Day 13…Psalms 111

"Reverence for the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. The rewards of wisdom come to all who obey him. Praise his name forever!” (Psalms 111:10)

Notes from the devotional:

• As the psalmist contemplated the Lord, he knew that reverence for God is the only appropriate response to his existence – not only in public worship, but in the day-to-day matters of the heart.
• First of all, the psalmist recounted the amazing deeds of the Lord and instructed his hearers to ponder them – events in history that clearly demonstrated the power and majesty of the Lord:
• God rescued Israel from their Egyptian oppressors (Psalms 111:4)
• God fed them in the wilderness (Psalms 111:5)
• God “had shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations” (Psalms 111:6)
• God “always remembers his covenant” (Psalms 111:5)
• The psalmist then turned his attention to the giving of the law to the people of Israel – the law was a revelation of God’s character and purposes and an explanation of God’s expectations, promises, and warnings – he communicates with his creatures who revere and obey him
• This psalm was written for use when godly people gathered for worship (Psalms 111:1) – in the writer’s mind, reverence in worship was of prime importance – our hearts should be prepared as we enter worship out of reverence and awe for our Holy Creator

My notes:

• I catch myself sometimes in worship listening to myself sing and singing harmony rather than just closing my eyes and singing the MESSAGE of the song to God – it really is the point of the song… I need to make sure I come back to the heart of worship, because it is all about Him…
• Just as the Israelites did at the urging of the psalmist, I need to look at those “God shots” in my life and the spiritual markers that show his grace and mercy and awesomeness to pull me into a sense of reverence day and night

Personal challenge:

• What are those events in your life that really demonstrate God’s sovereignty in your life that pull you into a sense of reverence?
• How is your worship affected by your sense of reverence (or lack thereof) of God?

~~from The One Year Book of Devotions for Men (Stuart Briscoe, 2000)~~