When life is harder today than yesterday and we become perplexed but not necessarily down and out, confused but not defeated, bent but not broken, this psalm of praise to God is a great way to refocus our thoughts back to God who is already at work on our behalf.  We just have to stop, look up, and realize this unchanging truth while our praises to God of thanksgiving and glory continue to fill the skies!  The Psalmist gets it!

The Apostle Paul, who had every reason to be downcast and saddened for being chained to a jail wall more often than not for preaching Jesus, gets it and responds with singing hymns in his jail cell while praying for the souls of those who put him there!  

Read what Paul is thinking and preaching to the church then by the almighty power of God’s Holy Spirit working in and through him;

“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” –Paul, 2 Corinthians 4:1-12

THIS IS OUR LOVE-IN-ACTION GOD doing for us what we cannot do ourselves! “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Psalm 48, The Message

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

^1-3 God majestic,
    praise abounds in our God-city!
His sacred mountain,
    breathtaking in its heights—earth’s joy.
Zion Mountain looms in the North,
    city of the world-King.
God in his citadel peaks
    undefeatable.

^4-6 The kings got together,
    they united and came.
They took one look and shook their heads,
    they scattered and ran away.
They doubled up in pain
    like a woman having a baby.

^7-8 You smashed the ships of Tarshish
    with a storm out of the East.
We heard about it, then we saw it
    with our eyes—
In God’s city of Angel Armies,
    in the city our God
Set on firm foundations,
    firm forever.

^9-10 We pondered your love-in-action, God,
    waiting in your temple:
Your name, God, evokes a train
    of Hallelujahs wherever
It is spoken, near and far;
    your arms are heaped with goodness-in-action.

¹¹ Be glad, Zion Mountain;
    Dance, Judah’s daughters!
    He does what he said he’d do!

^12-14 Circle Zion, take her measure,
    count her fortress peaks,
Gaze long at her sloping bulwark,
    climb her citadel heights—
Then you can tell the next generation
    detail by detail the story of God,
Our God forever,
    who guides us till the end of time.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

ALL are called.  All of God’s called who believe and have decided to follow Jesus know Truth who is Jesus. Jesus knew and taught humanity as the Son of Man walking the earth as the Son of God!  He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!”  No one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) His disciples came to know Truth and passed it on to others. Paul knew Truth and courageously preached the Good News of Jesus.  Now it is up to us to know, believe, and pass Truth who is Jesus on to others.  We are commanded to tell the next generation God’s story of love, mercy, and grace. This is our call and our commissioned work from God so others will know Him, too.  This is God’s will and plan that many are still searching for in life.  He has made it plain for all to see! 

“The people of ancient Jerusalem speak about their city with pride and gratitude. The Jews saw Jerusalem as a beautiful city (50:2), a safe fortress, and “the joy of the whole earth” (see Lam. 2:15). Spiritually speaking today, the city has brought joy to all the earth, because outside its walls Jesus died for the sins of the world, and from Jerusalem first sounded out the gospel of Jesus Christ. One day in the future, Jerusalem will be the center of Christ’s glorious kingdom (Is. 2:2ff.; 60:1ff.).” –Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible.

Our response will be reflected in our behaviors today.  So let us pause to pray, reflect, surrender, and repent for this turns all our focus on the One who so loved us He died to save us.  Then go and tell God’s story of redemption through Jesus with the power of God’s Holy Spirit living in us! 

Lord,

Thank you for Your Word that compels us to listen, trust, surrender, and obey. Thank you for loving us the way you do. Thank you for working on our behalf even before we know we needed your help!  You are God, we are not. To you be all glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Your name, God, evokes a train of Hallelujahs wherever
It is spoken, near and far; your arms are heaped with goodness-in-action.“