Daily Devotion, August 21, 2021

 

Devotion:

Read Psalm 100.

The Psalmist encourages us to have a sense of joy about us when we gather to worship God. One of the primary reasons we can do that is because worship invites us into the bigger picture of who God is and what God has done for us and all the world. On any given day, you may not be having a joyful experience in your life, but you can still worship God with “joyful songs” because God has brought you through times of struggle and disappointment before. This writer also reminds us that it is God who has given us life in the first place. God is the source of you and I getting to be alive and experience all we do in this world. So we always have reason to “enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” 

 

Verse five continues to name the reasons we can always worship God with joy, reminding us of God’s goodness, love and faithfulness. We worship a God who is constantly inviting us to “accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.” (One of the questions we ask at baptism.) Our God is all about good overcoming evil and can provide whatever we need to win that battle. And the most powerful force in that battle is love, which is at the core of who God is. Finally, our God is faithful - always has been, always will be.

So anytime you take time to worship God, whether by yourself or with others, remember that you have many basic reasons to do so with joy and praise. Hallelujah!

Personal Worship Option:

Henry Van Dyke wrote the words to one of my favorite all-time hymns of the Church. Here are the first and third verses for you to consider praying today:

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love;

hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away.

Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,

well-spring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!

Thou our Father, Christ our brother, all who live in love are thine;

teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.