Day 31 - Psalm 146
Today is the last day of our Summer Psalms Devotional!
We began with Psalm 1 and the challenge to plant ourselves in God’s word. I hope you have enjoyed studying these psalms with us throughout August. Please continue to plant yourself in His word and drink deep from this life giving stream.
We end our series with Psalm 146 and what an amazing psalm to finish on!
The very first sentence is an exclamation of praise, in the original Hebrew language it was simply “Hallelujah!” the psalmist call on his soul, all of himself, his very life force to praise the Lord.
I remember it so clearly, I know exactly where I was when it happened, I was walking home from church youth group one Sunday evening as I did every week, about the age of 15, I had been a Christian many years by then, and loved the Lord.
As I walked I found myself thinking, I do not know who I am without Christ in my life. I have absolutely no idea what life without Him would look like and I don’t want to know, and in that moment I determined in my heart that no matter what, I would never turn away from Him. I determined as the psalmist does in v2
“I will praise the Lord all my life”.
When must decide to praise God with our whole self even our very souls, for the rest of our lives, and to put all our trust solely in him.(v3-4) we are blessed when we do (v5)
Who is this God and why should we do this? Verse 6 tells us He is the maker of all creation, He is the faithful one.
Verses 7-9 speak of all that the Lord does, what His nature is like, it is an accurate description of Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15) this includes:
The way Jesus treated people (v7a)
Jesus’ salvation work (v7b)
Jesus miracles (v8)
How Jesus cared for the marginalised (v9)
How Jesus upset the Pharisees (v9)
This is the Lord we worship, the One who now reigns forever (v10a) this is your God whom you worship for the rest of your life.
Hallelujah! (v10b)
Think it over / Meditate on:
Determine in your heart today, that you will praise and follow the Lord for the rest of your life.
If you have determined that, get baptised if you haven’t already, to show the world that you mean it! (Speak to us if you would like to)
Spend the rest of the day praising God for all He is and does. Try to stay in an attitude of praise no matter what the day brings.
Think about what you will study next in the Bible now that our devotions have finished, but whatever you do, determine to keep reading and studying God’s word.
Ben
Ben Parsons - Lead Pastor, Sutton Central location