- Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:1-3 – It’s interesting that the psalmist follows the phrase “a song of praise is fitting” by the words he does here. If the hope is that the Lord will build them up then we’re talking to those who have be torn down before. If He gathers then we’re speaking to those who have been scattered. If He heals the wounds and the broken-hearted then we’re talking to those who have experienced both. Scripture tells us that’s it’s fitting for those who have tasted all that and more to have a song of praise to God on their lips. Why should those who have had to go through all that praise God? Because He can build up, gather, and heal…and He does. Yes, many of us have tasted the bitter side of this life, but God is here offering healing and peace. Praise then is fitting, praise that we no longer have to remain torn down, cast out, and damaged. We have a God who steps in and finds restoration of all that. That’s worth shouting praise over. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1511
- He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?18 He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. Psalm 147:16-18 – God is in control and has the power needed to do whatever He wills. Apparently the psalmist had experienced something that isn’t a common occurrence in the Palestine region, snow and hail. Here he shares how God is able to cover a ground with snow that rarely sees such weather. That God is able to bring hail to a place that rarely sees hail, like a someone easily tossing breadcrumbs to the ground. He also has the power in His words to melt all of it away the moment He no longer wills it to be there. Who else is like our God? Who else can cause the desert to be covered in snow? Who else can with a word of their mouth can cause the winds to change and the snow to be melted? Even with just the movements of nature we can see the sovereignty and power of our Lord, and yet He still does more within our lives to proclaim His greatness. If then you are in a season where you may never admit your doubting God’s greatness, but with how things are going in your life that greatness does seem to be the attribute of God you’re not really seeing, allow yourself today to sit and watch what the Lord does all around you. Pause, sit, and watch. See how the Lord rises and sets the sun. See how He cares for the birds of the air. See how the world is held together in space and you nor anyone else on Earth did anything this morning to keep it that way. God is here, God is in control, and God has the power to do anything He wills. If then He is able to bring snow in the desert and hold the Earth in space with ease, know He can bring refreshment to your desert too and can hold your world together with ease too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2278
Daily DEVO 