“Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done marvelous things! His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him. The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.” Psalm 98:1,2
Devotional Thought For The Day
There are millions of marvelous things that God is doing each moment for us – not only the vast and mind-boggling things in the universe, including all those things which keep planet earth safe and hospitable for life, but also in the micro-sphere of our personal lives, and our bodies, minds, and souls. All the many things which we have become aware are impossible for mankind to control are all within the power and prerogative of God. We forget – we have so many concerns and cares, responsibilities and duties, and so we march on each day taking little thought of God’s closeness to us, His immense love for us, His tender care and concern for us. We are reminded to take thought when disasters come near to us, but we quickly move on and get back into the mode of business and life as usual. In many respects, these deep things of God are far too complex for us to contemplate. But we could give Him thanks and praise, and acknowledge that He has done marvelous things. I’m not much of a song-writer, so a “new song” might be hard for me, but the spontaneous and honest praise of God that arises within our hearts is surely pleasing to Him.
We think of “spirituality” and “church” as a one hour a week experience [if nothing more important comes up], and often it is ritualized and formal, though such worship isn’t bad [actually, is really good] as long as our hearts and minds are fully involved. We focus on all kinds of important things at church – what we should be doing, what we should be avoiding, what kinds of corporate activities our congregation should be involved in, how we can be supporting important ministries and efforts taking place for the building of God’s kingdom. Then we go home and get right back into habits and schedule, chores and duties, and get ready for another week of the “work” routine. And then Sunday comes again – and maybe we make it habit and duty to get to church again for our weekly one hour experience of God. But this doesn’t really generate or sustain the kind of exuberance expressed by the psalmist. Perhaps we yearn for this closeness to God and excitement over His wondrous love; if we don’t we might want to ask why this is, why such eagerness to praise God doesn’t exist in us, not just for an hour a week but every day, all the time.
The truth is that it is a matter of focus and understanding the truly marvelous and wondrous works of God – those focused on by the psalmist, God’s salvation of mankind in the fulfillment of His promises in Christ Jesus. What is this salvation? What does it consist of? It is the undoing of sin, death, and hell. It is the forgiveness and cleansing away of all our sin and guilt. It is restoration of peace with God. It is the gift of His own righteousness accounted to us through faith, so that He is both righteous and the One Who declares the ungodly to be righteous [Rom. 3:26; Rom. 4:5] – by His gracious mercy and love, to the praise of His glorious grace. This is His righteousness which has been revealed to the nations! It is eternal – it guarantees God’s love and blessedness, and a future blessedness beyond our imagination. It is the guarantee of God’s watchfulness, protection, and His benevolently working all things together for our great good. It is the foundation for courage and realistic confidence and optimism that overcomes all negatives and surpasses human understanding. Yes, it involves repentance – for only to the degree that we correctly and accurately see our predicament and the malady of sin that infects us, are we able to see the truly marvelous and wondrous nature of God’s salvation, which heals all of our woes. For God’s salvation also guarantees that all things work to build steadfastness, endurance, character and hope in us – hope that will never fail us. [Rom. 5:1-5]
Those who recognize the wondrous and marvelous nature of God’s salvation also rejoice that God has made known His salvation, has published it, and continues to press this great and glorious good news out into the world – by means of His Word, Holy Scripture, the Bible, and the ministry of the Word [humble preachers and teachers of this same Word], and the life and ministry of the Christian church. If this is what church is about – repentance yes, but the wondrous preaching and assurance of God’s great gift of salvation, why wouldn’t we be excited – every day, and eagerly yearning for each Sunday celebration, including partaking of the cup of His salvation, the new covenant in His blood? [Matt. 26:28] What could possibly be of greater importance to such believers in God’s love? And how could mundane things ever push us away from singing songs of praise, thanksgiving, blessing and glory to God?
As we start a new work week let us join the psalmist in praising the God of our salvation, and catch His exuberance and spirit – by focusing on the most wondrous work of God, His great salvation. As this becomes the constant focus of our lives, everything in life is filled with greater light and joy, and song and praise of God.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, we are often caught in the dreariness of this fallen world of sin, consumed and depressed by the duties that come from earning our daily bread by the sweat of our brow. Lift up our hearts and minds to see Your continuing blessing upon us, and especially we pray that the joy of Your salvation might permeate our being. Help us to see the great blessedness and joy of dwelling upon the blessings of Your kingdom, that in all things we are pressed to greater eagerness to worship and honor You. Amen.