May the mumbling commence!
What a record of the wondrous things that the Lord has done! Psalms one-hundred five and one-hundred six are long – 45 verses and 48 verses respectively – because they recount some of what the Lord has done for Israel. There is an admission at the beginning of Psalm one-hundred six that the list is incomplete. Read that passage below:
Praise the Lord!
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?
Who can declare all His praise?
Blessed are those who keep justice,
And he who does righteousness at all times! (Verses 1-3)
Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord. God is good. The mercy of the Lord endures forever. God is good… all the time. All the time… God is good. I miss that call and response that my brethren in Southern Baptist congregations of the southeastern United States do. It is so true.
Who can hope to chronicle all the mighty acts of the Lord? They’re too numerous to count. Who can declare all praise due to God? We cannot possibly declare all praise due to God. That’s why we continue to meet whenever we can to worship and praise our Lord. Praise and worship of God never gets old!
How do we best give praise and worship and thanks to our Lord? This passage lists two related areas. One – keep justice (even when it does not benefit our position). Two – do righteousness at all times (even when it does not benefit our position).
To worship and praise our Lord with thanksgiving it means that we have to share. Some will have more; some will have less. Should we complain if we end up with less? In the eyes of the world, the answer to that question is, “YES”. When we look through the eyes and way of Christ, the answer to that question is “NO”.
Share. Take turns. Pick up after yourself. These life lessons often begin in the family and church setting. If they do not, they begin in the school setting. You know – everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten. Well, today, that would be everything I need to know I learned in pre-school. Better yet – everything I need to know I learned in Sunday school.
You and I are still learning these lessons. Let us learn together. Let us teach the next generations by example, by speech, by rote, by practice. These are lessons that are important to all our lives. Worship of the Lord, at its best, saturates our entire lives.
Psalm one-hundred six ends Book Four of the Psalms. It is a final statement we should meditate on in earnest. Let us remember that all the ways that we worship our Lord are incomplete alone. We need to bring these ways together. We need to come together. Then, we will come the closest that humanity can come to saying all that needs to be said. Then, we will come closest that humanity can come to giving all the praise due to God.
By these things, we establish and root ourselves in Christ Jesus. Read from Proverbs chapter twelve:
A man is not established by wickedness,
But the root of the righteous cannot be moved. (Verse 3)
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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