'worship' Tagged Posts
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…
Daily Devotions
Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.” vs. 1 Psalm 113:1-4 Occasionally believers who are members of what are known as liturgical churches will find themselves at a “praise” service in a non-denominational congregation. While some will enjoy the experience, there are others who are quite dismayed by the non-traditional setting. They don’t like standing up and singing multiple praise songs and chorus to begin the worship. Often there is a band…
Daily Devotions
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” vs. 16 Hebrews 13:15-16 For generations the faith life of the Jewish people had revolved around the sacrificial system, and when some of them had become Christian there was a question about whether those sacrifices were still appropriate. Of course, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans this became a moot point. But there was still within the people a…
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
Daily Devotions
…singing with full voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!’” vs. 12 Revelation 5:11-14 When the door of heaven is opened and the Seer is taken up in the Spirit to view its wonders, we are quickly introduced to the slaughtered Lamb of God, a metaphor for the Christ that is used 28 times in the book of Revelation. Obviously the early Christians were…
Daily Devotions
I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.” vs. 17 Psalm 118:17-19 The psalmist had feared that his end was near. We don’t know what kind of crisis he had been caught up in. The context points to a military victory over a longtime enemy, but it could also have been some dread illness, or just one of the many challenges that are faced in the process of aging. At any rate, the prospect…