Daily Devotion, August 29, 2021

 

Devotion:

Read Psalm 149:1 and 150.

Each of the last five Psalms begin with the phrase “Praise the Lord.” It is as if the Psalmist reaches a crescendo of worship of God to end this prayer book and hymnal of God’s people.

Yesterday, we focused on our reason for worshipping God being grounded in simply who God is. Before God did or does anything, God is worthy to be praised and worshipped. However, we certainly would include what God has done and is doing as worthwhile reasons to worship. God has given us life - we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for God. God created the whole world and gave it to us humans to enjoy and care for. The creatures and plants and scenery around us and all over our planet are collectively a reason to worship and praise God. The diversity of people in our lives and world, with whom we can relate and learn are all reasons to worship our Creator. The gift of music is another reason that is high on my list.

Beyond these and other general reasons for us all, we each have our own list and testimony of what God has done for us. (You may want to take a few minutes to list or say some of those.) We all have our personal reasons to worship God.

But most of all, what God has done through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes God worthy of our praise and worship. When we messed up our relationship with God, it was God who took the initiative to restore that relationship and give us a simple path to eternal life. We have an ultimate and everlasting reason to praise Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Yes, we worship God simply because of who God is. We also offer our praises because of what God has done and continues to do to redeem and reconcile the whole world. “Praise the Lord!”

Personal Worship Option:

Here are a couple of verses from a prayer hymn written by Folliot Pierpoint:

For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies;

Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.

For thyself, best Gift Divine, to the world so freely given, for that great, great love of thine, peace on earth and joy in heaven: 

Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.