"7 That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the LORD in this manner:
8 Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
9 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
10 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
11 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
12 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
13 you his servants, the descendants of Israel,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
14 He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
15 He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
16 the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
18 “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”
19 When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
20 they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
21 He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
22 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
25 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
28 Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
30 Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
33 Let the trees of the forest sing,
let them sing for joy before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
35 Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior;
gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
and glory in your praise.”
36 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the LORD.”'
I bolded some of the verses that truly stuck out to me when I was reading this. Some of them are amazing reminders about how worthy God is (see below for further explanation) and some of them are great encouragement to me, like verse 10 "Glory in his holy name; let hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." I have been struggling recently with my quiet times and really making my relationship with the LORD a priority in my life and I can really see a change in me, not for the better. I am anxious, selfish, snappy and I just don't have the love for others like I should. I believe it is because I have been cutting myself off from the One who feeds me all I need to accomplish the opposites of above - peace, selflessness, thinking before I speak and how to love people. I need to keep God at the center of everything, all throughout the day - I need to be God-concious. :) Below was today's devotional:
"IN WORD: God is not just worthy of praise, He is most worthy of praise. In other words, whatever praise we can give Him, He deserves it. We cannot overestimate His worth because He is worth more than anything.
Think of how that applies to our lives We might wonder if it's worth giving up a habit for Him, but if He's worth more than anything, the answer is clear. We might consider giving up our careers or our ambitions for Him, and we wonder if it will be a worthwhile gift. But if He's worth more than we can imagine, it is. We may wonder if our praise, worship, and sacrifice will be worth the payoff to us, but we're asking the wrong question. Whether it is worth it to us is not the point; He's worthy of it. That's all that matters.
There is no greater investment than God. Whatever we can give to Him, pout out of our hearts to Him, lay down before Him, and do for Him, it's a profoundly worthwhile offering because it is directed toward a profoundly worthy God. No gift is lost on Him. No sacrifice for HIm is ever considered unimportant in His eyes.
IN DEED: Consider what you have to offer Him. Your obedience? It is never about earning His favor; it's about offering Him your best. Your purity? it isn't because He's a killjoy but because He wants you for Himself - and He deserves you. Your possessions? They are meaningless trinkets in His eyes, and He wishes you could loosen your grip on them. Your time? You have an eternity before you; there's no need to spend time on yourself. Your talents? He gave them to you so that you could worship Him in ways no one else can. Your relationships? The God of relationships wants to demonstrate His peace and His love in them.
What are you holding on to? Lay it down. Give it to Him. It's right to do so. He's worthy of whatever you have."
He is worthy of so much more than I give to him. The second part of the devotional - "IN DEED" - was a slap in the face to me on a couple aspects. The first one would be my time. How am I spending my time? Yes, I am involved in church ministries and love that - but what about the rest of my time? When I could be spending my time getting to know God better, building on friendships, doing chores and being productive in general - I have just become lazy lately. BOOOOO. Also, when he says "it's never about earning His favor; it's about offering him your best." I love that! I get caught up in where my deeds will get me - I forget that I do them for His glory, not because of what I will get because of it. I am made free because Jesus willingly died for my sin. He became sin so that I can have a relationship with God. Jesus is the ONLY WAY! Faith is Jesus is what gets us to heaven and nothing else - not even our deeds. My hope is in Jesus Christ, and as I remember that I can't help but smile! :)
Enough of my stream of consciousness for today. It is time for bed! Goodnight!
