Celebration! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 149:1-3,

"Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
    let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
Let them praise his name with dancing
    and make music to him with timbrel and harp."

The expression of passion is what strikes me about this psalm this morning. Praising, singing, gladness, dancing, making music, rejoicing, joy! The psalmist encourages God's people to express this passion because of who the Lord is and what he has done.There is emotion and celebration here!

The Lord himself expresses passion, "For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory." Verse 4. God's people are told to rejoice in their Maker, verse 2. One aspect of the creation the Lord has made of us is emotion, the ability to celebrate, to express joy!

As we come to know the Lord, as we learn more of him through the pages of Scripture, as we behold his magnificence, his grandeur, his perfections, as we learn of the wonderful things he has done, how can we do anything else but express, through our celebration of him, the love, the ardency, the passion for him that knowing him engenders within our hearts?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Worship the Lord With Grateful Praise - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 147:7,

"Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp."

The psalmist brings an invitation to worship the Lord. That worship, he points to in this verse, is to be an expression of grateful praise. "Grateful" is the state of appreciation for things received.

The psalmist himself provides examples of just such:

The Lord built up Jerusalem and gathered the exiles of Israel - they have plenty to be grateful for.
The Lord heals the brokenhearted and "binds up their wounds."
The Lord sustains the humble (the poor).
The Lord makes the earth fruitful, providing for both people and animals.
The Lord provided security for Jerusalem.
Etc. See if you can count the ways the psalmist recognizes the many things that one can feel grateful for.

Which, of course, causes me to think of the many things I can be grateful of the Lord for. Here are just a few things that came to my mind this morning:

He paid for my sins and made eternal life possible for me.
The Lord has provided a breastplate of righteousness for me.
The Lord has given his Holy Spirit to dwell within me.
The Lord has provided me an opportunity to help in the building of his kingdom which offers meaning, purpose, fulfillment and satisfaction in my life.
The Lord has provided me teaching, rebuking, correcting, training, encouragement and endurance through the Scriptures.
The Lord has allowed me to learn of him.
The Lord allows me to approach him, to request things of him in prayer.
The Lord is developing within me the mind of Christ - renewing my mind by his power.
The Lord has provided me with wonderful riches of the lavish inheritance he has bestowed on me through Jesus Christ as a co-heir with him.

And - this list could go on and on. I deserved not one of these things, and yet he has blessed me so much. You have likewise received these things, and so much more from the Lord. To me, this forms the basis for worship based on grateful praise.

What would you add to this list? How will you worship the Lord with grateful praise today?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Who Are You Going to Trust? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 146:3-5,

"Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God."

As we all know, life has its ups and downs. Sometimes those can become extreme and the psalmist here provides counsel on who best to look to as we face the challenges this life has to offer. We can look either to "princes, in human beings" or we can turn to God. Who are we going to trust?

I can't help but think of the title song to the movie "Ghostbusters": "If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call?"

The "princes" suggests to me those who have position, strength or expertise that might be leveraged to face those difficulties in life. However, the psalmist points out these "cannot save". They themselves die and whatever advantage they may have brought to the table evaporates.

Not so with God. When we place our trust in God, we find the Creator of the heavens and earth to be faithful forever. We learn from this psalm that God "upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry." The Lord brings aid and comfort to the needy.

Because "The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations" he is able to see us through anything we face in this life and even beyond!

As the psalmist says, "Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

The Compassion of the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 145:9,

"The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made."

As this verse communicates, compassion is a disposition that is frequently attributed to the Lord throughout the Scriptures. In just the prior verse we read, "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love." In Psalm 116:5 we read, "The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion."

Merriam-Webster defines compassion as, "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it". As Psalm 116 tells us, the Lord is filled with this disposition toward us!

I can think of no more wonderful expression of this than in Hebrews 4:14-16, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

I find it unfathomable that the Lord is able to "empathize with our weaknesses". And, beyond his empathy in understanding our weaknesses and pain, he holds a desire to mitigate that weakness and pain - and has acted on it!

In the cross of Jesus Christ we see the ultimate expression of compassion as he hung on that cross to pay the penalty for our sins that we might have eternal life in him! All he asks is that we embrace him in faith.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Message of Praise - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 145:10-12,

"All your works praise you, Lord;
    your faithful people extol you.
They tell of the glory of your kingdom
    and speak of your might,
so that all people may know of your mighty acts
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom."

There is a theme here that provides us an understanding of the importance of praising the Lord. David points out in this psalm that when we extol the Lord in praise, there is an audience that hopefully will be reached: "all people".

When the mighty acts and glorious splendor of the Lord and his kingdom is communicated in praise it impacts others. Here are a few things "all people" will learn from David's praise:

The Lord's greatness is unfathomable, verse 3.
The Lord exists in a glorious splendor of majesty, verse 5.
The Lord's "awesome works" speak of his power, verse 6.
The Lord's "abundant goodness" is celebrated, verse 7.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love, verse 8.
The Lord is good to all and compassionate on all he has made, verse 9.

Here is just a sampling of the many things David forms his praise from within this psalm. He goes on to list many other reasons why the Lord is due his praise. He says, "Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever."

As we share our faith with others, and attempt to impress upon others the dire need we all have for redemption, our enthusiasm for the Lord just may win the day when we express it. Sometimes the defensive posture of proving the grounds for our faith can be tremendously enhanced by going on "offense" through our enthusiastic extolling of the Lord's "mighty acts" and his "glorious splendor".

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

A New Song to the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 144:9-10,

"I will sing a new song to you, my God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David."

As David contemplates the Lord's help in the past and calls for his help as he faces his enemies in the present, he commits himself to worshipping the Lord anew: with a new song.

A "new song" is a bit of a theme in psalms, with a half dozen occurrences appearing:

"Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the Lord with the harp;
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully, and shout for joy." Psalm 33:1-3.

"He [the Lord] put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
    and put their trust in him." Psalm 40:3.

"Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples." Psalm 96:1-3.

"Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him." Psalm 98:1.

"Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
    let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
Let them praise his name with dancing
    and make music to him with timbrel and harp." Psalm 149:1-3.

The concept of a "new song" to the Lord speaks to me of the unending awe, reverence and passion the Lord inspires within us each and every new day. While I am not a musician, singer or songwriter, my heart, as with many, sings the praises of the Lord he inspires within me as I visit with him in the Scriptures and prayer.

The notion of a "new song" also communicates to me that yesterday's worship of the Lord simply will not do for today. Every new day brings us new opportunity to enjoy and celebrate our wonderful Lord in a way that finds its appropriate fulfillment in new worship expressed.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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God Engaging In War? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 144:1-2,

"Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me."

David extols the Lord in this psalm for training him for battle, verse 1, for providing him protection from those he fights against, verses 2 and 10, and through whom he ultimately wins the military victory, verse 2. This is a military psalm, a psalm of combat and war with the focus on how wonderful the Lord's help has been for David in a military sense, together with his plea for the Lord's continued help. It is David's acknowledgment of the military capability, protection, strength, training and victory the Lord provided David and Israel at that time.

It is often thought God abhors all war and would never condone it under any circumstance. However, as we read in Ecclesiastes 3:8b, there is "a time for war and a time for peace." There are those times, given the sinful state of mankind and the depravity within which mankind sinks, God ordains war to accomplish his purposes. An example previous to David's day was the responsibility Joshua had to conquer the peoples that inhabited the land promised to Abraham.

On the other end of the age, we read of war in the book of Revelation, where we are told that Jesus Christ leads his own in war against the nations, "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God." Revelation 19:11-13.

While we "spiritualize" our understanding of passages where the Scriptures speak of God's involvement in war among the various factions of mankind (and at times appropriately so), there certainly are those times when it is clear that God uses real, physical military might to accomplish his purposes. This psalm is one that acknowledges such.

The Lord uses war at times to accomplish his purposes.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.