psalm 101:2)
How?
“If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.” James 1:5-8, The Message
“Take good counsel and accept correction— that’s the way to live wisely and well.” Proverbs 19:20, The Message
*Set no wicked or base thing before my eyes (Psalm 101:3)
How?
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” Gal. 5:16, New Living Translation
*Do not get caught up and entangled or addicted to people, places, or things that turn aside from the right path. (Psalm 101:3)
How?
“And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.” Colossians 3:5-8, The Message
*Make any perverse loves, desires, and longings depart from me and my life. (Psalm 101:4)
How?
“My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. “ Gal. 5:16-21, The Message
*Remain unattached to evil people and things (Psalm 101:4)
How?
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. “ Phil. 4:8-9, The Message
*Do not privately, or publically slander others – anyone! (Psalm 101:5)
How?
“Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].
Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has [freely] forgiven you, so must you also [forgive].
And above all these [put on] love and enfold yourselves with the bond of perfectness [which binds everything together completely in ideal harmony].” Colossians 3:12-14
*Do NOT have a haughty look, or a proud and arrogant heart. God can not and will not tolerate this! (Psalm 101:5)
How?
“And have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it.
[In this new creation all distinctions vanish.] There is no room for and there can be neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, [nor difference between nations whether alien] barbarians or Scythians [who are the most savage of all], nor slave or free man; but Christ is all and in all [everything and everywhere, to all men, without distinction of person].” Colossians 3:10-11, Amplified
*Be faithful (Psalm 101:6)
How?
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” Phil. 3:7-11, New Living Translation
*Do not work deciet or manipulate (Psalm 101:7)
How?
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:5-7, NIV
*Do not tell lies – because the liar, deciever, or manipulator will not continue in God’s presence. (Psalm 101:7)
How?
“Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. “ Col. 3:9-10, The Message
And finally, how to minister to the Lord, and how to remain blameless? Seek God morning after morning, so that He can “root up all the wicked” in me. (Psalm 101:8)
Our Precious, Loving, Gracious, Saving, Giving Lord ministers to us in so many ways… How could we not want to live our lives as a ministry to Him? I’m praying to minister TO Him, then THROUGH Him. How about you?
This is wonderful! Please read what the Lord spoke to me through this very psalm last week (Post: "Herd and Follow")! When I noticed "Psalm 101" under your post title on my sidebar, I was most anxious to peek at what He told you. I love when He speaks so clearly…
In the Psalms (somewhere) it says, "offer sacrifices of righteousness"…God spoke to me through that the same message you received here. Ministering to the Lord is "sacrifice" which means costly in earthly things, but such rich gains in our relationship with the Lord and eternity!!
Sweet blessings to you!
~Kathy
Wow, what a high calling, but an excellent one to strive for! Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
It is amazing to think that the way I live my life can Minister to the Lord! WOW!!!
Thank you for sharing that!!!
You have been my wise counsel this morning.