Skip to main content

Friday... So how long would it be?


Friday... So how long would it be?

If you were given the opportunity to write a Psalm, how long would it be? The writer of Psalm 119 had so much to say. He wrote 176 verses. But the writer of Psalm 117 only has two verses.

Now is the writer of Psalm 119 greater in God's eyes than the writer of Psalm 117? The amount did not show greatness it just showed that they were faithful in sharing what they felt God had laid on their heart at the time they were writing. 

We are each individuals and God uses us, whether it's a 176 verse Psalm or a 2 verse Psalm. Comparing ourselves with others can be a problem. 

We will be looking at Psalm 119 in a few days but today is Psalm 117. Here is what the writer says in verses 1-2 (MSG), "Praise God, everybody! Applaud God, all people. His love has taken over our lives, God's faithful ways are eternal. Hallelujah!" Right to the point but very powerful.

"Praise God, everybody!" is right to the point. I don't know how many times the writers of the 150 Psalms said, "Praise God".  But it probably isn't enough for us to see how important it is, it really is. Praising God is so important for us to do. It reminds us over and over how great and mighty and capable and merciful and as verse 2 says, how loving and faithful God is. Again, "Praise God, everybody!" 

And then, the writer says, "Applaud God, all people." Another way to say it is, give God a standing ovation. He deserves it. Yes he does.

And verse 2, "His love has taken over our lives, God's faithful ways are eternal." The NLT says, "For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord's faithfulness endures forever." The Amplified Bible says, "For His lovingkindness prevails over us [and we triumph and overcome through Him]' and the truth of the Lord endures forever."

And it ends with "Praise the Lord (Hallelujah!)" Psalm 117 was right to the point. It was as long as it needed to be. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...