In other words, our worship is not good or bad because we sing old or new songs. Rather, the only important question is whether our worship exalts God’s work and character. Does our worship direct our heart’s longing towards the vindication and celebration of God’s glory over all people and things? Indeed, that is how we must worship. And that is how we are going to worship.
Read MoreIn the Old Testament the “horn” is the oft-used symbol of strength. And notice what that God has given “praise for all his saints” as the “horn for his people.” In other words, praise is our strength. Praising the LORD is what makes us secure. Praise is our protection is this world, and the power of the ages to come. Praise the LORD!
Read MoreIndeed, the most important hour of the week is the hour God’s people gather to worship God. If everyone in the church had the same conviction, within weeks our nation will be a different place. So let this short hour transform our lives rest of the week. Come and worship the Lord. Then leave his presence with your hearts lifted up and warmed.
Read MoreLet us sing with joy to our Savior and Lord. Our trust in men will be disappointed. Our trust in Jesus will never prove us fools.
Read MoreThe balance between Old and New Testaments at this point is interesting — a balance, not an exclusive approach. In the New Testament, the summons is to go out (Matthew 28:19); in the Old Testament the task is to attract in, to be the magnetic people of Deuteronomy 4:5—8. If your church and mine is not worth belonging to why should anyone want to join?
Read MoreThe balance between Old and New Testaments at this point is interesting — a balance, not an exclusive approach. In the New Testament, the summons is to go out (Matthew 28:19); in the Old Testament the task is to attract in, to be the magnetic people of Deuteronomy 4:5—8. If your church and mine is not worth belonging to why should anyone want to join?
Read MoreIn the New Testament, the summons is to go out (Matthew 28:19); in the Old Testament the task is to attract in, to be the magnetic people of Deuteronomy 4:5—8. If your church and mine is not worth belonging to why should anyone want to join?
Read MoreThis is the attitude expressed by ‘until’ in Psalm 123:2, a place of stillness in the middle of the storm.
Read MoreThe Lord delivered David. And in doing so he teaches us that no one who takes refuge in the Lord will be denied. Everyone who turns to God for help will be heard. Whether for salvation or for deliverance from trials, whether our heart is “high” or “low”, we can rest in God. He is faithful.
Read MoreEvery time we confess our failures, and every time we believe his promise of pardon, God subdues our worst enemy, us, and remakes us in Christ’s likeness. Indeed, we cannot have less of our enemy without having more of Christ.
Read MoreAnd note how David responds to God’s sovereign power and control over our lives: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” Indeed, they are very precious. God is perfect, and his perfections secure our grace and hope. That is why we praise the Almighty God.
Read MoreAre you troubled? Have you lost your courage to press on? Let Ps 138 comfort you. For as we consider his steadfast love and faithfulness, we will say with David, “my strength of soul you have increased.” And in time, his rescue will come. We can be sure of it, for his name and word must be exalted over all things.
Read MoreSo let’s say it together. Let’s say it together twenty six times. Or how every many times it takes for the truth to grab our hearts and thanks and praise explode out of our hearts. Let us praise the Lord together, “for his steadfast love endures forever.”
Read MoreNote, then, how the psalmist is not diminished by his worship of the LORD, but he truly comes to his full self. He sees the beauty of the LORD, speaks his praise, understands the promises, and truly comes alive. How blessed it is to praise the LORD! For it makes us what we were truly meant to be. So we join the psalmist and say, “Blessed be the LORD from Zion, he who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the LORD!”
Read MoreWe are also pilgrims. Our journey does not lead us to the earthly Jerusalem, but to heavenly Jerusalem. And we will count every step as blessing. Every step that leads us home, however hard the road may be, is a step that brings us closer to glory and joy. And while we make our journey, we will certainly pray for, and receive, help. But we will also bless the LORD. We will bless the servants of the LORD.
Read MoreAnd it is in these precise terms David describes the spiritual fellowship of fellow pilgrims. For we experience God’s presence and blessing in fellowship with other believers in ways not possible on our own. There is glory and joy in sharing our pilgrimage with one another.
Read MoreJesus is both the Temple and the Temple-builder. In Jesus, the honor of Temple-building and worship are ours. Psalm 132 is our song.
Read MoreIn the end, contentment is not something that happens to us when we are no longer unsettled about life and the many questions that remain unanswered. Rather, we can be content because we know God, before whom all questions are answered.
Read MoreHow shall we respond to God’s mercy? We must not continue to think of him like a harmless trinket, as if he were a useful fool. We all want the God for forgiveness. But did you read what follows? “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” Now we must be broken before him, although in a different sense. We shatter our pride, stubbornness, selfishness, self-adulation, that we may find ourselves made whole in God. And so we will find his mercy made complete in us.
Read MoreSo we sing and pray. May the LORD give us the grace to love and do good to those who hate us. In doing so we will grow ever closer to the LORD who daily loves and does good to us. But we can also sing and pray that all oppression come to an end and all oppressors be utterly rejected by God. In this way, also, we will grow closer to the LORD, who is goodness himself.
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