Tag: psalms

With a Song

Re: Verse reading–Ephesians 4:17-5:20 (day two)
“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything” v 5:19-20a.

It may not be hard for you to believe, but this has been one of my favorite passages of scripture for many years. I remember finding it when I was in college and thinking, YES! Permission to live life as a Broadway Musical! What I love even better about these words is that it isn’t speaking to professional musicians, it is speaking to everyone. Think of how you feel when a favorite song is played, or what is like when you hear the introduction to your favorite hymn. It is exhilarating, isn’t it? It literally lifts your spirit. Imagine if we greeted one another with that same spirit. If our discourse was flavored with the kind of joy that we feel when listening to great music think how pleasant it would be.

This is why we sing to start our services. We sing to bring people in, to become connected with each other. Don’t stop there. Sing in Sunday School, remember when we used to do that? Sing at home! Sing in the car, a few rounds of Row, row, row your boat work on our 2 year-old without fail. Try it, be earnest about it, this scripture won’t disappoint you.

Majestic

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 8 (day four)
Have you ever stood out in the country, or better yet, on top of a mountain and looked up into the vast night sky?  The stars…the Milky Way…the constellations…the universe… stretched before you from east to west, north to south?  I have.  The pictures are etched into my memory.  I can not only remember most every experience, I can remember the overwhelming feeling of grandeur.  It is Psalm 8 that immediately comes to mind when I have such an experience.  The majesty of the creation is but a small portion of the majesty of the Creator.  As we contemplate the glory of our Creator, the response of the Psalmist wells up inside us…’when I consider all of this, God, what is man that you are mindful of him?’  The focus of our worship must always be on the person of God.  The Psalmist started and ended this psalm in recognition of that…”O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Worth

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 8 (day three)
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place…”  Consider, then:  13.3 billion light-years away, a tiny galaxy (the rather clunkily-named MACS0647-JD) shines its light.  That light travels six trillion miles in one year, and even at that speed, it needs 13.3 billion years to reach earth.  The psalmist didn’t measure space like we do, but he knew: God’s heavens are immense enough that the human race would seem trivial by comparison.  And yet, God is mindful of us.  Jesus knew that our well-being depends on our knowledge of that mindfulness in this vast universe: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?  Yet not one of them is forgotten by God…Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7)

A Good Boss

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 8 (day two)
If you’ve never had a good boss, it is hard to appreciate the significance of Psalm 8:6. “You made him lord over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet.” A good boss makes everyone’s life better. Objectives are clear. Less time is wasted. Conflicts don’t get out of hand. The organization flourishes, and everyone joyfully does their part. When the New Testament authors thought of Jesus, they thought of him as a good boss. Consequently, they referred to this psalm to celebrate Jesus’ reign over their lives and all creation (see Ephesians 1:20-23). When you see an organization well run, a home well-managed, a life well ordered, you are seeing the thumbprint of the perfect boss who “does all things well” (Mark 7:37). His work of restoration is not yet complete, and He invites us to participate in it. Are you a “good boss” of your own life, family and work?

How majestic

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 8 (day one)
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  (vs 1)  Fill in the blanks.   “For purple mountain_________above the fruited plain.” (think song)  “Her ________, the Queen!”  (think England)  When David says that God’s name is majestic, He used a word (addir) which meant, “glorious, mighty, huge or wide”.  It was a word of scope, scale and size.  Name meant “reputation or character”.   It is an insight that came to David as he watched the stillness and beauty of the nighttime sky.  How could the creator of such beauty not be beautiful, Himself?  How could He be small?  There is great benefit for those who gain this perspective.   Whenever we are overwhelmed it is usually because our problems have gotten large and our God has gotten small (in our eyes, at least).  To recover this vision is to experience peace.  “Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is STRONG!”