Thursday, September 25, 2008
Change is coming
No blog today. I think I need to take this in a different direction and will do so soon.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Psalm 35
Psalm 35 (NCV)
v. 22-23: “Lord, You have been watching. Do not keep quiet. Lord, do not leave me alone. Wake up! Come and defend me! My God and Lord, fight for me!”
How often do you find yourself in the middle of a set of circumstances that seem to completely overwhelm you, and you don’t understand why they are the way they are? For example, people you treat as friends mistreat you, falsely accuse you, rejoice in seeing you falter or fall, yet you still care for them, pray for them when they are hurting, rejoice when they rejoice and cry when they cry. You find yourself unable to understand why they seem to be flourishing, flaunting their seeming successes at your expense. When they were in trouble you were there for them, helping them through it, yet when you face adversity, not only do they laugh and mock you, they often are part of the cause for that adversity. What would your response be in times like that?
In Psalm 35, that is exactly the situation David has found himself in and is crying out to God for deliverance from. David is feeling overwhelmed by the ferocity of his enemies (whom he treated as friends) and their desire to see him fail and fall. He describes them as desiring to see him shamed, ruined, he even calls them ravenous lions in their desire to see him torn apart, ripped to shreds. Their enjoyment at his trials baffles him, especially in light of how he cared for them when they were suffering, even praying and fasting for their relief from their troubles. What was his response to the treatment of these people? Did he call for their total and complete destruction for what they had done to him?
Actually, his cry was for God to come and fight for him on his behalf. He asked God to shame those who sought to shame him, ruin for those who sought to ruin him, for God to repay them for the evil they had done to him when he had done them good. David sought deliverance, salvation, from these enemies. Here’s what he didn’t do. He didn’t say, “God, I’m going after them for the way they’ve treated me. Go with me, fight with me, help me destroy them for how they have tried to destroy me.” David doesn’t go to God for vindication. He goes for deliverance. He goes to God and asks God to do all the fighting, all the delivering.
David knew that it would do no good for him to seek to solve the problem. By himself, he could accomplish nothing. However, he also knew that God cared for him and was more than capable of interceding on his behalf. So, rather than acting aggressively, he humbly cries out to God for help and salvation. He knew that God not only was able, but that by allowing God to do the fighting, two things would happen. First, the problem would be resolved totally and completely. Second, that by allowing God to fight his battles, God would receive all the glory for the victory. Throughout the psalm, David speaks of telling everyone of the greatness of God, of singing His praises to everyone around him. He knew that if his enemies defeated him, it would be more than just a personal defeat for him, but that his enemies would boast that they had defeated his God as well. David did not want that. He wanted God’s praises to be sung for and wide by all his friends, those who served his God with him and who would rejoice when God worked in their midst. Verses 27-28 close the psalm with this proclamation: “May my friends sing and shout for joy. May they always say, ‘Praise the greatness of the Lord, who loves to see his servants do well.’ I will tell of your goodness and will praise you every day.”
How does this apply to thoughts of worship? God desires to fight our battles for us. He knows that were we to fight on our own we would be defeated every time. He also knows that He is more than capable of winning every battle we will ever face. When we face a trial or problem, what solution gives God the greatest amount of glory, our slugging our way through, perhaps winning but completely worn down by the process, or if we were to go to God for deliverance, putting our trust in Him to fight the battle, then we carry on with our lives, giving Him all the praise and glory? David’s thought was for the greatness of God to be displayed first and foremost by God’s deliverance of him from his enemies. The same should be true for us. We don’t need to be living lives in fear of our circumstances or our enemies. Rather, we turn over the battle to the Lord. Now, before you think we have no responsibilities here, look more closely at David’s actions towards him enemies. He still treated them with the respect of friends. He didn’t rejoice when they were hurting or troubled, he didn’t treat them the way they treated him. Rather, he poured out the love of God toward them. Obviously, by the time David wrote this, he had been under attack for a while, given the amount of complaints against his enemies, yet never does he say that he had tried to attack them. He left the fighting to the Lord. He wanted God’s greatness and goodness to be on display.
Sometimes, living lives of worship means we go through times of great trial or attack, even from those we considered close to us. The worshipper knows, though, that God is his Shield, his Defender, and that living the life he’s been called to live, resting in the confidence of his faith in the Lord, brings the greatest witness, the greatest testimony, the greatest glory to God. So, turn the battle over to the Lord. Focus on giving Him praise and glory. Then you too can echo David’s prayer, “I will tell of your goodness and will praise you every day.”
v. 22-23: “Lord, You have been watching. Do not keep quiet. Lord, do not leave me alone. Wake up! Come and defend me! My God and Lord, fight for me!”
How often do you find yourself in the middle of a set of circumstances that seem to completely overwhelm you, and you don’t understand why they are the way they are? For example, people you treat as friends mistreat you, falsely accuse you, rejoice in seeing you falter or fall, yet you still care for them, pray for them when they are hurting, rejoice when they rejoice and cry when they cry. You find yourself unable to understand why they seem to be flourishing, flaunting their seeming successes at your expense. When they were in trouble you were there for them, helping them through it, yet when you face adversity, not only do they laugh and mock you, they often are part of the cause for that adversity. What would your response be in times like that?
In Psalm 35, that is exactly the situation David has found himself in and is crying out to God for deliverance from. David is feeling overwhelmed by the ferocity of his enemies (whom he treated as friends) and their desire to see him fail and fall. He describes them as desiring to see him shamed, ruined, he even calls them ravenous lions in their desire to see him torn apart, ripped to shreds. Their enjoyment at his trials baffles him, especially in light of how he cared for them when they were suffering, even praying and fasting for their relief from their troubles. What was his response to the treatment of these people? Did he call for their total and complete destruction for what they had done to him?
Actually, his cry was for God to come and fight for him on his behalf. He asked God to shame those who sought to shame him, ruin for those who sought to ruin him, for God to repay them for the evil they had done to him when he had done them good. David sought deliverance, salvation, from these enemies. Here’s what he didn’t do. He didn’t say, “God, I’m going after them for the way they’ve treated me. Go with me, fight with me, help me destroy them for how they have tried to destroy me.” David doesn’t go to God for vindication. He goes for deliverance. He goes to God and asks God to do all the fighting, all the delivering.
David knew that it would do no good for him to seek to solve the problem. By himself, he could accomplish nothing. However, he also knew that God cared for him and was more than capable of interceding on his behalf. So, rather than acting aggressively, he humbly cries out to God for help and salvation. He knew that God not only was able, but that by allowing God to do the fighting, two things would happen. First, the problem would be resolved totally and completely. Second, that by allowing God to fight his battles, God would receive all the glory for the victory. Throughout the psalm, David speaks of telling everyone of the greatness of God, of singing His praises to everyone around him. He knew that if his enemies defeated him, it would be more than just a personal defeat for him, but that his enemies would boast that they had defeated his God as well. David did not want that. He wanted God’s praises to be sung for and wide by all his friends, those who served his God with him and who would rejoice when God worked in their midst. Verses 27-28 close the psalm with this proclamation: “May my friends sing and shout for joy. May they always say, ‘Praise the greatness of the Lord, who loves to see his servants do well.’ I will tell of your goodness and will praise you every day.”
How does this apply to thoughts of worship? God desires to fight our battles for us. He knows that were we to fight on our own we would be defeated every time. He also knows that He is more than capable of winning every battle we will ever face. When we face a trial or problem, what solution gives God the greatest amount of glory, our slugging our way through, perhaps winning but completely worn down by the process, or if we were to go to God for deliverance, putting our trust in Him to fight the battle, then we carry on with our lives, giving Him all the praise and glory? David’s thought was for the greatness of God to be displayed first and foremost by God’s deliverance of him from his enemies. The same should be true for us. We don’t need to be living lives in fear of our circumstances or our enemies. Rather, we turn over the battle to the Lord. Now, before you think we have no responsibilities here, look more closely at David’s actions towards him enemies. He still treated them with the respect of friends. He didn’t rejoice when they were hurting or troubled, he didn’t treat them the way they treated him. Rather, he poured out the love of God toward them. Obviously, by the time David wrote this, he had been under attack for a while, given the amount of complaints against his enemies, yet never does he say that he had tried to attack them. He left the fighting to the Lord. He wanted God’s greatness and goodness to be on display.
Sometimes, living lives of worship means we go through times of great trial or attack, even from those we considered close to us. The worshipper knows, though, that God is his Shield, his Defender, and that living the life he’s been called to live, resting in the confidence of his faith in the Lord, brings the greatest witness, the greatest testimony, the greatest glory to God. So, turn the battle over to the Lord. Focus on giving Him praise and glory. Then you too can echo David’s prayer, “I will tell of your goodness and will praise you every day.”
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Psalm 34
Psalm 34:1-14 (NET)
v. 1-4: I will praise the Lord at all times; my mouth will continually praise Him. I will boast in the Lord; let the oppressed hear and rejoice! Magnify the Lord with me! Let’s praise His name together!
David’s just come through a very tense period in his life. And, unknown to him, about to enter an even greater period of tension. In this interlude, however, he stops and writes this psalm as an offering of praise. But he doesn’t want it just for himself. He wants all who hear or read or sing this psalm to praise God with him. Here’s the back story.
David has been running for his life from Saul, who wants to kill him. He and his men and their families have done the unthinkable in an effort to escape Saul – they’ve gone to the Philistines to live. For a short time they live in peace, secretly attacking Israel’s enemies, including the Philistines, while there. Then, one day, David gets called in to the king’s throne room. Fearing he’s been found out, David resorts to acting as if he’s crazy in the head, mental, while in the throne room, praying that the king would think him mad and send him away instead of killing him. It works, and David is allowed to leave. He and his men and their families are left alone. In joy, David pens this psalm.
Is it any wonder that he would be praising God? Absolutely not. But he doesn’t want to praise alone. He wants to praise God together with you and me and all who read his cry of praise, his song of salvation, his shout of joy in celebration of his deliverance. Praising God isn’t something we should want to do alone by ourselves. When God fills us up with joy we have to share it with everyone around us and we want them to join with us in praise. Think about the last time you had something incredible happen in your life. What was the first thing that you wanted to do? You had to tell someone. You didn’t keep it to yourself. You had to let others know. The same is true for our praise of God. We should want His praise to ring out, not only from our hearts and our lips, but from the hearts and lips of everyone around us. David greatly desires that we praise God together, and in the rest of the psalm he gives his reasons why God is so worthy of his praise in that moment. In other words, this is David’s new song (see yesterday’s post), and he’s sharing it with the rest of us.
First, David acknowledges that God is able to save us from all fear and rescue us from all trouble. David was fearful for his life and the lives of his people when he entered Abimelech’s throne room, that’s why he acted like a mad man. He saw God first-hand deliver him from his fears when he was released and realized that God had just saved him and his people from great trouble. He gives an incredible statement in verse 8. Taste and see that the Lord is good! He’s saying to go beyond just listening to or seeing or touching to full on commitment tasting Him. Not physically placing Him in your mouth, chewing and swallowing, of course. He’s telling us to commit, to go all the way, to place our faith and trust in God fully. In doing that, we will know, experientially and unequivocally, that He is good. When you place food in your mouth, chew and swallow, you’ve made the full commitment. There’s no turning back now. If the food is good or bad, it’s already in your system at some point and will affect you accordingly. David is saying, “God is great and good, but you’ll never know that if you don’t experience him. And to experience Him fully, you’ve got to go beyond the mere seeing or touching or even listening. You’ve got to make Him a part of your life. You’ve got to let Him touch and affect you to the deepest part of your being. When you do that, you’ll find that He’s the greatest and the most good you’ve ever had.” Taste and see.
When you do, here’s what you find. He is our Shelter and Provider. His loyal followers lack nothing. Here’s the thought of total commitment again. Lacking nothing – not our wants or our western idea of our needs, but we won’t lack the things we truly need, the stuff that keeps us going and living lives for God. We will lack no good thing. In Matthew 6 Jesus asks His followers the question, “Don’t you think God cares more for you than the flowers and the birds? Seek Him first. He will take care of the rest.” Paul extends the thought in Philippians 3:6 when he tells us not to worry or be anxious about anything but to go to God in prayer with humility and thankfulness. The admonition is to let God’s peace envelop and hold us so that, as the psalmist says, God becomes our Shelter and our Provider.
Recognizing the power and greatness of God, to commit wholly to Him and find our rest, our provision, our everything in Him – David describes this as part of what it means to fear the Lord. It’s a recognition of our responsibility to live our lives for Him and an awareness of His righteousness and anger toward sin. David asks, “Do you want to live a long, happy life? Then watch what you say. Be courteous, not destructive or deceptive with your words and your thoughts. Seek to do good and run from evil. Don’t just seek peace for yourself but strive to bring peace – real, lasting, comes only from God kind of peace – to everyone around you. In other words, seek God, be overwhelmed by Him and His love and faithfulness to you, allow Him to encompass you with His peace, then let your praise overflow from your heart so that everyone around you is invited to join in with your rejoicing and they too are introduced to His peace and the life He has for them. Let’s praise God together!
v. 1-4: I will praise the Lord at all times; my mouth will continually praise Him. I will boast in the Lord; let the oppressed hear and rejoice! Magnify the Lord with me! Let’s praise His name together!
David’s just come through a very tense period in his life. And, unknown to him, about to enter an even greater period of tension. In this interlude, however, he stops and writes this psalm as an offering of praise. But he doesn’t want it just for himself. He wants all who hear or read or sing this psalm to praise God with him. Here’s the back story.
David has been running for his life from Saul, who wants to kill him. He and his men and their families have done the unthinkable in an effort to escape Saul – they’ve gone to the Philistines to live. For a short time they live in peace, secretly attacking Israel’s enemies, including the Philistines, while there. Then, one day, David gets called in to the king’s throne room. Fearing he’s been found out, David resorts to acting as if he’s crazy in the head, mental, while in the throne room, praying that the king would think him mad and send him away instead of killing him. It works, and David is allowed to leave. He and his men and their families are left alone. In joy, David pens this psalm.
Is it any wonder that he would be praising God? Absolutely not. But he doesn’t want to praise alone. He wants to praise God together with you and me and all who read his cry of praise, his song of salvation, his shout of joy in celebration of his deliverance. Praising God isn’t something we should want to do alone by ourselves. When God fills us up with joy we have to share it with everyone around us and we want them to join with us in praise. Think about the last time you had something incredible happen in your life. What was the first thing that you wanted to do? You had to tell someone. You didn’t keep it to yourself. You had to let others know. The same is true for our praise of God. We should want His praise to ring out, not only from our hearts and our lips, but from the hearts and lips of everyone around us. David greatly desires that we praise God together, and in the rest of the psalm he gives his reasons why God is so worthy of his praise in that moment. In other words, this is David’s new song (see yesterday’s post), and he’s sharing it with the rest of us.
First, David acknowledges that God is able to save us from all fear and rescue us from all trouble. David was fearful for his life and the lives of his people when he entered Abimelech’s throne room, that’s why he acted like a mad man. He saw God first-hand deliver him from his fears when he was released and realized that God had just saved him and his people from great trouble. He gives an incredible statement in verse 8. Taste and see that the Lord is good! He’s saying to go beyond just listening to or seeing or touching to full on commitment tasting Him. Not physically placing Him in your mouth, chewing and swallowing, of course. He’s telling us to commit, to go all the way, to place our faith and trust in God fully. In doing that, we will know, experientially and unequivocally, that He is good. When you place food in your mouth, chew and swallow, you’ve made the full commitment. There’s no turning back now. If the food is good or bad, it’s already in your system at some point and will affect you accordingly. David is saying, “God is great and good, but you’ll never know that if you don’t experience him. And to experience Him fully, you’ve got to go beyond the mere seeing or touching or even listening. You’ve got to make Him a part of your life. You’ve got to let Him touch and affect you to the deepest part of your being. When you do that, you’ll find that He’s the greatest and the most good you’ve ever had.” Taste and see.
When you do, here’s what you find. He is our Shelter and Provider. His loyal followers lack nothing. Here’s the thought of total commitment again. Lacking nothing – not our wants or our western idea of our needs, but we won’t lack the things we truly need, the stuff that keeps us going and living lives for God. We will lack no good thing. In Matthew 6 Jesus asks His followers the question, “Don’t you think God cares more for you than the flowers and the birds? Seek Him first. He will take care of the rest.” Paul extends the thought in Philippians 3:6 when he tells us not to worry or be anxious about anything but to go to God in prayer with humility and thankfulness. The admonition is to let God’s peace envelop and hold us so that, as the psalmist says, God becomes our Shelter and our Provider.
Recognizing the power and greatness of God, to commit wholly to Him and find our rest, our provision, our everything in Him – David describes this as part of what it means to fear the Lord. It’s a recognition of our responsibility to live our lives for Him and an awareness of His righteousness and anger toward sin. David asks, “Do you want to live a long, happy life? Then watch what you say. Be courteous, not destructive or deceptive with your words and your thoughts. Seek to do good and run from evil. Don’t just seek peace for yourself but strive to bring peace – real, lasting, comes only from God kind of peace – to everyone around you. In other words, seek God, be overwhelmed by Him and His love and faithfulness to you, allow Him to encompass you with His peace, then let your praise overflow from your heart so that everyone around you is invited to join in with your rejoicing and they too are introduced to His peace and the life He has for them. Let’s praise God together!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Psalm 33
Psalm 33 (NCV)
v.1-3: Verse 1 states that all who do what is right (the righteous, in other translations) should sing to the Lord and that honest people should praise Him. The psalmist here is emphatically saying that all who are righteous, all who do what is right, should sing to the Lord, and not just singing songs, but that the honest (and if you’re righteous being honest should be a natural characteristic for you), should be singing songs or shouts of praise. In Psalm 32:7 the psalmist speaks of being filled with songs of salvation. The NET Bible calls these songs shouts of joy from people who are celebrating being delivered. I’ve talked with people who tell me that the reason they don’t sing or join in the worship at church is that music just doesn’t do it for them. Each of us has a different heart worship language, something that draws us into the presence of God more quickly than normal. For me, it’s music and nature. When I take the time just to stop and look around me, I see the handiwork of God in everything He’s created. That draws me to Him. The same with music. Whether it’s the message of the song or simply the majesty or beauty of a musical piece, I see God’s handiwork, His provision, His touch, and it helps to propel me into an awareness of Him. For others it may be something completely different. Here, however, the psalmist isn’t addressing a heart worship language, he’s addressing the need, the requirement almost, for those who are active followers of Jesus, those who are righteous, to express to God our praise and adoration, our worship, and to do it with music. While verse 1 speaks to using our voices in praise, verse 2 adds another element, instrumentation. Specifically mentioned here are a harp and lyre, stringed instruments, to be used in aiding our worship of our King. Verse 3 is an admonition to singers to sing new songs of praise to God and for the musicians to play to the best of their ability and to play joyfully.
Now, before you think I’m saying that everyone must sing in church and those who don’t sing are awful sinners, let’s talk about what it means to sing new songs of praise to God. Am I saying that we all must be walking around singing or we’re in grave disobedience? Of course not. That would look kind of scary, to be honest. Or sound very scary, especially around some people. Yet, I can tell you of people who can’t carry a tune in a bucket who have songs in their hearts that bubble over onto their faces and into everything they do. I love watching them worship. They may not be singing out loud, but their heart is giving shouts of praise and celebration because of what they’ve been delivered from and to Whom they have been delivered. For those of you who have no musical desires, never fear. Yes, the admonition here is to sing and make music. And, to briefly touch the subject, there should be a desire in all of us to join with others in a corporate offering of worship and praise to our God, which, yes, is often and sometimes most easily done through music and singing. But, as we know from when God selected David over his brothers, God is looking at our hearts. It’s very easy to sing words without examining the impact of what we’re saying or even to sing them and never mean them. That’s not what the psalmist is telling us to do. For those who are called righteous, we are to be lifting praise to God on a daily basis because He is worthy of our greatest admiration, praise, thanksgiving and awe. The psalmist, in the rest of the chapter, gives us reasons why we should be full of songs or expressions of praise towards God.
v.4-5 His word is true and everything He does is right. Not only that, but He loves what is right, and that love fills the entire earth.
v.6-9: The whole earth should worship and fear the Lord. Why? Because He spoke, and the sky was created. He breathed, and the stars winked into existence. The oceans and seas maintain their boundaries simply because He decreed it. His word is that powerful. He speaks and it happens.
v.10-12 His plans will last forever, and at any time He is able to thwart the plans of men. That’s why the people who follow Him are happy. They know He’s in complete control.
v.13-15 God watches everyone on earth. He sees everything that happens. And, because He made their hearts (physical and spiritual) He understands everything they do.
v.16-19 There is no power on earth that can guarantee victory in every war we fight. There is no army powerful enough, no weapon great enough. And yet, those whose hope is in the Lord have the confidence that He will watch over them, protect them, rescue them, simply because they rest in His love. Which is why
v.20-21 Our hope is in the Lord, our Shield, our Protector, our Strong Tower, our Strength. Because we trust in His word, in His holy name, our hearts are filled with songs of salvation, shouts of joy in celebration of deliverance from our enemies and deliverance into the love and grace of God.
v.22 The psalm ends with this prayer. “Lord, show Your love to us as we put our hope in You.”
When we live every day seeking this God, desiring to be devoted followers of Him and willing to subject ourselves to His correcting touch, we see this God revealed in ways that will blow our preconceptions and our minds with how great He really is. As Psalm 32:10 tells us, we will be overwhelmed by His love and faithfulness. When that happens, our hearts won’t be able to help but overflow in worship and adoration, with “songs of salvation and shouts of joy.” And that’s the new song the psalmist tells us to sing. We can sing Amazing Grace all day long, but if our heart isn’t consumed with the reality of that amazing grace we’re just singing tired, old words. (just wait) But, if we ARE consumed by His grace, then those same words become alive with great meaning and celebration. In other words, it’s all really a matter of the heart, YOUR heart, when it comes to singing songs of praise to the Lord.
So, sing new songs. Seek God, His truth, place your hope in Him and rest in His love. Bask in His glory and give Him the praise and honor and worship He is due. In return, He will fill your heart to overflowing with new songs every day of praise and thanksgiving. And you won’t be able to help yourself. Yes, even those of you who say you hate singing. In those moments you will find your own heart filled with song, even if only you and God ever hear it.
v.1-3: Verse 1 states that all who do what is right (the righteous, in other translations) should sing to the Lord and that honest people should praise Him. The psalmist here is emphatically saying that all who are righteous, all who do what is right, should sing to the Lord, and not just singing songs, but that the honest (and if you’re righteous being honest should be a natural characteristic for you), should be singing songs or shouts of praise. In Psalm 32:7 the psalmist speaks of being filled with songs of salvation. The NET Bible calls these songs shouts of joy from people who are celebrating being delivered. I’ve talked with people who tell me that the reason they don’t sing or join in the worship at church is that music just doesn’t do it for them. Each of us has a different heart worship language, something that draws us into the presence of God more quickly than normal. For me, it’s music and nature. When I take the time just to stop and look around me, I see the handiwork of God in everything He’s created. That draws me to Him. The same with music. Whether it’s the message of the song or simply the majesty or beauty of a musical piece, I see God’s handiwork, His provision, His touch, and it helps to propel me into an awareness of Him. For others it may be something completely different. Here, however, the psalmist isn’t addressing a heart worship language, he’s addressing the need, the requirement almost, for those who are active followers of Jesus, those who are righteous, to express to God our praise and adoration, our worship, and to do it with music. While verse 1 speaks to using our voices in praise, verse 2 adds another element, instrumentation. Specifically mentioned here are a harp and lyre, stringed instruments, to be used in aiding our worship of our King. Verse 3 is an admonition to singers to sing new songs of praise to God and for the musicians to play to the best of their ability and to play joyfully.
Now, before you think I’m saying that everyone must sing in church and those who don’t sing are awful sinners, let’s talk about what it means to sing new songs of praise to God. Am I saying that we all must be walking around singing or we’re in grave disobedience? Of course not. That would look kind of scary, to be honest. Or sound very scary, especially around some people. Yet, I can tell you of people who can’t carry a tune in a bucket who have songs in their hearts that bubble over onto their faces and into everything they do. I love watching them worship. They may not be singing out loud, but their heart is giving shouts of praise and celebration because of what they’ve been delivered from and to Whom they have been delivered. For those of you who have no musical desires, never fear. Yes, the admonition here is to sing and make music. And, to briefly touch the subject, there should be a desire in all of us to join with others in a corporate offering of worship and praise to our God, which, yes, is often and sometimes most easily done through music and singing. But, as we know from when God selected David over his brothers, God is looking at our hearts. It’s very easy to sing words without examining the impact of what we’re saying or even to sing them and never mean them. That’s not what the psalmist is telling us to do. For those who are called righteous, we are to be lifting praise to God on a daily basis because He is worthy of our greatest admiration, praise, thanksgiving and awe. The psalmist, in the rest of the chapter, gives us reasons why we should be full of songs or expressions of praise towards God.
v.4-5 His word is true and everything He does is right. Not only that, but He loves what is right, and that love fills the entire earth.
v.6-9: The whole earth should worship and fear the Lord. Why? Because He spoke, and the sky was created. He breathed, and the stars winked into existence. The oceans and seas maintain their boundaries simply because He decreed it. His word is that powerful. He speaks and it happens.
v.10-12 His plans will last forever, and at any time He is able to thwart the plans of men. That’s why the people who follow Him are happy. They know He’s in complete control.
v.13-15 God watches everyone on earth. He sees everything that happens. And, because He made their hearts (physical and spiritual) He understands everything they do.
v.16-19 There is no power on earth that can guarantee victory in every war we fight. There is no army powerful enough, no weapon great enough. And yet, those whose hope is in the Lord have the confidence that He will watch over them, protect them, rescue them, simply because they rest in His love. Which is why
v.20-21 Our hope is in the Lord, our Shield, our Protector, our Strong Tower, our Strength. Because we trust in His word, in His holy name, our hearts are filled with songs of salvation, shouts of joy in celebration of deliverance from our enemies and deliverance into the love and grace of God.
v.22 The psalm ends with this prayer. “Lord, show Your love to us as we put our hope in You.”
When we live every day seeking this God, desiring to be devoted followers of Him and willing to subject ourselves to His correcting touch, we see this God revealed in ways that will blow our preconceptions and our minds with how great He really is. As Psalm 32:10 tells us, we will be overwhelmed by His love and faithfulness. When that happens, our hearts won’t be able to help but overflow in worship and adoration, with “songs of salvation and shouts of joy.” And that’s the new song the psalmist tells us to sing. We can sing Amazing Grace all day long, but if our heart isn’t consumed with the reality of that amazing grace we’re just singing tired, old words. (just wait) But, if we ARE consumed by His grace, then those same words become alive with great meaning and celebration. In other words, it’s all really a matter of the heart, YOUR heart, when it comes to singing songs of praise to the Lord.
So, sing new songs. Seek God, His truth, place your hope in Him and rest in His love. Bask in His glory and give Him the praise and honor and worship He is due. In return, He will fill your heart to overflowing with new songs every day of praise and thanksgiving. And you won’t be able to help yourself. Yes, even those of you who say you hate singing. In those moments you will find your own heart filled with song, even if only you and God ever hear it.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Getting started
Not a real post (that's coming soon). just couldn't leave the blog alone with nothing here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)