TODAY’S READING: PSALM 144-150
OVERVIEW:
Prayer for rescue and prosperity; the Lord extolled for His goodness and greatness; praise for the Lord’s help; praise for Jerusalem’s restoration and prosperity; the whole universe and all of creation invoked to praise the Lord; Israel invoked to praise the Lord; everything that hath breath invoked to praise the lord.
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
Join David today in Psalm 144 in “blessing” and praising the Lord in the personal application of His attributes and power (note the personal pronoun “my” in verses 1 and 2):
- Praise the Lord that He hasn’t just “strengthened” you, He IS your “STRENGTH” (144:1).
- Praise the Lord that He hasn’t just made you “good,” He IS your “GOODNESS” (144:2).
- Praise the Lord that He hasn’t just taught you principles of defense against the enemy, He IS your FORTRESS,” your “HIGHTOWER,” and your “SHIELD” (144:2).
- Praise the Lord that He hasn’t just made a way of escape, He IS your “DELIVERER” (your way of escape – 144:2).
Oh my, let that preach to your soul today!
In light of WHO HE IS (as described in 144:1 and 2); we cry out with David in verse 3, “WHO in the world ARE WE?” We cry out, “Lord, what is man that thou takest knowledge of him! Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!” (I love the exclamation points that God has placed in His perfectly preserved Word! Note that both statements in verse 3 are actually questions, but are followed by exclamation points rather than question marks. What’s up with that? Perhaps the psalmist understood that in light of God’s incredible GREATNESS and man’s incredible SINFULNESS, there could never be a suitable answer to the questions, so the questions become major STATEMENTS of just how incredible, wonderful and awesome God actually is!!!!
In light of God’s unequalled and incomprehensible awesomeness the Psalm ends with, “Happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.” Are you “happy”?
May the cry of the psalmist’s heart in verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 145 be the genuine cry of our hearts, “I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.” Remember A.W. Tozer’s surmise of the evangelical church in our day, that “worship” is “the missing jewel” that desperately needs to be “rediscovered.”
Allow the glorious words the psalmist uses to lift up his praise and worship to the Lord in verses 3-21 become your words today as you seek to “rediscover the missing jewel.”
Verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 146 are likewise great verses to make your own as the expression of your total resolve to praise the Lord for the remainder of your time on earth and for all eternity: “Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being” (146:1-2).
Psalm 147:1 reminds us of the reason we praise the Lord: “for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely (or beautiful).”
Psalm 148 teaches us about the three “heavens” (148:1 c.f. II Cor. 12:2) from which praise is to come forth. The first “heaven” is from the earth to the clouds. It is where birds and airplanes fly, what we call the earth’s atmosphere (148:7-14). The second heaven is that which is above the clouds to the “frozen face of the deep” (Job 38:30) that is billions and billions of miles above our heads (what we call outer space – Ps. 148:3-6). Then, the third heaven (148:1-2) is the abode of God, above the frozen face of the deep (Job 38:30). This is what John saw in Rev. 4:6 when he said, “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal.” The point of Psalm 148 is praise is to come from every place in the entire universe! We cover the whole layout of the universe in the series “Questions and Answers” Cd #9 and in the Revelation series Chapter 4 “Looking back into the Future”
You gotta love the glorious simplicity of the psalmist’s exhortation to those of us who have been “beautified” with the precious gift of “salvation” (149:4). “Let the saints be joyful in glory… Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword (see Heb.4:12; Rev. 19:15; Eph.6:17) in their hand” (149:5-6). As you live in pursuit of God today (and everyday!), that is a great way of simplifying your goal: Have the high praises of God in your mouth, and keep the two-edged sword of God’s Word right at your fingertips (i.e. in your hand and in your heart, ready to be applied as needed)!
Could there be a more glorious way to end the Book of Psalms than with the psalmist’s words in Psalm 150? The psalmist exhorts us to praise the Lord (150:1) in the place that He dwells (i.e. “in His presence,” or “in His sanctuary”), and in all places that His presence and power are found (i.e.
Everywhere! “In the firmament of His power” – 150:1). We are to praise Him (150:2) for all that He
DOES (“His might acts”), which proceed out of all that He IS (“His excellent greatness”). We are to praise Him with any and all musical instruments in existence (150:3-5), but most importantly, with the instrument of our mouth, as our words are validated by the life that we live.
“Praise ye the Lord” (150:6). Just do it!
CHRIST IS REVEALED:
As the ONE WHO GIVES SIGHT TO THE BLIND – Ps. 146:8 (Matt. 9:27-30; Mark 10:46-53; John 9:1-41).