Tag Archives: the book of Psalms

“I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD.'”  (Psalm 122:1, KJV)

Okay, a status check: Do we (really) look forward to opportunities for corporate worship?

A lot of things conspire to dampen our enthusiasm for worship with others: The sermon doesn’t engage us; the hymns seem random; and — truth be told — the other folks at worship don’t seem too keen to be there, either.

No matter.  Perhaps a clue to David’s enthusiasm for approaching the place of corporate worship is found in the preceding psalm (Psalm 121:2): “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!”

For all of God’s gifts to us, gratitude and praise is the only appropriate response.  In the words of an old song of the church, “count your many blessings; count them one by one.  Count your many blessings, see what God has done!”

Brighten your day with gratitude and praise!  – Luther

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“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers — the moon and the stars you set in place — what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?  (Psalm 8:3-4, NLT)

The span of the universe is not measured in miles, but in light-years.  The moon and the stars — witnesses to every generation of humanity since Adam — maintain their mysterious magnificence.

The psalmist marvels at the fact that the finite, flawed, foundering beings that we are, nevertheless occupy the thoughts of the Creator of the universe; and, somehow, warrant the condescension and the salvation of the Maker of the moon and the stars.

Do we, like the psalmist, marvel, too?   – Luther

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“I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.”  (Psalm 13:6, NIV)

What has the Lord done for you?

What has been your response?

The psalmist credited God as the ultimate source of all that was good in his life; not others, not luck, not happenstance or fortune, not even himself.  Then, having correctly identified the One behind every gracious act and every gift; the psalmist’s sang the Lord’s praise in response.

To whom are you giving credit for all of the good in your life; and what is your response?  – Luther

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