pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: praise


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Bringing Praise

Reading: Psalm 149: 1-5

Verses 4-5: “He crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor”.

Songs in the life of a believer today function much as the Psalms did for the nation of Israel. They were reminders of God’s love and faithfulness that remained a gift to the people irregardless of their behavior or obedience to God. The words of songs today remind us of God’s love and presence in the same ways. In worship on Sunday the songs and hymns reflect the ideas and themes of the scripture and the message. In daily life songs come to mind as we are joyful and as we are sorrowful, as we are seeking wisdom and as we need a bit of reassurance.

Today’s Psalm has two parts. Verses one through five call upon us to sing to, to praise, to rejoice in the Lord. Verses six through nine carry a very different tone and feel. These verses are for tomorrow!

In the opening verse of Psalm 149 we are encouraged to sing a new song to the Lord. God is ever at work in our lives and in the world. This work provides the daily soundtrack to our songs and to our prayers. Next we are called to rejoice in our maker. Creator God formed each of us and gifted each of us for his purposes in the world. We can rejoice in how we are uniquely and wonderfully made. Yet we are also created in his image. This is also certainly a cause for rejoicing!

In verse four we are reminded that this is not a one way celebration or relationship. In this verse we are reminded that “God takes delight in his people”. God rejoices in us. Imagine hearing God sing a song of joy and celebration with your name in it today.

The first half of the Psalm closes with this truth: “He crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor”. God shows his delight in us in the gift of salvation. It is how God can be with us forever. It is the path to a glorious reunion. Talk about a reason to praise God. May we rejoice and sing for joy this day of God’s great love for each of us. May the words that flow from our lips and the secret things of our hearts all bring the Lord our praises today.

Prayer: Lord God, I rejoice in my place in your kingdom. As I fill it today may my life bring you the honor and the glory. May each word and thought and action be an act of praise and love. Amen.


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On Our Side

Reading: Psalm 124

Verse 8: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth”.

Have you ever felt like the psalmist feels? Have you ever felt like life was about to topple you over and sweep you away? As we live on this earth and pass through our years, we will have moments where we can relate to our reading for today. There will be days when we feel attacked, when we feel “anger flare against us”, when we feel the raging waters about to engulf us. On these days and in these seasons we too have turned to the Lord for strength, comfort, courage, direction, protection… We too can relate to the opening verse: “If the Lord had not been on our side…”. We would have crumpled, given in, been overwhelmed.

The Israelites would have sung this Psalm while going up to the temple or while traveling to Jerusalem for one of the yearly festivals that worshipped God. It reminded them of how God had spared them, breaking the enemy’s snare. What events in your life could be used to sing a song of God’s deliverance? Looking back over your life, when has God been your rescuer, your helper, your shield? In verse eight we read, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth”. God is indeed our help. Take a moment, collect those times in your mind, and lift a song or prayer of worship and praise to God, thanking the Lord for his presence in times of trial.

Prayer: Living and eternal God, you have been so good to me. When I have felt the fire, you were my shield. When I have wept tears of pain, you were my comforter. When I faced my giants, you have been my strength. When I have wandered in the desert, you were the clear voice calling me back. Thank you, maker of heaven and earth. Amen.


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Good and Pleasant

Reading: Psalm 133

Verse 1: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] live together in unity”.

Psalm 133 is a song of praise. It begins with a reminder of the fellowship of believers: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] live together in unity”. I did add ‘sisters’ in because God’s inclusive love revealed in Jesus has shown us that all people have innate value and sacred worth in God’s kingdom. It is good and pleasant not only for God when humanity lives in harmony, but it is good and pleasant for us as well. Faith is not meant to only be a solo pursuit. While there are times for personal prayer, study, meditation, and worship, God designed humanity as social beings. We were created to live and worship in community. Communal worship and Christian fellowship are important parts of our faith.

For the Israelites worship was led by the priests. Aaron was the first high priest. He would lead worship in the tabernacle out in the desert. Aaron’s descendants would continue to serve in the temple, leading worship, offering the sacrifices, caring for the place of worship. The oil referred to by the psalmist would be the fragrant consecration oil used yearly to anoint the priests. It carried a beautiful aroma that was also good and pleasant to God and to God’s people. The oil signified the pouring out of God’s blessings upon his people. The fragrance was a tactile reminder of God’s love.

Gathering together for worship is another tactile reminder of God’s love. To gather in the sanctuary, to look around at our diversity – young and old, single and married, rich and poor, men and women… – does good for the soul. To see the diversity gathered together to praise and worship the Lord is a good and pleasant thing for God and for each worshipper. It is a visual reminder that we are all God’s children. As you consider your church family and recall the last time you gathered together, smile and rejoice as you thank God for how good and pleasant your family of faith is to you!

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for my church family. Thank you for my immediate congregation as well as for brothers and sisters from past congregations and for fellow believers from other traditions. Together we are a beautiful tapestry. Thank you God. Amen.


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Remember and Celebrate

Reading: Psalm 105: 1-11 and 45b

Verse 4: “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always”.

The psalmist celebrates God’s presence among his people. God entered into covenant relationship with Israel early in the stages of humanity and has kept the covenant with Israel through a succession of leaders. Abraham and Jacob are mentioned in today’s Psalm. The psalmist encourages us to celebrate through song all the “wonders he has done”. To remember and celebrate God’s loving actions strengthens the faith. Remembering God’s covenant love and how that has been worked out over the many generations brings joy to the heart and soul. The psalmist makes the connection between remembering and moving forward in verse four. Here he writes, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always”.

Through the love and wonders of Christ we have been included in the family of God. Through the new covenant, through the giving of his life for our sake, we have been added to the family. We too have the same call then to give thanks, to praise God and Jesus for the things they have done, and to celebrate our place in the covenant family. Let us do so today. As you ponder your faith journey and the journey of your community of faith, what are you thankful for? Which acts of God or Jesus bring you joy and encouragement? How will you celebrate these and your place in the family of God today? As we take time to remember and celebrate, may we too praise the Lord!

Prayer: Loving, kind, compassionate God, thank you for drawing me into the family long ago and for walking with me all these years. Patient, merciful, and forgiving God, thank you for the hand up, the dusting off, the washing clean each and every time I’ve stumbled. Generous, faithful, everlasting God, thank you for your enduring love – both for me and for all generations. I praise your holy name today! Amen.


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Loving God and Neighbor

Reading: Matthew 11: 16-19

Verse 18: “John came neither eating or drinking… The Son of Man came eating and drinking”.

Today’s passage from Matthew is part of Jesus’ response to John the Baptist asking if Jesus really is the one to come, “or should we expect someone else”? John is in prison for speaking the truth against the political leader. From prison he sees Jesus’ ministry as much different than his own. John had gone into the wilderness, away from the trappings of the world. There he lived a very pious life as he called people to repentance in preparation for the coming Messiah. He baptized people into a renewed walk with God. The religious came to John to find faith once again. John baptized Jesus himself and heard God declare Jesus his beloved Son. And now, as he sees Jesus doing ministry in a different way, he questions if Jesus is the one.

Today, one way we demonstrate our love of God is by gathering for worship. Another way we demonstrate our love of God is by serving others through the sharing of our time, our resources, and of ourselves. Although in a place without walls, John had a specific place where he ministered. To see and hear John preach and to be baptized, one went to John. To him, his life of simplicity and piety modeled a faithful relationship with God. In these ways, John was much like the Pharisees and other religious leaders. Yet John clashed with them because he saw that they loved the law more than they loved God. But like John, they said come to the temple, follow our rules, be like us. Neither John nor the religious leaders had much understanding of Jesus’ forms of ministry. He was radically different.

Jesus went to the sinners and tax collectors and other outsiders. He sought them out and then he sat and ate with them, forming relationships. The religious accused Jesus of touching and eating with the unclean and the impure. They saw him fellowshipping with them and labeled him a “glutton and a drunkard“. Jesus chose to get outside the established walls of the temple and synagogues – to go to the people who would not enter these places. He went to those who felt unwelcomed, to those who felt unworthy, to those who were outcasts and who were marginalized. Jesus often went to the non-religious so that they too could live a life of faith. Why? To demonstrate that all people are worthy of God’s love, to show that all people are welcome in God’s family.

As Christians we are called to love God and to bring him our praise and worship as we lift his name on high. As Christians we are called to love neighbor as we minister to them in Jesus’ name. This also lifts his name on high. May we always seek to do both. Faith is not an either/or. As we love God and neighbor, we are living out our gospel imperative to transform the world. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, may my faith and love be clear to you and to the world. May my thoughts, words, and actions bring you the praise and glory. Amen.


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Trust

Reading: Psalm 13

Verse 5: “I will trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation”.

David follows the typical pattern found in lament Psalms: pouring out his heart and his pain and then coming to the Lord in praise. I think that this pattern is typical of many of our deepest relationships. At times we need to express the hurt or frustration or anger that we are experiencing and then we can move on in that situation or relationship. On a smaller scale that is “venting” or “letting off steam”. On a bigger scale it can be finally having that really good cry. Both bring relief or cleanse our thoughts and emotions enough so that we can focus on what really matters. For persons of faith, that means focusing first on God and on our relationship with God.

In verse five David finally gets to this point. Here he writes, “I will trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation”. Head and heart being expressed, he can now turn to the more eternal, more powerful force: God. I too can get bogged down in the worldly stuff from time to time. It can be a difficult situation or it can just be from too much busyness. In those times the focus becomes more on me and my concerns. God seems to take more of a back seat. Then I end up where David is in the first few verses of Psalm 13 – feeling distant from God and wondering where God went. Soon enough God reminds me that it was me who created distance, me who allowed something else to take priority in my life or heart or mind. In a passage or something I read, in a song or in the words of a friend, I am reminded of that unfailing love and of the hope I have in his saving grace. It is then that a song or prayer of praise fills my heart.

Songs of lament are good reminders that life will be hard at times. We will struggle, especially when we shift our eyes and focus from the one who is worthy of our praise. Today’s Psalm reminds us to allow ourselves to feel and to express our emotions to God, trusting in his love and care. May we ever turn to God, the rock of our salvation.

Prayer: Lord of all creation, in the highs and lows, you are the same. Whether I am on the mountaintop or in the depth of the valley, you are steadfast and true. Remind me over and over to turn to you, to hold fast to you. You are my rock and only hope. Amen.


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Good and Faithful

Reading: Psalm 100

Verse 5: “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever”.

Today’s Psalm of praise is one that can be used to give thanks to the Lord for who God is. It could have been sung during the procession to worship or in the worship itself. The psalmist calls for worshiping God with gladness and with joyful songs. There is an exuberance in these words that one can feel. This close connection to God is built upon the words of verse three: “we are his people, the sheep of his pasture”. We are God’s and God is ours. Hallelujah!

The frame of mind and heart found in verse four in one we should practice daily. Enter the holy place with thanksgiving and praise. Whether that is the temple or the sanctuary or your dining room table, enter with thanksgiving and praise. Come into that space recognizing the power and might and majesty of God. Come in acknowledging the blessing after blessing poured out in your life. Both of these practices are essential for keeping the proper view of God and of self.

The Psalm closes with a familiar verse. Verse five reminds us of three essentials of God’s character. First, God is good. Second, his love lasts forever. And, third, God’s faithfulness lasts forever – “through all generations”. This day may we lift voice and prayer to God. May we praise God for his love and faithfulness that never ends!

Prayer: Lord God, you always have been and ever will be. You love me no matter what, your faithfulness is steady and true. God, you are so, so good! Amen.


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How Majestic!

Reading: Psalm 8

Verses 3 and 4: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers… what is man that you are mindful of him”?

David’s words in Psalm 8 echo our reading from the beginning of Genesis. David’s response to God’s creation is one of praise, one of awe and wonder. David recognizes both the grandeur – “you have set your glory above the heavens” – and the most basic – “from the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise”. There is also a recognition of our place, of humanity’s place, in the world. David juxtaposes the magnificence of the heavens against the insignificance of humanity. In verse four he asks, “what is man that you are mindful of him”? Compared to the stars and moon and sun that seem endless, almost timeless, humanity is finite, our lives are fleeting, our bodies are fragile.

But when David reflects on his own question, we are also reminded of the extraordinary role that God has given us. In verse five we are reminded that we are just a little less than the “heavenly beings” and then, in verse six, that “you put everything under his feet”. These words call us again to the awesome responsibility we have to act in God’s image. David’s Psalm aims our focus back upon the created world and towards our fellow creatures – flocks and herds, the wild animals, and the birds and sea creatures. It is an awesome responsibility to live in harmony with and to care well for all of these.

The Psalm opens and closes with the same line: “O Lord, our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth”. Yes, the name of the Lord is majestic and wonderful. May our decisions and actions, our words and thoughts, reflect the majesty and wonder of the Lord our God.

Prayer: O Lord, our God, you are such an amazing and loving God. The works of your hands stop me in wonder. Today, may I be mindful of your creation, of the beauty of your hands. In that place may I praise and worship you alone, O God. Amen.


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Breath of Praise

Reading: Psalm 104: 24-34 and 35b

Verse 30: “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth”.

The Psalm speaks of God’s creative power. It reminds us that the creatures that fill the sea and that cover the land are all created, birthed, and cared for by God. Even the air they breathe is a gift from God. When the breath of God is taken away, “they die and return to dust”. We and all of humanity fit within these truths. We too gain life when God breathes the Spirit into us and we cease to live when our breath is taken away. It is the cycle for all living things.

The psalmist also recognizes that we are more than just life and death. In between we each have the opportunity to live within a relationship with our creator God. In the created world, in nature, we can see God’s handiwork and we can see his glory in the trees, flowers, mountains, animals, and all other creatures. But God’s glory is revealed best in humanity, in those alone created in God’s image. The psalmist declares that he will “sing to the Lord all my life”. He will offer up praises to God, his creator. In these words we too hear the call to praise the Lord our God.

Because we were created to live in relationship with God, his desire is to fill us with his love. What does it mean to be “full”? It means there is room for nothing else. This day and every day, may each breath in fill us with God and his love so that each breath out into the world fills others with God’s love. May it be so. Yes, may it be so!

Prayer: Lord of life, fill me with your Spirit and your love. Through the power of the Holy Spirit may all I do and say bring you glory. May all of my life be praise unto you, O God. Amen.


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Bring Praise and Glory

Reading: Psalm 47

Verses 1-2: “Shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the Lord most high”.

In many churches today is known as Ascension Sunday. It is the Sunday after Christ’s ascension into heaven forty days after Easter. The response of those present as Christ ascended mirrors the call of the psalmist in today’s reading. In the opening verses we are called to “Shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the Lord most high”. To lift our hands, to shout out our joys, to be exuberant in our worship – much more common in the days of King David than in most of our churches! Yet many do enjoy praise and worship with joy and a sense of celebration.

The Psalm reminds us that God chose us and that God is king over all the earth. Seated on the throne of glory, our God is so worthy of our praise. The sovereignty of God is absolute and total. This week we read that Jesus Christ will return just as he left – in the clouds. As followers we are not sure of when, we simply know that one day Jesus will return in power and glory. All of the earth belongs to the Lord. As we move through our day today, may all we say and do bring praise and glory to our Lord and King!

Prayer: Lord God, may I worship you today. In all I do and say, may I bring you the glory. May my life reflect your love this day. Amen.