Worship Devotional XLVIII
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 11/14/2020.
Worship Devotional for 11/15/20
We have been singing lately about the goodness of God, the wonders and miracles He performs, the salvation and hope that are found only in Him, the works that He does for our good and for His glory, and how His name is worthy to be glorified by all people in every nation. The songs for this week are drawn mainly from the Psalms, which exhort, command, encourage, and equip us to come before the Lord with joy and thanksgiving for who He is and what He does. First we sing Psalms 98 & 99, which tell us to sing praise to the King for His victory which He has won in the sight of all nations. He reigns in faithfulness and love, righteousness and justice, and greatness and holiness. The next song is from Psalm 145, which is all about the greatness of God our King and of His deeds. After that, we jump back to Psalm 67, which is a prayer and exhortation for us to declare these praises among the nations, so that all people will know the great blessings that God has given us and the things He has done. Finally, we conclude with a hymn of praise to our King, for joy in giving glory to His name and for reminding our hearts to stay alert in faith until the day He returns.
Here are the songs:
1) Psalm 98 (Sing Unto The Lord) by Shane & Shane
Psalm 98:
"Sing a new song to the Lord, for He has performed wonders; His right hand and holy arm have won Him victory. The Lord has made His victory known; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen our God's victory.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing. Sing to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and melodious song. With trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn shout triumphantly in the presence of the Lord, our King.
Let the sea and all that fills it, the world and those who live in it, resound. Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains shout together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world righteously and the peoples fairly."
2) Psalm 145 by The Modern Post
Psalm 145:
"I exalt You, my God the King, and praise Your name forever and ever. I will praise You every day; I will honor Your name forever and ever.
Yahweh is great and is highly praised; His greatness is unsearchable. One generation will declare Your works to the next and will proclaim Your mighty acts. I will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty and Your wonderful works. They will proclaim the power of Your awe-inspiring acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They will give a testimony of Your great goodness and will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love. The Lord is good to everyone; His compassion rests on all He has made. All You have made will thank You, Lord; the godly will praise You. They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom and will declare Your might, informing all people of Your mighty acts and of the glorious splendor of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; Your rule is for all generations. The Lord is faithful in all His words and gracious in all His actions.
The Lord helps all who fall; He raises up all who are oppressed. All eyes look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways and gracious in all His acts. The Lord is near all who call out to Him, all who call out to Him with integrity. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry for help and saves them. The Lord guards all those who love Him, but He destroys all the wicked. My mouth will declare Yahweh's praise; let every living thing praise His holy name forever and ever."
3) May The Peoples Praise You by Keith & Kristyn Getty
Psalm 67:
"May God be gracious to us and bless us; look on us with favor so that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
Let the peoples praise You, God; let all the peoples praise You. Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy, for You judge the peoples with fairness and lead the nations on earth. (Selah) Let the peoples praise You, God, let all the peoples praise You.
The earth has produced its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him."
We have been blessed by God to be a blessing to others. We have been saved by His grace and redeemed from our sins, yet we are still here living in this world so that we may declare this joyful and wonderful and glorious truth to those around us. When we sing, "May the peoples praise You, let the nations be glad," we should ask ourselves if we really mean what we say. If we really mean that God is worthy to receive praise from all people and from every nation, then we are to show it with our actions by declaring and proclaiming His name and His praise for others to hear. We can do this according to the various gifts which the Holy Spirit has given each of us. This week (and every week!), let us not just sing these truths, but act on them so that the world may see that we serve the one true and living God who is truly worthy of all praise and honor and glory. Let our obedience to Him be a sacrifice of thanksgiving for His glory. I know I often fall short in this area. As we sing this song, let our hearts agree in prayer that God would make us a people who declare His praises among the nations.
4) Sing To The King by Billy Foote
This song, based on the hymn, "Sing We The King" by Charles Silvester Horne, is a call to us who believe to lift up songs of praise that flow from hearts of praise to the King of kings and Lord of lords, our God. We are declaring the glory of His name, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior — that we belong to Him forever, and that all we need is in Him. While we are here on this earth, we will live to praise Him every day as we wait for His return, according to the promise and instruction of His word.
Matthew 28:18-20:
"Then Jesus came near and said to them, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"
1 Corinthians 15:55-58:
"Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
Scriptures:
Psalms 67, 95, 96, 98, 99, 116, 117, 145, 148
Matthew 9:35-38, 28:18-20
Luke 12:35-48
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
2 Corinthians 4:13-18
Ephesians 5:1-21 (esp. vv. 15-21)
Philippians 4:4-9
Colossians 1:11-14, 3:12-17, 4:2-6
1 Thessalonians 5
Jude 20-25
Revelation 4-5