Tuesday, May 3: Psalm 95- My heart soared in worship.

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song.

For the LORD is the great God,

the great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him.

The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

for he is our God

and we are the people of his pasture,

the flock under his care (1-7a).

My heart soared in worship as these words pierced my morning. Thoughts of singing God’s praise ushered me back to Sunday when I stood among the people of God singing my God’s praises.

It is wonderful that I can praise and worship the Lord on my own during the week, spending time in God’s Word and praising Him in thought and prayer. But these times do not replace those times when I am with God’s people singing His praise, praying, taking part in the sacraments, attending to God’s Word and giving my offering to Him.

Oh, being part of God’s body, praising God in one heart and mind and voice!

Today’s Psalm transported me back to my last time with the body… praises rising, giving glory to the Lord!

Then in verse 7b came a surprising shift through the end of the Psalm… a correction not to grow weary or hardened of heart.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,

“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,

as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,

where your ancestors tested me;

they tried me, though they had seen what I did (7b-9).

This shift reminds me that true and full praise of God is much more than the words of my lips; it is the living of my life.

Praising God in song is wonderful, but it MUST be matched by faith-filled living. True praise happens moment by moment as I choose to follow the Lord in what I say and do. True faith keeps my heart supple in the Lord’s hands… I follow His lead, accept His correction and love Him fully, no matter what He asks.

Lord God, thank You for the glory of worship, of being transported back to my time with the saints. And thank You for the reminder of the Word to remain connected to You, the vine and source of my life…

Praise to You, Father, Jesus, Spirit… to You and in Your name, I pray. Amen.

 

 

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