Focusing ones’s affections on the Lord and walking obediently to His word in the power of the Spirit is the only way you can live a life of integrity.
Read morePSALM 100 — REVISED
To bless the name of the Lord is to give YHWH public praise that elevates Him in the minds of others.
Read morePSALM 99 — REVISED
Worship Our Holy God
This is an enthronement psalm that pictures the Lord taking up His Davidic throne and ruling the earth from Jerusalem (Zech 14:9). The main point of this psalm is that the Lord is holy and should be exalted.
The first section of the psalm introduces the idea: Our Holy God is Great (1-3). All the peoples of the earth are called to fear YHWH (1). Christ is King, and one day will rule His creation physically from Zion (2). Everyone should praise the awesome and great name of the Lord (2-3). Holy is He!
The second section continues: Our Holy God is Just (4-5). The King loves justice, and His strength is exerted in establishing what He loves (4). The Lord will establish and sustain a just and righteous society over all the earth (4-5).
The third section continues: Our Holy God is Merciful (6-9). God responded in the past to the cries of His priests on behalf of the people (6). He gave them His Law, which governed the behaviour of His people so that they would be a holy people (7). Even when they continually went astray, God forgave them. Yet the consequences of their sins they could not escape; for God is a just God (8). Worship Him alone, for our God is holy (9).
Brethren, three times the psalmist calls God “holy.” Three times all people are called to praise Him for His works and for His perfections. God is utterly separate from anything in His creation. He is perfect and distinct from any created thing. He is great and awesome in His power. He is just and righteous in His actions. He is merciful in His love for His people, forgiving our sins. Worship Him for holy is YHWH our God!
PSALM 98 — REVISED
The psalmist is calling upon God’s people and all the world to celebrate the Lord.
Read moreA Mother's Prayer
O Sovereign Lord,
Thou art the Creator-Father of all men, for thou has made and dost support them;
Thou art the special Father of those who know, love and honour thee, who find thy yoke easy, and thy burden light, thy work honourable, thy commandments glorious.
But how little that undeserved goodness has affected me! How imperfectly I have improved my religious privileges! How negligent have I been in doing good to others!
I am before thee in my trespasses and sins, have mercy on me, and may thy goodness bring me to repentance.
Help me to hate and forsake every false way, to be attentive to my condition and character, to bridle my tongue, to keep my heart with all diligence, to watch and pray against temptation, to mortify sin, to be concerned for the salvation of others.
Oh God, I cannot endure to see the destruction of my kindred.
Let those that are united to me in tender ties be precious in thy sight and devoted to thy glory.
Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion, instruction, discipline, example, that my house may be a nursery for heaven, my church the garden of the Lord, enriched with trees of righteousness of thy planting, for thy glory;
Let not those of my family who are amiable, moral, attractive, fall short of heaven at last;
Grant that the promising appearances of a tender conscience, soft heart, the alarms and delights of thy Word, be not finally blotted out, but bring forth judgment unto victory in all whom I love.
—From Valley of Vision
PSALM 97 — REVISED
Rejoice in the present as you acknowledge the greatness of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Read morePSALM 96 — REVISED
Worship The King!
Picture this in your mind. David has captured the city of the Jubusites and renamed Jerusalem. He now brings the Tabernacle (God’s visible presence) to Israel’s new capital city, so that Jerusalem can be the political and religious cantre of Israel. It is a time of rejoicing for David and the people (1 Chron 16:23-33). When the tabernacle is being moved there is a call to the people to worship their God. This call to worship is Psalm 96.
The psalm can be divided into three parts: A Call to Believers to Praise the Lord (1-6), A Call to the World to Praise the Lord (7-10), and A Call to Creation to Welcome the Lord (11-13).
The psalmist begins by calling believers to sing a new song; a song that expresses the continued daily blessings of the Lord to His people (1). The song is “new” because everyday brings new blessings from the Lord. Believers are exhorted to proclaim the salvation and glory of YHWH to all unbelievers (2-3). Why should the people of God praise Him. Verses 4-6, tell us that God is He is surrounded by splendour and beauty, and the gods of the pagans are “nothings” before Him.
The peoples of the world are then called to glorify God above all and (6-8). They should be prepared to worship Him rightly and tremble before His power and holiness (9). Brethren, God is sovereign over all the earth. He is coming to judge the world in righteousness (10).
The last section (11-13) is a call for all of creation to rejoice because the King is coming. The curse will be replaced by divine blessing and the King will rule in perfect justice.
PSALM 95 — REVISED
It is impossible to please God without wholehearted obedience to His commands.
Read morePSALM 94 — REVISED
The peace believers have is based on their covenant relationship with Him.
Read moreRESURRECTION
O God of my Exodus,
Great was the joy of Israel’s sons,
when Egypt died upon the shore,
Far greater the joy
when the Redeemer’s foe lay crushed in the dust.
Jesus strides forth as the victor,
conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing might;
He bursts the bands of death,
tramples the powers of darkness down,
and lives forever.
He, my gracious surety,
apprehended for payment of my debt,
comes forth from the prison house of the grave free,
and triumphant over sin, Satan, and death.
Show me herein the proof that his vicarious offering is accepted,
that the claims of justice are satisfied,
that the devil’s sceptre is shivered,
that his wrongful throne is levelled.
Give me the assurance that in Christ I died, in him I rose,
in his life I live, in his victory I triumph,
in his ascension I shall be glorified.
Adorable Redeemer,
thou who wast lifted up upon a cross
art ascended to highest heaven.
Thou, who as a Man of sorrows was crowned with thorns,
art now as Lord of life wreathed with glory.
Once, no shame more deep than thine,
no agony more bitter, no death more cruel.
Now, no exaltation more high,
no life more glorious, no advocate more effective.
Thou art in the triumph car
leading captive thine enemies behind thee.
What more could be done than thou hast done!
thy death is my life,
thy resurrection my peace,
thy ascension my hope,
thy prayers my comfort.
(from The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions)