Praise God for His Saving Grace and Love
Scripture Passage: Psalm 135:1-21 (NASB)
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, you servants of the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courtyards of the house of our God!
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His own possession.
5 For I know that the Lord is great
And that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the ocean depths.
7 He causes the mist to ascend from the ends of the earth,
He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
8 He struck the firstborn of Egypt,
Both human firstborn and animal.
9 He sent signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck many nations
And brought death to mighty kings,
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
And all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He gave their land as an inheritance,
An inheritance to His people Israel.
13 Your name, Lord, is everlasting,
The mention of You, Lord, is throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will judge His people
And will have compassion on His servants.
15 The idols of the nations are nothing but silver and gold,
The work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will become like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
19 House of Israel, bless the Lord;
House of Aaron, bless the Lord;
20 House of Levi, bless the Lord;
You who revere the Lord, bless the Lord.
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
SUMMARY
The psalmist encourages all people everywhere to praise the Lord, because the Lord is good. The psalmist praises God for His ability to do whatever He wishes in heaven and earth, and recites how the Lord showed His power again and again in Egypt, Canaan and elsewhere. The Psalmist says that those who worship idols are worshipping nothing but blocks of silver and gold, shaped to have ears and eyes and mouths but in reality unable to see, hear or speak. The psalmist calls on the houses of Israel to bless the Lord.
REFLECTION
This is the perfect passage for me especially during Passion Week, when we are called to remember and celebrate what God did for us and the unthinkable power He showed in doing it. As the psalmist says, the Lord does “whatever the Lord pleases.” During a recent trip to Joshua Tree National Park, my family and I experienced first hand the awesome power that God can unleash on this earth, as we saw and felt 40 mile per hour gusts whipping through the desert canyons. Yet instead of using His power arbitrarily to toy with us, He uses His power for love. As the Psalmist says, God repeatedly has used His power to protect us and for our good, and that was shown above all by Jesus coming to earth, humbling himself and dying, all because He loves us. The only right and true reaction to this is pure praise, pure worship.
APPLICATION
Too often I make Christianity more complicated than it needs to be. My own sin is of course the greatest complication, getting in the way of my relationship with the Father, causing me to focus on myself, to doubt God, to fear Him, to be angry. But the reality of Christianity, which comes through this week more than any other, is so simple. We are beloved by God. God is our Father who loves us infinitely, no matter what we do. So whatever I am going through, I can praise Him for that. I want to set aside time to praise Him this week, and I really pray that even after this week is over, I can maintain that mindset of simply living in gratitude for His love.
PRAYER
Lord, thank you a million times for Your love. Your love, which You give freely to me no matter what I am thinking or doing, no matter how steeped in sin You are. The love that You so intensely felt for us that You took the punishment for my sin, for my darkness, even though You are perfectly holy and pure, just so that my own sin wouldn’t get in the way of my relationship with You. I praise you Lord, with this post, with my words, with my heart. I praise You Lord because there can be no other reaction to Your unknowable, immense power, Your true and unchanging nature, Your eternal love for me. Thank You Lord for bestowing on me, on all of us, every possible blessing including the most important blessing of Your own Son. May You be honored and glorified forever, by me, by all humans on earth, by all of your creation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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