Quick Sunday Thoughts
Jun 29th, 2008 by Dr. Rus
Over on his blog In Case You Were Wondering, Brody Harper asked an interesting question today — What random thoughts are on your mind? I read those words shortly before our worship service this morning. At the time I kind of shrugged the question off. But then during our worship time, the random thought that hit me had to do with giving praise at all times.
I know, many have heard the tired old Scriptural saying — “Give praise at all times.” But, this morning something a little different hit me. As I found ourselves giving praise and thanks for what He’s done, we ended up totally changing the music line up. We did Make A Joyful Noise, Blessed By Thy Name and the Lincoln Brewster song Let the Praises Ring. That’s the song that really put us in the praise mindset.
The past few weeks have been rather trying in the Jeffrey household. I have to admit, at times, it’s been hard to find much to praise Him about. But, as we were singing this morning I found myself in Psalm 150. I know, I know. Again, this is a Psalm that many turn to when encouraging us to praise Him at all times. But, as I meditated on the words from Psalm 150 this morning with the congregation I found myself going in somewhat a different direction.
Yes, this is a great Psalm, and many times we look at it with little to no regard for the surrounding text. We need to remember the Psalms are a collection of songs that were on David’s heart at one time or another. As I pondered that thought I pointed out the fact that in the Psalms we discover the full range of human emotion. There’s the incredible highs, and the amazing lows. There’s story of victory, and story of betrayal. If we were to look at the Psalms in light of David’s life, we would quickly discover his journey through this life. When pondering this fact, I suddenly realized that it’s in the midst of life, in the midst of the highs, and the lows, that we will always seem to find ourselves praising God for some reason. We may not know why at the time, but somewhere deep inside us, there’s a desire to praise the Creator for all that He has done.
Yes, Psalm 150 is a great Psalm of praise, but I find even more joy in that Psalm today as I realize David still found the strength and energy to praise God, even after outlining his amazing journey through this life, before arriving at the final Psalm, which boldly declares…
“Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus
Dr. Rus, thanks for posting this - I’m reading it on Thursday instead of Sunday - I’ve been trying to catch up on blog reading and posting. I got way behind while in Africa for 10 days!
I sometimes catch myself reading through the Psalms with a blase, functional sort of mindset, forgetting that they chronicle with utter transparency the life of a man after God’s own heart. I need to remind myself each time I read Psalms that they were written during times of desperate dependence, terror, fear, ultimate trust in God, worship, sin, sinfulness, laziness, heartache, discipline, victory, betrayal, lust, confrontation. David didn’t just sit around writing songs, hoping that one would be the money-maker that put him on the map. These songs overflowed from his heart, from God’s heart.
Tonight is one of those times when I need to remind myself of the overflow factor. Or rather, the lack of overflow that I’m sensing right now. It’s like I’m one step off from really hearing God, really following Him and really knowing His true joy.
My prayer tonight is that by God’s mercy I’d be able to trust in Him completely, allow Him to direct my paths, that I’d be humble and not anxious, that He’d restore the joy of my salvation and give me peace. I’m not far off. I’m mostly tired. And too busy. And distracted.
I’ve got a few Psalms to read before I go to bed!