Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Praise God on the Path. Psalm 150; Proverbs 1; James 5

May the mumbling commence!

I have enjoyed this journey through the Psalms.  What better way to end this journey than with Psalm One-hundred Fifty.  Read it below:

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his heavenly dwelling;
praise him in his mighty heaven! 
Praise him for his mighty works;
praise his unequaled greatness! 
Praise him with a blast of the trumpet;
praise him with the lyre and harp! 
Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and flutes! 
Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
praise him with loud clanging cymbals. 
Let everything that lives sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

What is most important?  For what have we been made?  We are made to praise the Lord.  We see it again and again throughout the Psalms.  We see it thirteen times alone in this brief six verse Psalm.

Let’s praise the Lord with everything we have.  And what is the way to that blessed level of praising?  The way is embracing the wisdom and knowledge that the Lord provides us through the Scriptures.  Welcome to the wisdom of Proverbs.  Note the purpose of Proverbs from the introduction in chapter one:

The purpose of these proverbs is to teach people wisdom and discipline, and to help them understand wise sayings.  Through these proverbs, people will receive instruction in discipline, good conduct, and doing what is right, just, and fair.  These proverbs will make the simpleminded clever. They will give knowledge and purpose to young people. 
Let those who are wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. And let those who understand receive guidance by exploring the depth of meaning in these proverbs, parables, wise sayings, and riddles. 
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Verses 2-7)

Learning discipline through the Lord is the way to wisdom.  In the structure of God’s discipline, we can find understanding.  And understanding will lead to good conduct that is right and just and fair. 

These things combined grant us a clear purpose in our life… so that we might truly live through the blessing of Christ and the Holy Spirit… so that we might praise God in all our fullness.

So let’s be instructed so that we might find that narrow path the Lord calls us to.  Let’s be humble and gentle and guide others to that same narrow path… the path of truth.  That path is Jesus.  That path is salvation.  Read from the end of James chapter five:

My dear brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back again, you can be sure that the one who brings that person back will save that sinner from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. (Verses 19-20)


Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out

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