Psalms – Prayers of Honesty and Praise
It’s the first day of a new year. 365 days of new opportunities to grow our faith in God, our knowledge of God, and in our abilities to hear His Voice speak to our hearts. It is 365 more days, God willing, to thank Him for all He has done, is doing and will do in our very lives. In other words, another whole year to live gratefully and expectantly for the God who saved us through Jesus Christ, His Son.
As I read this next prayer psalm, I am overwhelmingly reminded of just WHO I am talking to each day! It is Yahweh, our God! It is HE who created all we see, feel, touch, hear and smell with wonder and awe. Even In our human frailties, He created ways for us to cope with inabilities in this life. It is God, our Father, who can do what we think is impossible. It is God, who is always at work, never sleeps, knows how life works because He created the patterns and rhythms of life, AND knows my name and who I am on the inside!
Read and be blessed by God’s works in and for His people in the past and then think about how He still works in our own lives. May our lives begin and end here on earth with Hallelujahs!
Psalm 105, The Message
1-6 Hallelujah!Thank God! Pray to him by name!
Tell everyone you meet what he has done!
Sing him songs, belt out hymns,
translate his wonders into music!
Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,
you who seek God. Live a happy life!
Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;
be alert for signs of his presence.
Remember the world of wonders he has made,
his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—
O seed of Abraham, his servant,
O child of Jacob, his chosen.
7-15 He’s God, our God, in charge of the whole earth.
And he remembers, remembers his Covenant—
for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.
It’s the Covenant he made with Abraham,
the same oath he swore to Isaac,
The very statute he established with Jacob,
the eternal Covenant with Israel,
Namely, “I give you the land.
Canaan is your hill-country inheritance.”
When they didn’t count for much,
a mere handful, and strangers at that,
Wandering from country to country,
drifting from pillar to post,
He permitted no one to abuse them.
He told kings to keep their hands off:
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my anointed,
don’t hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets.”
16-22 Then he called down a famine on the country, he broke every last blade of wheat.
But he sent a man on ahead:
Joseph, sold as a slave.
They put cruel chains on his ankles,
an iron collar around his neck,
Until God’s word came to the Pharaoh,
and God confirmed his promise.
God sent the king to release him.
The Pharaoh set Joseph free;
He appointed him master of his palace,
put him in charge of all his business
To personally instruct his princes
and train his advisors in wisdom.
23-42 Then Israel entered Egypt,
Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.
God gave his people lots of babies;
soon their numbers alarmed their foes.
He turned the Egyptians against his people;
they abused and cheated God’s servants.
Then he sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he also chose.
They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland, miracles in the Land of Ham.
He spoke, “Darkness!” and it turned dark—
they couldn’t see what they were doing.
He turned all their water to blood
so that all their fish died;
He made frogs swarm through the land,
even into the king’s bedroom;
He gave the word and flies swarmed,
gnats filled the air.
He substituted hail for rain,
he stabbed their land with lightning;
He wasted their vines and fig trees,
smashed their groves of trees to splinters;
With a word he brought in locusts,
millions of locusts, armies of locusts;
They consumed every blade of grass in the country
and picked the ground clean of produce;
He struck down every firstborn in the land,
the first fruits of their virile powers.
He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot,
and not one among his tribes even stumbled.
Egypt was glad to have them go—
they were scared to death of them.
God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day
and a fire to light their way through the night;
They prayed and he brought quail,
filled them with the bread of heaven;
He opened the rock and water poured out;
it flowed like a river through that desert—
All because he remembered his Covenant,
his promise to Abraham, his servant.
43-45 Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy;
his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!
He made them a gift of the country they entered,
helped them seize the wealth of the nations
So they could do everything he told them—
could follow his instructions to the letter.
Hallelujah!
GOING DEEPER STILL…
Yes, it is God who set the world in a perfect patterned motion to renew itself. It is God who daily restores and renews us with His compassionate forgiveness. Yes, it is God who, from the beginning, had a plan that would be fulfilled in Jesus, His Son to save us from all sin and bring us back to Him when we walk away. It is God who loves us more than we can imagine or realize, but we try because HIS love is so great and profound. It is God, who made us. It is God who loved us before we born, during and after and forever. Even those who didn’t make it to full term physical birth are in His care! This is our God who unconditionally loves each one of us deeply…all of us.
It is God who does not hide from us but it is plain view of all who believe. It is God who helps us look at life from a different, less confusing, perspective. It is God who is uncomplicated and brings simplistic joy to each day when we trust and obey. It is God who give us His indescribable holy peace of Jesus right in the middle of turmoil and high waves that humans think will take us down. It is God who wants HIS best for us. It is God who sent Jesus to tell us about Him and show us how simplistic life can be when we love God first and love others like He loves us. We don’t have to judge (be God) others, we just love. Again, simple yet profound…all because of Jesus’ intervention work to bring us back to God while showing us God.So, may all we think, do or say be In Jesus Name in 2019 for it is in the Name of Jesus that causes the eyes and ears of heaven to notice and listen when we pray. It is in Jesus Name we obey the Voice of heaven and earth. It is God who set this all in motion…in and through Jesus. Jesus is God. God is Jesus. His Holy Spirit (also God) lives in us who believe and follow. We cannot fail, we will only grow and learn…In Jesus Name.
“Remember this! He (God) led his people out singing for joy; his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!”
May God lead us out of all the bondage and entanglement that sin and self creates in our lives…In Jesus Name. May we march out singing our hearts out for joy in knowing God, our God!
Dear Heavenly Father,
Your love for me overwhelms and humbles me at the same time! When no one else is there, You are. You never leave us. You want the best for us. Why do I think I know what is best? I repent of walking ahead of you. May all I think, say or do be in Your Son’s Name, the holy and blessed Name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Thank you for loving us so much that you came down to pay our debt of sin in full…forever! Thank you Holy Spirit for teaching me this morning with reminders of the greatness and power of God! Thank you, Father for listening to my simple prayers…In Jesus Name, Amen
