Today's Meditation
Read Psalm 147
1Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.
4He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
5Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
6The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground.
7Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre.
8He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills.
9He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry.
10His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
11but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.
14He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat.
15He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
16He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.
17He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold?
18He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord!
This morning's daily lectionary passage included this Psalm. As the saying goes, "it was just what the doctor ordered". I needed this lift today, how about you? One of the most misunderstood phrases in the scriptures is "fear of the Lord", which is mentioned in the Psalm in verse 11. We tend to think of it and the same way that I've taught about fear in the past. But, this is not the same word or interpretation. This fear of the Lord should be translated more like awe, with a trembling sense of unknowable magnitude because the awesomeness is so huge and magnificent it is incomprehensible to us.
May our praise for what God has done, what God is still doing, and what God has yet to reveal to us, lift our spirits today and allow us to shout our praise aloud.
Where have you seen God at work this week?
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