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. :-)
1 comment:
I appreciate your thoughts on verse 6, U.S. and world events lately have made me want to find an island to retire/hide on... far, far away, but I know that's not what God wants us to do.
I had focused on the end of the Psalm, verses 15-18 "The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them."
I thought of all the idols and temples we saw in Asia, and yet I realize that even here in America we have idols that we put our trust in. I'm using this Psalm to examine where I have put my trust, and turn that area of my life over to God. He is in control of everything, for our good, whether we see it or understand.
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