Daily Devotion for May 29, 2024

 

Devotion:

For an audio version of this devotion, click here.

Read Psalm 148.

This week we are focusing on the vastness of God and God’s purposes for all of creation. Psalm 148 is a psalm of praise which celebrates the awesomeness of God, through the lens of all that God has created; calling all of creation to praise God!

Psalms 146-150 are a series of songs of praise all opening and closing with “Hallelujah” or as translated into the English language, “Praise the Lord”. In Psalm 148, you might want to count the number of times the word “Hallelujah” and/or “praise” is written.

Then observe the vastness of all of creation being called to “Praise the Lord.” From the highest heavens to the oceans’ depths; and everything and everyone in-between, we are all called to praise God!

This brief psalm holds timeless truths, deep wisdom and the call to be people who praise God. First, in praising God, we remember that we are the ones who have been created and we are not the Creator! God created, understands and has compassion for our own limitations. Praising God resets our spirit, mind and body and opens our hearts to the ways God is leading us to love and serve others.

Praising God is different than giving thanks to God. Both are important parts of our relationship with God. “Praising” is recognizing the characteristics of God and “Thanksgiving” is expressing gratitude for what God has done and is doing.

Both “praises” and “thanksgivings” can be more than words. We can offer these through actions, too! Helping and serving others, and/or being who God has called you to be are also ways of giving praise and thanksgiving unto God! The “Sun, Moon and Morning Stars” praise God by being who they are!

Listening to the birds in our yard, there is a morning bird whose work is to awaken all the other birds and there is an evening bird whose work is to say the “sun has set, it’s time to sleep.” Their work is their praise of their Creator!

Personal Worship Option:

Read Psalm 148 again (and maybe, if possible, to read it aloud). Let it be a prayer of praise from your heart to God’s heart today. And throughout today, be an observer of the vastness of all of God’s creation. Amen.