150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 138

This psalm of David is a psalm of thanks and gives many reasons to give thanks and sing praise.

What stood out to me was the last verse.

"The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.
Lord, You love is eternal;
do not abandon the work of Your hands."

It's an awesome thought to know that God has a purpose for our lives - and I don't mean us collectively, but each of us as individuals. As we allow Him to work in and through us He is able to "conform us to the image of His Son." Romans 8:29

His purpose for each of us to make us more like Christ.
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

David asked God to not abandon the work of His hands. Paul gave us this promise
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

So give thanks and sing praise to God because He is at work in your life to fulfill His purpose, His will, to make you more and more like Christ. Will you let Him work in your life in that way today?

150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 137

Oh my! I'm not sure what to say about Psalm 137. It's a song from those in exile. How can they sing when they are in captivity away from the Promised Land and Jerusalem; without a proper place to worship?

The call to dash their captives little ones against the rocks seems a bit harsh. Maybe it's hyperbole (wow. I don't think I've ever used that word before, but it just popped in my head and it fits.) But then again, God often asked the Israelites to completely destroy their enemies. When they didn't, those enemies ended up either turning the Israelites hearts against the Lord or they rebuilt their armies and attacked them.

This is how we must deal with sin in our lives. We must completely kill it off - dash even the little pieces of it against the rocks. An alcoholic can't give up drinking and then just have a sip every now and then because "just a little won't hurt."

I hate giving that example because you, my reader, may say, "Oh, I don't drink. I'm OK." That was just a way for me to demonstrate my point. You have your own sin you need to completely destroy.

You also have to put something in sin's place. Jesus told about the man who had demons cast out but the man didn't fill his heart/soul/thoughts/etc. with something else and the demon came back and found a nice big empty spot and brought back more demons with him "and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first."  See Matthew 12:43-45 A heart swept clean of sin needs to be refilled with God's Spirit, God's word, pure, lovely, holy thoughts and actions. (I've just started the list. God will show you what you need to do.)

We should have the same sadness for sin in our lives as the sadness the Israelites had for being captives in a foreign land.

The Jewish people recite this psalm to remind themselves that they were once captive. It is good for us to also remember that we were once captive and Christ has set us free.

Well... that's not where I thought I would be going with this Psalm, but I think it's a good thought for the day.

150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 136

Here is a great idea (if I say so myself) for a time of family worship. Well, actually, it would work in a Life Group (Sunday School class) a worship service, for a personal devotion time, etc. but I think it's perfect for a mom and dad and kids to do together.

First, read Psalm 136 together (you might stop before the hurling and slaughtering parts if you have young kids) Notice how after each phrase you see - depending on your translation - "His love endures forever" (Holman Christian Standard) or "For His lovingkindness is everlasting" (New American Standard) or "for his mercy endureth forever" King James Version.

So after you've read about the Lord making the moon and stars and His goodness have each person say their own phrase of something wonderful God has created and the others reply "His loves endures forever."

God provides us with abundant food
His loves endures forever
God makes the roses and iris to grow
His love endures forever
God provided for us when we were out of work
His love endures forever
God gave us strength when we were fighting sickness
His love endures forever
God made the birds
His love endures forever
And snakes and frogs
His love endures forever

You get the idea.

And you can turn it into an art project/worship project. Cut up magazines or draw your own pictures, make a collage or a set of pictures, sculpt something out of clay (or playdough) then write, paint, color or draw "His loves endures forever" on your art.

Then you can end your worship time singing along with Michael W. Smith

150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 135

There are several sections to this psalm and it would be easy to blog about any of them.



Praise God in corporate worship (in the courts of His house)
God's greatness
How God worked in giving the Israelistes a land
The Lord's name endures forever
Idols are worthless
Everyone should praise the Lord.


But the verse that stood out to me today was verse 6

Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.

I just think that is an awesome thought. I'm afraid that when we look at world events - political, economical, weather related, environmental, etc. - that we sometimes think that God has just let things get past His control. There are some people who actually believe that God set things in motion and then kind of stepped back and watched it all go nuts and then it was like "oops, didn't see that coming" or "uh, oh, what do I do now."

That is NOT the case. God is in control and does whatever He wants to do. The phrase "in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps" covers the entire universe. We live in a fallen world and sin continues to destroy and wreak havoc on all of creation, but that does not mean God has His hands tied (so to speak) and can't do something. He does whatever pleases Him. God allows us to keep messing things up because He is showing us His love by allowing us to choose Him rather than forcing us. He has provided a means of salvation - through Jesus Christ - but gives us the option of rejecting Him. That does not mean that He can't do whatever He pleases.

I was just reminded of Christ's words in the model prayer (usually called "the Lord's Prayer")

"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" should be our prayer. I'm still sorting out in my head how that relates to this verse. I think it does because even though God can do what He pleases, He limits Himself because of our lack of faith, our sin, our unwillingness to follow, our _______ (fill in the blank with what God brought to mind). He wants us to pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done so when He does what He pleases we will see the connection and we will praise Him.

Well... I'm not certain I explained that as well as I could have, but I think I said enough to get you started thinking along the lines of what was going through my head. :-)

150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 134

1 Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD, Who serve by night in the house of the LORD ! 2 Lift up your hands to the sanctuary And bless the LORD. 3 May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth.

This is the last of the Psalms of Ascent. I guess by the time the pilgrims/worshippers have recited 14 psalms there is a need for shorter ones (like yesterday and today) and it must have taken all day because now that they've finally made it to the sanctuary it's time for the evening service.

Haha.

Actually, the commentaries I looked at say this is like the closing benediction of the day. As the worshippers are leaving they say a blessing to those priests and servants who will continue serving the Lord through the night. In turn, the priests pronounce/give a blessing to the worshippers as they leave and head home.

For us, I see this psalm as a model of how we as believers should treat each other. Although we are in the new covenant and no longer need priests to intercede for us, we do have pastors (all pastors of a church - not just the senior pastor - and yes, I know I'm talking about myself so... ) Anyway, members of the congregation should bless (thank, appreciate, pray for, etc.) their pastors. Pastors should bless (thank, appreciate, pray for, etc.) their congregation. And together they should lift up their hands in praise and bless the Lord.

150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 133

I just posted a "video" for Clarksville's "Unity Day Choir" here on my blog. Here's a link to it.

Unity Day Choir info

I have "video" in quotes because actually it's just a couple of pictures with the song we'll be singing in the background.

So why do I mention that here? Because it fits PERFECTLY with today's psalm. - which is only 3 verses long.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity ! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron's beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion ; For there the LORD commanded the blessing -life forever .

I've never seen Mt. Hermon, much less the dew on the mountain. But it appears that Mt. Hermon was the tallest mountain in Israel (now it is between Syria and Lebanon (but the southern slopes extend into territory that is now controlled by Israel. In fact the UN has a post up there on top to watch everyone to make sure they are still playing nice)

So brothers dwelling together in unity is like a beautiful dew covered morning on the highest place in the nation.

When we view others through Christ's eyes, as people He gave His life for, then nationality or ethnicity do not separate us. We are one in Christ. 

When some of the Jewish believers were wanting gentile converts to become more "Jewish," Peter stood against them and said,
 "And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;  and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. " Acts 15:8-9

Here's some of what the Apostle Paul had to say


even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe ; for there is no distinction ;
Romans 3:22 NAS

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek ; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
Romans 10:12 NAS
a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
Colossians 3:11 NAS

Unity Day Choir - He Reigns

If you are singing in Clarksville's Unity Day Choir you can use the video here to practice with. This is the exact arrangement we will be singing. This arrangement of "He Reigns" is published by Brentwood Benson in their collection "Sights and Sounds 2."

If you aren't singing in Clarksville's Unity Day choir, Why not? It's open to everyone whether you usually sing in your church's choir or not.

Our next rehearsal is Tuesday, May 22, at 6:00 at Hilldale Baptist Church, 2001 Madison St.

Unity Day is Saturday, June 16 at 6:30 at Hilldale.

"Like" Unity Day on FaceBook and get updated information as it is posted.