'worship' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
Psalm 145:11-14…“The LORD upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.” vs. 14 According to the scriptures, our world is both good and broken at the same time. That’s a truth we experience every day of our lives, And the psalmist tells us here that the One who brought this world into existence and who continues to sustain it, has a particular love for lifting up all who are falling and raising up all who…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 89:1-4…“I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. “ vs. 2 In this world of social media influencers and ubiquitous YouTube channels we can find thousands of conflicting testimonies about the nature of God and God’s relationship to humanity. Occasionally what we see and hear in these videos sounds vaguely scriptural, like it could even conceivably be true. But most of the time the information is bogus, a kind of…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 69:7-10…“It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” vs. 9 In the Gospel of John Jesus begins his ministry by cleansing the temple, and John writes that his disciples remembered this verse from Psalm 69 as they watched him chase out the sheep and cattle while overturning the tables of the moneychangers. His zeal had taken control of him, maybe even replacing his good judgment. He…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 100…“For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” vs. 5 There are some religious folks in our time who are claiming that God hates evil and rejoices in the annihilation of our enemies. They base their tirades on passages from the Hebrew scriptures that describe the invasion of Canaan by the Hebrew tribes, where God is said to have ordered the deaths of all inhabitants, including women and children. Those…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 28:16-17…“When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” vs. 17 According to Matthew Jesus had instructed Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to tell the disciples that he had risen and would meet them in Galilee. And even though it’s likely that the disciples were skeptical of the women’s story, Matthew tells us they did go. And sure enough Jesus met them on the mountain just as he said he would. They responded by worshipping him, probably…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 68:32-35…“Awesome is God in his sanctuary, the God of Israel; he gives power and strength to his people.” vs. 35 In our enthusiasm we are likely to describe most any sort of experience, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, as being “awesome.” But sometimes we use it so frequently that its impact gets watered down. After all, the more things we add to the “awesome” category, the less awesome any of them become. For the psalmist however, it’s…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 68:1-10…But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy. Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds—his name is the LORD— be exultant before him vss. 3-4 There is a contemporary popular worship song by Robin Mark called “Days of Elijah.” The chorus has an upbeat tempo and its lyrics could well have been written by this psalmist: “Behold he…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 66:8-15…“I will come into your house with burnt-offerings; I will pay you my vows, those that my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.” vs. 13-14 The psalmist evidently knew a thing or two about tough times. He compares his own travails to the plight of the Israelites in Egypt and the perils of their flight from slavery. He flooded the heavens with prayers and, as humans are prone to do, promised payment if those…
Daily Devotions
Acts 17:22-31…“For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ’For we too are his offspring.’” vs. 28 There were Jews living in Athens and Paul went first to the synagogue to argue and debate with them about Jesus as the messiah. But when some of the Athenian sages heard what Paul was talking about they invited him to come and speak to them on Mars Hill near the…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 116:12-19…“What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.” vss. 12-14 The psalmist knew that he had been blessed by his Loving Lord and felt that it was his duty and delight to respond with a thanksgiving offering. Many are doing that today in…
Daily Devotions
Matthew 21:1-1…“The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” vs. 9 All of the gospels report that Jesus entered Jerusalem on his final journey, flanked by hordes of pilgrims, and riding on a donkey. The crowd hailed him as the successor to David, Israel’s greatest king, and was looking forward to his coronation…
Daily Devotions
2 Peter 1:19-21… “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” vss. 20-21 There continue to be men and women in our world who believe that they can figure out everything they need to know by their own understanding and effort. They are particularly convinced of that in areas…