Psalm 113:1-9

We are called to praise the Lord.  The greatness of the Lord should always be on our lips.  He should be the subject of our public conversations as well as our private meditations.  God is certainly worthy of our praise; the amazing thing is that He desires our praise.  We are the ones who are not worthy of praising Him; and yet by His loving kindness He gives us the honor of living to praise Him.  Praising God should be our greatest honor and most delightful pleasure.  There are countless reasons that we should praise the Lord, but this Psalm points out two of the most prominent of them.

WE PRAISE GOD BECAUSE HE IS GLORIOUS: We praise that which is extraordinary, and God is very extraordinary.  God is glorious and is always worthy of our praise.  We are His servants and He has given us the task of using all of our skills to praise Him.  This will be our task not only for the time that we live on the earth, but will occupy our time and be the focus of our efforts for all of eternity.  We are to fill each moment of every day with the praise of the Lord.  He is over us and He is over all the nations of the world.  His glory reaches to the greatest heights of the heavens and nobody can compare to Him.  It is a great honor to know God since He has revealed Himself to us.  It is an even greater honor to be given the task of praising His glorious name.


WE PRAISE GOD BECAUSE HE IS GRACIOUS: God’s graciousness is evident in His dealings with each and every one of us.  He is exalted so far above us, yet He lovingly cares and provides for us.  That is grace.  We do not deserve this blessed favor but He is faithful to give it to us.  He sees our sinful state and He makes provision for us through the Lord Jesus Christ.  We were dead and He made us alive.  We were wallowing in the mud and slime of our sin and He washed us in the blood of the Lamb.  We were far from Him and He raised us up to be sons and daughters of the King.  We were worthless and homeless vagrants and He has made us productive citizens of heaven.  His grace is abundant and glorious and should fill our hearts with joyful praise every moment of every day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Isaiah 54:1-17

Hope is a wonderful blessing from God, without which we would be vulnerable to all kinds of destructive tendencies in our lives.  Today’s society is marked by depression, anger, fear, anxiety and self-righteousness, in large part, because of the sense of hopelessness that prevails in our culture.  Isaiah writes to a people who are about to be taken into captivity because of their sin.  God knows that they will feel rejected, threatened and hopeless so He reveals His future plans for the nation in order to give them hope in the midst of the coming trial.  Hope is the expectation of good based upon the promises of God.  Many times when our lives are marked by the sins mentioned above it is because we have forgotten or failed to focus upon the promises of God’s Word. THE PROMISE OF GOD: From the very first day that God revealed His plan for the nation of Israel, He promised numerous descendants.  God chose Abraham, not because he was more righteous than any of the other people of his
Read more

1 Timothy 2:11-15

Let a woman learn quietly   with all submissiveness.    I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.    For Adam was formed first,   then Eve;   and Adam was not deceived, but   the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.    Yet she will be saved through   childbearing—if they continue in   faith and love and holiness, with self-control. There is certainly controversy and confusion about this passage in many churches today.  The idea of a distinction between men and women and their roles in the family and church certainly goes against the flow of many cultures around the world.  Some would argue that the literal and plain teaching of this passage is no longer applicable to today’s culture.  However, it is always dangerous to discard biblical teaching or try to interpret Scripture based on the cultures in which we live.  Certainly, the Spirit who inspired this text was aware of the many changes that would occur in future cul
Read more

1 Timothy 1:1-2

Paul,   an apostle of Christ Jesus   by command of   God our Savior and of Christ Jesus   our hope, To Timothy,   my true child in the faith:   Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. The true sign of maturity is multiplication.  Believers, churches, and ministries that do not reproduce are not demonstrating true maturity.  One of the key characteristics we can identify in Paul’s ministry is that he was constantly reproducing godly believers who were faithfully following the Lord.  Evangelism, discipleship, and leadership training are the hallmarks of mature ministers and ministries.   THE APOSTLE: Paul was called by God to be an Apostle.  Though Paul converted after the resurrection and assentation of Jesus, he met Jesus in the road to Damascus and was instructed by Jesus in the desert.  Paul considered himself to be the least of the Apostles because he persecuted the church and did not walk with Jesus on earth like the other Apostles.  However, God had
Read more