Psalm 2:11 – “Serve the Lord with fear…”
The first inclination of man is not to be another person’s servant. After all, as Americans, we are told we have the “inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We have the right to choose how we want to live our lives and what path we to go down. Being a servant, or as most would see it, a slave, is not in our DNA, or is it?
Your understanding of Psalm 2:11 hinges on your worldview of God. The Bible teaches us there is only one God, Yahweh, who has always been and will always be. He created, sustains, and is actively involved in all things. He created us as a prize possession of His to reflect Him and bring honor and glory to His name.
It is then much easier to understand and live out Psalm 2:11 from this perspective. We were created to serve the Lord, to be His stewards, and through His eternal fourfold blessing in Genesis 1:28, He gave us all the abilities and resources to be His steward representatives. Vincent Van Gogh expressed it well; “there is something inside of us that longs to be of service to someone or something.”
The Hebrew word (abad) often carries the definitions of bondage, slavery, laborer, and worship. This ties in with how we usually interpret the word, as any activity performed for the sake of someone else. A deeper dive into the word root also reveals it can involve performing an activity for someone without an expectation of receiving anything in return.
So how do you serve God? Do you join a church, or serve on a church committee? Do you go into “full-time ministry”? Is it simply reading the Bible and praying? Perhaps these elements are included to varying degrees in our service, but it is much richer than this.
The Hebrew definition is drawn out for us in the three letters that make up our word serve (Abad), Ayin, Beth, and Daleth. Ayin represents deep spiritual insight. Only through knowing the Master’s heart will you understand how you can best serve Him. Beth is about keeping things clean and pure. True service is keeping the Master’s house (we are His temple) clean. Lastly, is Daleth which is a picture of being the doorway to all the Master’s blessings.
This word abad shows us that to serve God means we first need to understand His heart. Out of this understanding, we can then properly keep His house clean and pure, allowing us to be the doorway of expressing the fruits of the Spirit to others. Our serving God is to be a joyful exercise, not a deep, dark heavy sacrifice of slave labor. He promises us that when we are properly “yoked,” working alongside Him, it will be easy. (Matthew 11:28-30) Being yoked, serving becomes difficult when we are not working as a team and trying to do it our way or all on our own. Our power is not being used to multiply, but rather as a deterrent or a brake, if you will.
