Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule: Psalm 66-67; Acts 23
Devotional Thought:
Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handywork.” Creation itself praises the awesomeness and greatness of God. Romans 1:19-20 convicts all mankind by announcing that nature itself doth reveal that there is God, leaving man without excuse. All of mankind will stand before God accountable because of the praise and declaration of creation. We know that this is theologically known as general revelation, and people are not saved by general revelation; however, we have the promise in scripture, “…those that seek me early shall find me.” (Proverbs 8:12) God will reveal Himself and the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who seek for Him. The revelation of Jesus Christ as the Savior is called special revelation and that is the way man is saved today. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Psalm 66 is all about giving praise to the Lord for Who He is! The Psalmist is convinced that everyone should praise the Lord. If for no other reason, we should look around at creation and praise and honor God for His great might and majesty. The Psalmist says, Look around at His Sovereignty and works! This did not just happen all by itself and it doesn’t keep working all by itself. We must stop taking things for granted and look around and praise God for how He made things and sustains them by His mighty power. In verse eight the Psalmist begins to personalize his praise for what God has done for him. We ought to be able to give a testimony of God’s grace and goodness at any given moment. “Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.” (vs. 9) He concludes this psalm by reminding us of the importance of keeping our word with God. “I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.” (vs. 13-14) The Psalmist declares that he will not just give lip service in his praise, but that it will be backed by action. His worship would not just be spoken, but rather it would be seen in his behavior. I will sacrifice in the sanctuary and I will confess the sin of my heart. When our praise and worship is authentic or real, we have a wonderful promise to claim. “Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.” (vs. 20)
Personal Requests:
• Lord, please help me to continually praise you for who you are! My mind cannot fully comprehend your greatness, but I desire to praise you the best I know how for that greatness.
• Lord, thank you for keeping my soul and the thousands of times you have helped by feet to find stable and solid ground when I would have stumbled, slipped, or gone SPLAT!
• Lord, please help me to keep my promises to you. It is easy for us to cry out to you when we are in trouble and try to fly solo when things are going good. Please help me to always praise you and honor you with me actions as well as my lips.