Psalms 120:1-121:8
‘Deliver
me, O Lord, from lying lips’ (Psalm 120:2). Lord, You’re calling us to
‘believe the truth’, ‘love the truth’ and ‘follow the truth.’ We are to
be people who ‘do what is true’ (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11; 3 John 3-4;
John 3:21). How can we be such people? Help us to keep our eyes fixed on
Jesus. He is ‘the Truth’ (Hebrews 12:2; John 14:6). When we’re tempted
to turn away from the pathway of truth, help us to remember this: ‘My
help comes from the Lord.’ Help us to remember Your promise: ‘The Lord
is your Keeper…The Lord will keep you from all evil.’ Your promise is
not only for ‘this time.’ It’s ‘for evermore’ (Psalm 121:2,5,7-8). Give
to us the glorious hope that fills our hearts as we keep on looking to
Christ,‘eagerly awaiting’ His Return ( Hebrews 9:28).
Psalms 122:1-124:8
‘I
was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the House of the Lord”’
(Psalm 122:2). Why, Lord, do we go to Your House? We go ‘to give thanks
to the Name of the Lord’ (Psalm 122:4). We seek Your mercy for our past
sins: ‘Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!’ (Psalm 123:3). We
seek Your help for our future temptations: ‘Our help is in the Name of
the Lord…’ (Psalm 124:8). We receive mercy and help from You, Lord. Help
us to worship You: ‘Blessed be the Lord’ (Psalm 124:6). In our worship,
we ‘look to You, the Lord our God. We draw encouragement from Your
Word: ‘The Lord is on our side’ – In Him we have the victory (Psalm
123:2; Psalm 124:1-5). Help us, Lord, to rejoice in Your blessing and
to pray for others: ‘May they prosper who love You’ (Psalm 122:6).
Psalms 125:1-127:5
‘Those
who trust in the Lord… cannot be moved…’ When, Lord, we put our trust
in You, we are like the ‘wise man who built his house on the rock.’ His
house ‘did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.’ When we
don’t put our trust in You, we are like the’ foolish man who built his
house on sand.’ His house ‘fell with a great crash.’ Help us never to
forget that ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in
vain’ (Psalm 125:1; Psalm 127:1; Matthew 7:24-27). Help us to remember
that ‘Jesus Christ’ is the ‘sure Foundation’ upon which our faith is
built. He is ‘the solid Rock’, our ‘mighty Rock of spiritual
refreshment’ (1 Corinthians 3:11; 10:3-4). We thank You, Lord, that
‘Christ died for our sins… He was raised on the third day.’ Help us to
keep on rejoicing in Him: ‘The Lord has done great things for us, and we
are filled with joy’(Psalm 126:3; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Psalms 128:1-129:8
‘Blessed
are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways’ (Psalm 128:1). If,
Lord, we are to enjoy Your blessing, we must fear You and walk in Your
ways. Many people despise the place of worship. They ‘pass by.’ They
have no desire to know ‘the blessing of the Lord.’ Lord, You’re warning
us that we must not allow this attitude to grow in us: ‘May all who hate
Zion be put to shame.’ We must take care that our love for You doesn’t
‘wither’ away. Help us to keep on praying that our love for You will
‘grow.’ If we place no value on Your blessing, our lives will be empty.
May we come to You, our Lord, with this prayer: ‘The greatest thing in
all my life is knowing You, loving You, serving You. I want to know You
more, love You more, serve You more.’ He will ‘fill’ your life with His
blessing (Psalm 129:5-8; Mission Praise, 646).
Psalms 130:1-131:3
Lord,
we’re not to pray to You with superficial words that don’t mean very
much to us. Our prayer is to be a real cry from the heart: ‘Out of the
depths I cry to You, O Lord’ (Psalm 130:1). We are to ‘cry for mercy’
with a deep awareness of how sinful we really are: ‘If You, O Lord, kept
a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?’ (Psalm 130:3). Help us
to come to You with deep humility – ‘My heart is not proud, O Lord’
(Psalm 131:1). When we truly confess our sin, we receive Your ‘unfailing
love’ and ‘forgiveness’ (Psalm 130:4). ‘In You, Lord’ we have ‘full
redemption’ (Psalm 130:7). It is for ‘now’ – ‘The vilest offender who
truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.’ It is ‘for
evermore’ – ‘But purer and higher and greater will be our wonder, our
transport, when Jesus we see!’. ‘Praise the Lord!… Give Him the glory!’
(Psalm 131:3).
Psalm 132:1-18
‘Let
us go to the Lord’s House; let us worship before His throne’ (Psalm
132:7). Lord, You're calling us to worship You. We are to gather
together as Your worshipping people. As we gather for worship, may we
remember that You, Lord, are ‘King.’ May we give You more than the
praise of our lips. May we give You the praise of our lives. We do not
only sing to You. We live for You. We come ‘before Your throne’ with
this prayer, ‘Take my heart - it is Thine own; It shall be Thy royal
throne’. You hear and answer our prayer. You give us Your strength. We
rise to Your challenge: ‘Rise up, O Church of God! Have done with lesser
things; Give heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the King of
kings.’ Lord, when the service of worship comes to an end, may our
service of living begin - and never end!
Psalms 133:1-134:3
Lord, You send ‘Your blessing’ when Your people gather together for worship: ‘How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!’
(Psalm 133:1,3). Many people like to think of themselves as
‘believers’, yet they show no interest in worshipping together with Your
people. What does Your Word say about this? - ‘Let us not give up
meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us
encourage one another...’ (Hebrews 10:25). ‘Praise the Lord, all you
servants of the Lord who minister by night in the House of the
Lord’ (Psalm 133:1; Psalm 134:1). Lord, there are some people never miss a
Sunday morning service - but they always miss the Sunday evening
services! They are missing out on so much of Your blessing. Lord, help
us to seek Your blessing on Sunday evenings as well as Sunday mornings (Psalm 134:2)!
No comments:
Post a Comment