JULY 9 READINGS...Psalm 105-106.
The essence of our reading today is found in the key passages Psalm 105:1 & 106:48…”Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.”…”Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!” Our God is worthy of all our praise and so much more…part of praising the Lord is the declaration of the great things He has done, and is doing. When we realize not only who God is, but how He continually is at work in His people’s lives, we ought to be moved to give thanks and praise. Our God is eternal…He is from everlasting to everlasting…and because He is, we shout our praise to Him, and we say “Amen!” In the presence of our mighty and holy God…as we remember His great works, and when we look at ourselves…it moves us to ask for His gracious mercy.
In both of our Psalms this morning we have for us the work of God in the nation of Israel…again this history is boxed between the two verses I shared above. The reason for this is that the history of Israel is not about Israel…it is about the Lord who works through His chosen people. When we read and study the Bible…our focus should never be primarily the people and nations in the story, and the New Testament it’s not primarily the church that we should focus on…but the Lord Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist reminds us that God established a covenant with Israel even before they existed…He gave it first to Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob who became Israel. Because this covenant is an unconditional covenant, unbreakable…not based on the people’s performance, but on the very word of God…the history shows God’s mighty actions to keep His covenant with His people. The Psalmist takes us from before the birth of the nation of Israel…to its birth…when they were but an infant in Canaan…to Egypt…out of Egypt into the wilderness…and into the promise land. He gives specifics of how all along their history it was the Lord who was their keeping His promise and bringing them into the land He promised to Abraham. Sadly, once in the land they were disobedient to the Lord…they did not drive out the pagan nations, but learn their idolatry. So God would punish them…their sin would cost them greatly, but it would not break God’s covenant with them. And as we read further in Scripture we are told of a day coming whenever Israel will return to the Lord in repentance, and believe that Jesus is Messiah.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading. Remember, God has established an unconditional covenant with you and me in the blood of Jesus. Nothing can break that covenant, because it’s based on what the Lord has done and promised. But if we choose to go into disobedience and sin, there will be a price for us to pay. We are the Lord’s people…and because He loves us, He will discipline us if we need it.
TOMORROW’S READINGS… Psalm 107 & 111-114