The following psalm is a salvation-history hymn, led by Levite ministers. The words are chanted and sung in ancient times, with the same heart of worship we all should have in response to all that God has done in, for, and through us—much like the emotion we would have singing “Great is Thy Faithfulness”! God is One and Only One we worship with thanksgiving and praise.
Worship of God is a “no manmade idol zone” of reverence and awe. Idols are not welcomed and are banned from our hearts to the heavens! God is the reason we gather with others to remember all He has done, is doing, and will do in our midst to worship Him with all that is in us. Worship is also personal—a daily discipline in our relationship with God. We come to Him in surrender daily with humbled reverence for our Lord, seeking Him first before beginning our day, because God knows all, is in all, and over all. Only God can lead us to His pleasing, perfect will that will be His best for us. May God lead us daily to all that He has prepared for us! (Romans 12)
The words of the Psalmist are calling Israel to praise the Lord—the one true God: The Lord of all creation, Lord over all the nations, Israel’s Redeemer. Today, God’s Holy Spirit speaks through this psalm still—calling us to humble ourselves before Him in grateful praise asking Him for His wisdom, insight, and understanding for this day in which we will rejoice and be glad, for He is our God. Our relationship made holy by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His Son. Thank you, thank you, thank you God/Jesus/Holy Spirit.
Psalm 135, The Message
1-4 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of God,
praise the works of God.
All you priests on duty in God’s temple,
serving in the sacred halls of our God,
Shout “Hallelujah!” because God’s so good,
sing anthems to his beautiful name.
And why? Because God chose Jacob,
embraced Israel as a prize possession.
5-12 I, too, give witness to the greatness of God,
our Lord, high above all other gods.
He does just as he pleases—
however, wherever, whenever.
He makes the weather—clouds and thunder,
lightning and rain, wind pouring out of the north.
He struck down the Egyptian firstborn,
both human and animal firstborn.
He made Egypt sit up and take notice,
confronted Pharaoh and his servants with miracles.
Yes, he struck down great nations,
he slew mighty kings—
Sihon king of the Amorites, also Og of Bashan—
every last one of the Canaanite kings!
Then he turned their land over to Israel,
a gift of good land to his people.
13-18 God, your name is eternal,
God, you’ll never be out-of-date.
God stands up for his people,
God holds the hands of his people.
The gods of the godless nations are mere trinkets,
made for quick sale in the markets:
Chiseled mouths that can’t talk,
painted eyes that can’t see,
Carved ears that can’t hear—
dead wood! cold metal!
Those who make and trust them
become like them.
19-21 Family of Israel, bless God!
Family of Aaron, bless God!
Family of Levi, bless God!
You who fear God, bless God!
Oh, blessed be God of Zion,
First Citizen of Jerusalem!
Hallelujah!
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
God provided a way for the redemption for sin with the same unconditional, never changing, relentless, compassionate love He gave faithfully to His people down through the ages—just like He still has for each one of us! God’s way to atone for sin was the sacrifice of an unblemished, healthy, first born lamb to represent all sin and then be killed before becoming a burnt offering to the Lord. This system by God was set in place and given to Moses, the leader chosen to lead God’s People them out of Egypt where they were held captive to serve the Pharoah as slaves to freedom in a land God promised to them. They were told to never forget what God had done for them. Therefore most psalms are prayers of lament for sin with praise for God who led them out to freedom from sin. They are reminded to stay away from the worship of anyone or anything but God. No idols for God’s people that have no power to help them in life.
Today, we do not need to offer a lamb, goat, dove, calf, or any other animal for the atonement of our sins. God sent His Son to earth to teach, heal, seek the lost, with a compassion heart driven to retell the story of God and His love with ways to walk with God in freedom from sin. Paul, saved by Jesus, then preached redemption with how to be saved through Jesus: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Our God sent His One and Only Son to earth to die in our place, taking the punishment we deserve for our sins—all sin, once and for all.
But that’s not all! “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
What kind of love is this? The Love of God. We can only know this love by knowing God. Jesus willingly and obediently laid down His life for ours so that we may know God in relationship. To be in a relationship with God, we must come to Jesus, our Advocate to God and repent of our sins in Jesus Name. Jesus took all sin for all mankind upon our shoulders all so we could have full access to God, the Father in relationship with Him.
Jesus is the absolute answer to our sin problem that causes a chasm between God and us. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”—Jesus, John 14:6
This verse is the sum of the Good News Gospel! All theology is explained in these few profound words of truth. Jesus does not teach a way to God, but rather proclaims He is the way to God. Jesus reminds his disciples then (and to us now) that seeing him means seeing the Father, because the Father is in Jesus, and he is in the Father. For those who love and obey him, Jesus promises the Spirit, an “advocate” who will always stand by Christ’s people and live in them.
God/Jesus/Holy Spirit—Three-in-One! All praise to the One who is in three persons—Blessed Trinity who saved us and set us free to enjoy a growing, intimate relationship with the God, the Creator of all!
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
One in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity”
This Truth who is Jesus is why we sing praises to Him who has given all He had as a human on earth in sacrifice so that we who believe can live for eternity—in relationship with God! We need only to believe, really believe that all God says and has done are really real. Do you believe?
I pray now for all reading this right now to stop and consider all that God has done through Jesus to save us from ourselves and our sins with complete forgiveness—”as far as the east is from the west”— “our sins to be remembered no more”!
Remember this chorus as a child? Still true!
Gone, gone, gone, gone
Yes my sins are gone,
Now my soul is free
And in my heart’s a song;
Buried in the deepest sea
Yes, that’s good enough for me–
I shall live eternally
Praise God!
My sins are G-O-N-E gone!
“He [God] will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” ~ Micah 7:19, KJV
Lord,
Great is Your Faithfulness, indeed! I believe and I will always sing of You!
Who would of thought
That long ago, so very far away
A little child would be born
And in a manger laid
And who would have thought
This little child
Was born the King of Kings
The Son of just a carpenter
But for whom the angels sing
And who would have thought
That as He grew
And with other children played
This child with whom
They laughed and sang
Would die for them some day
And who would have thought
This little child
Could make a blind man see
Feed the hungry, make rich the poor
And set the sinner free
Oh, who would have thought
This little child, Was who the prophets said
Would take away the sins of man
And rise up from the dead…
Oh, I believe and I will always sing
This little child
He is the King of Kings
Many years have come and gone
Yet this world remains the same
Empires have been built and fallen
Only time has made a change
Nation against nation
Brother against brother
Men so filled with hatred
Killing one another
And over half the world is starving
While our banner of decency is torn
Debating over disarmament
Killing children before they’re born
And fools who march to win the right
To justify their sin
Oh, every nation that has fallen
Has fallen from within
Yet in the midst of this darkness
There is a hope, a light that burns
This little child, the King of Kings
Someday will return
And I believe and I will always sing
This little child is the King
And I believe and I will always sing
This little child
He is the King of kings
And who would have thought
This little child
Is who the prophets said
Will return to judge this world
The living and the dead
Oh, can’t you see
That long ago, so very far away
This little child our only hope
Was born a King that day
(This Little Child, by Scott Wesley Brown)In Jesus Name, for Your Glory, Amen
