Devotion:
For an audio version of this devotion, click here.
Read Psalm 147:1-11.
Psalms 146-150 are the final set of Psalms and each one begins and ends with “Hallelujah!” and/or “Praise the Lord!” The Psalms reflect an honest, post-exiled and suffering community who can still sing praises unto God because they have found their hope in the “unfailing/steadfast love” of God. (Dr. Larry Crabb, author of “From God to You, 66 Love Letters).
I like the reflections Dr. J. Clinton McCann, Jr. has written in The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. “At the heart of our biblical faith is the deep conviction that the power that has created and strewn the stars into their courses is the same power that - or better, who -"heals the broken-hearted”, “lifts up the downtrodden” and declares a personal life-giving word to Israel. In short, our trust–indeed, our only hope - is that the power behind the universe has a personal face that is turned toward us in “steadfast love.”
Dr. McCann continues, “Psalm 147 articulates the Incarnation of God’s word as we read in John 1:1, 14. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (14) And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.’ God is personally, intimately, inextricably involved in the lives and futures of human beings.”
Our hope, too, is found in the “unfailing/steadfast love” of God.
Personal Worship Option:
Read Psalm 147:1-11 again. Remember when God has healed your broken heart, bound up your wounds and encouraged you when you were discouraged. Let the last stanza of Isaac Watts words from 1719 be your prayer today. “O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come; be Thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home.” Amen.
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