"Thank You for the Invitation"

Scripture: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. "
-Psalms 122:1

On Labor Day of this year, my wife and I had dinner with another married couple from our church. For a good while, my wife and I had stated that we wanted to have dinner with them and enjoy their company. During our Family Reunion weekend at the church, the couple extended the invitation for us to come. When it was all said and done, we had played Wii, enjoyed some great food, had great fellowship, and have firmly established a new set of friends within the area. Because of that, as my wife and I were driving home, we were glad that they extended the invitation. If we look at this thing spiritually, God extends us an invitation every Sunday morning. He extends to us an invitation to come and worship Him in spirit and in truth! He extends to us an invitation to come and fellowship with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! How do we know this invitation is extended? Today's text provides us clarity.

Our focal book today is the longest book of the Bible, Psalms. This particular chapter was penned by King David. As he was writing this chapter, God had just established Jerusalem as the "Holy City" and said that this is the city where He would record His name. At this time as well, many of the Israelites came to Jerusalem to worship and participate in the feasts as well. Because of God's proclamation of Jerusalem being His city, David writes today's many scripture with excitement and jubilance.

We know that because he starts the text off by saying, "I was glad when they said unto me". If you translate the Hebrew word for glad, it's Samach. Samach means "to rejoice; to be glad". When you hear about someone receiving a promotion or a job they have been waiting on, you ought to samach with them! When you hear about someone receiving healing from a disease or receiving a good health report, you ought to samach with them! When God whispers in your ear, Good Morning and wakes you up, you ought to samach because God was good to you! When you get an extension to pay your bills when your change was strange and your money is funny, you ought to samach and thank God! Despite what this world gives you or what it looks like, you ought to samach each and every day you are living!

Now, we see that David was glad and he was samaching. What invitation was David thanking God for? The text closes it out by saying, "Let us go into the house of the Lord". Earlier, in the introduction, we mentioned how we ought to thank God that He extended us an invitation for us to worship Him, to fellowship with our brothers and sisters, and to see praise Him on Sunday morning. We ought to tell God Thank You for the invitation because He told us to come into His house! Ladies and gentlemen, God does not care how filthy or clean you are, He does not care if you are rich or poor, He does not how old or young you are, He does not care if you are sick or healthy, He has extended to you an invitation to come into His house! Because of that, we ought to give Him praise when we are in His house! We ought to give Him worship when we are in His house! We ought to love our families correctly when we are in and out of His house! We ought to tell Him Thank You for the Invitation!

In closing, my wife and I would not have learned more about our friends if they did not extend the invitation. Because they did extend the invitation, we are eternally grateful to them and they know that they come and see us anytime! Just like that, God has given us the chance to come and see Him at His house! He does not care about the condition we are in, He just wants us there! As I close today, in your quiet time, just tell God Thank You for the invitation and opening up His house to you!