Read Psalms 67-71
Highlights:
A mixture of worship and glory to God; urgent pleas for help in trouble and relief from adversaries; personal testimony of a devout old man (Ps. 71:9); praising the Holy One of Israel (Ps. 71:22) for positive victory.
Let the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praiseThee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: forThou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. Let the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee (Ps. 67:3-5).
We should always be ready to praise the Lord. Every believer in Christ should have praise to God ready to come out of their mouths. Only the Lord truly deserves every bit of praise He gets. The psalmist is certainly in tune with these facts. That is evident from the proclamation made in these scriptures. The praise of the Lord is greatly encouraged here.
If we delve a little deeper into our reading, we see all people are being drawn to praise the Lord. Why should the Lord receive this praise? The psalmist has the answer to that. He says that God judges and governs in a proper way. The Lord deals with all people equally, as only a righteous judge would. I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me (John 5:30).
We have many reasons to praise the Lord. What could be bigger than the fact that we are saved from our sins? Jesus has applied His blood covering to our sin stain. We are forgiven of our sins. God looked into the hearts of man and saw we were wicked. He knew we needed a Savior. Praise the Lord that Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice in our place. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10).
Praise should be offered to God for all the great works He does. The Lord still heals. The Lord still performs many wonderful miracles. All the great works that God has done in times past, the work that He did in the time of the disciples and the New Testament Church, He is still doing today. And when He was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen (Luke 19:37).
The Word of God is full of commands to praise the Lord. They can be found from the start of the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis through the close of the New Testament in the Book of Revelation. We are to always be ready to praise the Lord. We praise Him in the good times and we praise Him in the bad times. The circumstances of our lives do not matter. God is still God.
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great (Rev. 19:5).
Thought for Today:
God calls us to bless not curse those who persecute the righteous.
Christ Revealed:
As the One who led captivity captive (Ps. 68:18). With His resurrection power, Jesus broke the captive power of Satan. When He led the Old Testament saints from paradise into heaven, He led captivity captive (comp. Eph. 4:8; also Gal. 5:1; Rev. 1:18).
Word Studies:
67:2 saving health, salvation; 68:4 JAH is an abbreviation for Jehovah – the Eternal, Self-Existent One – and corresponds to I AM THAT I AM; 68:13 pots, sheepfolds; 68:18 led captivity captive, led your captives captive – a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:8-9); 68:20 issues, escapes; 68:35 terrible, awesome, astonishing; 70:3 Aha, aha, an expression of scorn.
Prayer Suggestion: Call upon the Lord in time of trouble, for He promises to hear us (Ps. 18:6).
Optional Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5
Memory Verse for the Week: John 6:44