Worship for Today: Joy, rejoicing, blessing and favor in the Lord!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 5:11-12,

"Let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may
rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you
surround them with your favor as with a shield."

In these verses, David tells of the gladness, joy, rejoicing, blessing
and favor the righteous experience at the hand of the Lord. But not
all have this experience. Indeed, all of us had not seen this
wonderful state of things prior to being born again and those who are
not born again yet today do not experience them.

David speaks of those the Lord abhors as "the arrogant", verse 5, and
"those who do wrong". Liars and "deceitful men" are used to describe
the wicked. Such were all of us. Paul, in Romans 3:13, describes all
of us before coming to Jesus Christ from this psalm, "their heart is
filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their
tongue they speak deceit", verse 9. Their end is seen in verse 10,
"Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you."
Banished!

But David also speaks of another future. A future for those who have
sought refuge in the Lord. He says, "let all who take refuge in you be
glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord,
you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a
shield."

In his letter, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Paul reminds us, "that is what some
of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of
our God." How wonderful is this love our Lord has for us that he sent
us his Son! Here is the cause for gladness! Here is the grounds for
joy! Here is the reason for rejoicing! Here is where true blessing and
favor is found!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com