Category: praising God

My Mouth is Filled with Your Praise

Old Testament Reading: Numbers 24 & 25

*Psalms Reading: Psalm 71

New Testament Reading: 2 Corinthians 8

As I began reading Psalm 71 I immediately took to heart the first sentence, “In you, LORD, I have taken refuge.” How many times do we have troubles and look to things other then God? We look to our friends, our families, sometimes video games, sugar, so many things when our first response should be to look to God. Our writer goes on to ask God to be his rock of refuge, to which I can always go. We can go to Him anytime day or night. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night because something is bothering me. While I know my husband would not get upset if I woke him, it is not something I want to do. But guess what, God is there! He is always with us.

The Psalm goes on to ask about not casting him away when he is old, not forsaking him when his strength is gone. He asks God for help. He says he will always have hope and he will praise God more and more. He will tell of his saving acts all day long. He will praise Him with the harp, the lyre, his lips and his tongue. The writer of this Psalm really knew that God is AMAZING!

All of this made me think of a few things. First, as I said earlier, God is aways with us. I have a great support system and God has put wonderful people in my life to help me navigate the craziness of this world but do I put God aside and try everything else first and then go to Him? I know I do sometimes, then I realize I should have gone to Him first. Many times when I go to him first, he puts the right help in front of me to navigate my problem and sometimes he tells me I just need to wait on it.

Second, when he is talking about his enemies, I think of the enemies that are trying to take us away from God. They will stop at nothing to tear us from the love of God. Verse 4 says “Deliver me, my God from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.”  We need to stand firm in our faith, seek God, spend time in His word, and be careful that we don’t get pulled away. It is so easy to walk away, to spend time away from God. We need to be purposeful in our walk with Him so we are not tempted to walk away.

Lastly, he is praising God. We need to praise God for all he has given us. My husband says he is part of the joyful noise club. I am too, I don’t have a beautiful voice but the Bible doesn’t say we have to have a beautiful voice, it says to make a joyful noise. It also doesn’t say we need to be Bible scholars to speak his word or tell others of the great things He does. Verse 17 says, “I declare your marvelous deeds.”  Go out and declare His marvelous deeds in your life.

-Jeani Ransom

Questions for reflection:

  1. How do you take refuge in God? Do you seek others first or God first?
  2. How can you show your praise to Him today?
  3. What marvelous deeds has He done for you? Who can you share them with?
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No one is all bad, they can always serve as a bad example

*New Testament Reading:  1 Corinthians 10

*Psalms Reading:  Psalm 57

Old Testament Reading:  Leviticus 21-22

Have you ever wondered why some things “made it” into the Bible?  Why do we need to hear about what people did thousands of years ago?  1 Corinthians 10 gives us one reason.  In verses 6 and 11 Paul writes that these things took place as examples for us.  He was referencing the Israelites as they wandered in the desert and telling us not to do the things they did (indulging in sexual immorality, putting God to the test, grumbling, etc.). 

Yesterday we talked about God’s expectations.  Sometimes rather than just giving us a list of do’s and do not’s He gives us examples of others’ choices and how that worked out for them.  We can look in the Bible and find a lot of examples of people who made good choices and bad choices.  We can learn from both of these. 

We can also learn from David’s example in Psalm 57.   Many of the Psalms tell us what the circumstances were when it was written.  This one says it was when David fled from Saul into a cave. 

Verses 1-3 – David cries out to God, believing He will save him

Verse 4 – David tells God some of his problems

Verse 5 – David exalts God

Verse 6 – David tells God more of his problems

Verses 7-11 – David tells God that his heart belongs to Him; he gives thanks and sings praises to God

It seems as if David does believe in God’s ability to protect him, but at the same time sees the big problems that are in his life at that moment.  He reminds himself of God’s faithfulness, but the fears and trials don’t go away.  He finally simply decides to praise God and recognize Him for his greatness, even in the midst of his difficult circumstances. 

-Todd and Amy Blanchard

Reflection Questions

  1. What can you praise God for right now in your life, no matter what your circumstances are? 
  2. Whose example in the Bible do you want to follow?  Whose do you want to avoid?
  3. Are you being a good example of a faithful child of God for others to follow?
  4. What character trait of God did you see in today’s reading?
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