Tag Archive | Praise & Thanksgiving

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 128

May7

    Day 128—We are in our FIFTH month of Bible reading.   Are you loving God more each day? Are you reciting, praying, and singing the Psalms we’ve been reading?  Share in the comments section.

    Day 128 – Psalms 25, 29, 33. 36. 39. – (Psalms of praise, worship, and commitment  by David and others.)

In Psalm 25, David pleads for a go,dly life: “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust…”   “Make me to know your ways, O LORD. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me…”   “Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love.”

In Psalm 29, David seeds to glorify and magnify God. “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.”  Then David writes a series of metaphors from creation that show God’s power with gentleness.

In Psalm 33, the psalmist encourages God’s people to shout for joy, give thanks to the LORD, make melody to him on instruments, and sing new songs to him.  He describes the power in God’s Word and what happens whenever He speaks.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as his heritage!  The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of man; from where He sits enthroned, He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.”     “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death…”

Psalm 36 begins by describing the heart of the wicked but soon turns to the love and mercy of God. “How precious is your steadfast love, O God!”    “Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know You, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!”

David is introspective in Psalm 39.  First, he pledges, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle so long as the wicked are in my presence.”   Next, he shows his vulnerability.  “O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!”

“Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!

Surely a man goes about as a shadow!

Surely, for nothing, they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!”

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(If you feel like reading more along this vein, turn to Psalm 90:4-16, James 4:13-15, and Luke 12:16-21.)

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And David finishes with, “And now, O LORD, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.”

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 123

May2

    Day 123—As we begin our FIFTH month of Bible reading, pause and reflect.   What insights have you gained about God and yourself through reading so far?

Day 123 – Psalm 106 – 107 – (Praising God despite His people’s unfaithfulness.  Thanking God for His faithfulness in His people’s sins.)
These are two wonderful psalms that I recommend you read several times today and later. They mirror our failings as believers who sin often and our merciful, loving, forgiving GOD who disciplines but never breaks His promises to us.
Psalm 106 begins by calling Israel (and us) to praise and thanksgiving, and it tells us why: because the LORD is good and because His love and mercy toward them (and us) are forever. Wow.
Over and over, the psalmist confesses their sin.
Verse 5: “Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.”
Verses 14-15: “…they soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel. But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert.”
Verses 20-21: “They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their savior…”
Verses 24-25: “Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in His promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD.”
Verse 28-29: “Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and at sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds…”
Verses 32, 34, 37-39:  “They angered Him at the waters of Meribah…”   “They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD commanded…”   “They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.”   “…they became unclean by their acts and played the whore in their deeds.”
****The details are different, but we, too, have sinned, disobeyed, and flaunted God’s loving commands.
But… over and over, the psalmist (almost in amazement) records how God forgave and saved them. Verse 8: “,…for His name’s sake, that He might make know His mighty power.”   And verses 44-45: “He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry. For their sake, he remembered His covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.”
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say; “Amen!” Praise the LORD!” Verse 48
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Psalm 107 begins with a call to thank the LORD and gives reasons.  “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”  “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble…”
Verses 4 – 32 contain four sections describing four types of people or situations. They show how God helped these people when they cried to Him and what their response should be. These sections begin with the word “some…”
Verses 4-9.  “Some wandered in desert wastes…” “…hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.” 
“They cried to the LORD… and He delivered them from their distress…”
“Oh, that men would praise the LORD for His goodness and mercy to the children of man!”
“For He satisfies the longing soul and the hungry souls he fills with good things.”
Verses 10-16.  “Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons…” 
  “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them in their distress.”
“Oh, that men would praise the LORD for His goodness and mercy to the children of man!”
“For He shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.”
Verses 17-22.  “Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters.”   “(He) commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted UP to heaven; they went DOWN to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they REELED and STAGGERED like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.”  
“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.”
“He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed….”   “… He brought them to their desired haven.”
“Oh, that men would praise the LORD for His goodness and mercy to the children of man!”
In verses 33-42, the psalmists list more of the LORD’s mercies and His care for His own and end with this:
“Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.”
****Oh, may you and I do that every day of our lives, for it is only by his love and mercy that we exist!  Thanks be to our God.