LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO

Proclamation:

“Give thanks to The Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of The Lord tell their story; those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”  Psalm 107:1-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  This psalm is a song and the refrain in verse fifteen is repeated three times within it. (Psalm 107:15, 21, and 31)  David uses the phrase, “O give thanks unto The Lord …” at the beginning of several psalms. (Psalm 105:1, 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, and 136:1)  Here he follows it with the same two reasons that he identified in the previous psalm, “The Lord is good and His love endures forever.” (Psalm 106:1)  In the remaining verses David recounts some of the things which The Lord had done for the children of Israel.  After they had messed up and suffered because of it, they cried out to The Lord and He delivered them out of their distress. (Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, and 28)

Application:

We should all give thanks unto The Lord.  There are so many reasons for doing so that we cannot count them all.  Those of us who have been redeemed should say so, we should tell the world our story.  He has given each of us a testimony, which is uniquely ours, and we should tell others what The Lord has done for us.  “Oh that men would praise The Lord for His goodness …” (Psalm 107:15, 21, and 31) We should be thankful and praise His Holy Name for all of the good things which He has done.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ALWAYS DO WHAT IS RIGHT

Proclamation:

“Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.  Remember me, Lord, when You show favor to Your people, come to my aid when You save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of Your chosen ones …”  Psalm 106:3-5 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The same inspired words that begin Psalm 106:1, also appear in 1 Chronicles 16:34.  David knew that those believers who keep God’s word and did the right thing would be blessed.  However, he asked The Lord to remember him when He showed favor to His people, and when He saved them.   David wanted to enjoy the prosperity and joy with God’s chosen people, and he wanted to join them in giving God praise.  He also knew that they frequently disobeyed and provoked God, and he recounts some of their misgivings in this psalm along with God’s demonstration of His goodness towards them. (Psalm 106:7-46)

Application:

It is one thing to believe The Word of God, however, not all of us who believe it actually follow it and obey it in our daily walk, actions, and conversations.  We do the right thing, hopefully more often than not, but we don’t do it continually.  It is not good enough to praise The Lord God with the words of our mouth, our whole heart must agree with Him.  We must walk the walk and not just talk the talk. (1 John 1:7)  For our momentary, occasional or repeated lapses back into sinful behavior or speech, we need to ask for God’s forgiveness and His help. (1 John 1:9)  If we want to enjoy God’s favor, we must keep His commands.

WE ARE TO TELL THE WORLD WHAT HE HAS DONE

Proclamation:

“Give praise to The Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done.  Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.  Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek The Lord rejoice.”  Psalm 105:1-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  These are the same inspired words, Psalm 105:1-15, which appear in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22.  The people of God were encouraged to praise The Lord and to talk about the things which He had done.  This psalm also recounts a significant portion of the history of Israel, and God’s intervention, from His covenant with Abraham to their occupying the promised land of Canaan. (Psalm 105:8-45) 

Application:

The Lord God keeps His promises.  Whatever He has said in His Holy Word that He will give to us or do for us, you can be sure that we will receive it.  We need to understand that some of His promises are conditional.  “If My people … then will I …” (2 Chronicles 7:14) He will keep His word and do His part, we just need to do our part.  We are to go and spread the gospel throughout the world. (1 Chronicles 16:24)  We are to tell people of His wonderful acts.  We are to praise, worship, and glorify His holy name.  However, we should not only be hearers and tellers of The Word of God, but we are to also be doers of The Word of God. (James 1:22)  The world should see our good works and glorify God. (Matthew 5:16)

MAY THE MEDITATIONS OF MY HEART PLEASE THE LORD

Proclamation:

“I will sing to The Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  May my meditation be pleasing to Him, as I rejoice in The Lord.”  Psalm 104:33-34 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The psalm begins by repeating the phrase, “Bless The Lord, O my soul …” which the psalmist also began the previous psalm.  (Psalm 103:1)  This psalm of praise presents the glory and majesty of The Lord God and recounts some of His marvelous acts and creations.  David ends it by saying that he will praise The Lord as long as he lives, and he hopes that his thoughts and reflections on the awesomeness of God will be pleasing to Him.

Application:

We spend a lot of time thinking and talking about things which are really insignificant and unimportant.  What if we spent one whole day thinking and talking about the things which The Lord God has done, created, and caused to occur.  The sun and the stars; the place where rivers begin and how they flow; the cycle of water, clouds, and rain; the beasts of the fields and the fowls of the air; the blades of grass and the trees like the cedars of Lebanon; the majestic mountains, the fields of grains, and the sands of the deserts; the animals both large and small; and man, so similar and yet each is so different; these are all created by the awesome God that we serve.  It is humbling to think of how insignificant we are in comparison to all of God’s creations.  We ought to praise Him and thank Him for our very existence, as brief as it may be.  Try spending one day thinking only thoughts which would be pleasing to God.  Think on this, how long can you praise The Lord before you stop and do something else?  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart please The Lord. (Psalm 19:14)  We all should spend more time praising and pleasing The Lord.

THANKS BE TO GOD FOR HIS LOVE AND HIS LOVING-KINDNESS

Proclamation:

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”  Psalm 103:8-10 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The psalm begins by stating and repeating the phrase, “Bless The Lord, O my soul …” (Psalm 103:1 & 2) and ends by repeating “Bless The Lord ...” (Psalm 103:20, 21, and 22)  David told the people of God to praise and glorify The Lord.  They were not just to offer and repeat rituals during worship, giving Him lip service, but to praise Him with pure and honest feelings from the depths of their hearts.  They should be grateful that He does not treat them as they treat Him.

Application:

We should not only praise and worship The Lord, but we should be thankful for His love for us.  Because of His goodness and mercy, God does not treat us as we deserve to be treated based upon our behavior, our willful disobedience, and our sins, but He does so out of His abounding love.   

THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN FOR A FUTURE GENERATION TO PRAISE THE LORD

Proclamation:

“Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise The Lord.”  “The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You.”  Psalm 102:18 and 28 (NIV)

Explanation:

It is not clear who is the human author of this psalm, however it is clear that it was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  It could have been written by King David prophetically, or by someone who lived through the Babylonian captivity, or just after it.  Some Bible scholars believe that this psalm refers to the restoration of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, (Psalm 102:13) while others think that it refers to the Messianic reign of Christ. (Psalm 102:22)  Regardless, it is clear that an afflicted person, who is possibly dying (Psalm 102:11 and 24) and is crying out for Divine help, who then offers a perspective on God’s sovereignty and eternality. (Psalm 102:12-22)   This psalm ends with an expression of hope for us and our children. (Psalm 102:28)

Application:

Our time on this earth will be for only a few days. (Psalm 102:3)  Some of our lives will be shortened because of our sins. (Psalm 102:23)  God’s purposes on earth will be accomplished by future generations.  It is our purpose now to make sure that we train our children and grandchildren to walk in God’s way. (Proverbs 22:6)  We should also pray for them, and for all children that God’s will be done in their lives.  If we don’t teach them the ways of God, then the world will teach the other ways.

LEAD A BLAMELESS LIFE AND PUT NOTHING VILE BEFORE YOUR EYES

Proclamation:

“I will be careful to lead a blameless life … I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.  I will not look with approval on anything that is vile.  I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.”  Psalm 101:2-4 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Before he became king, David was careful to behave wisely and walk in God’s way.  That is why King Saul feared him and hated him, and that is why the people loved him. (1 Samuel 18:14-15)  David said that he would rule his own house well, with integrity of heart, and in a sincere and upright manner.  He would be an example to his family and to all good men.  He said that he would not put anything vile, lustful, evil, or representing idols before his eyes, nor would he meditate on those things.  He would meditate on The Lord. (Psalm 16:8)  This was all long before his unfaithful episode with Bathsheba. (2 Samuel 11:1-5)  Many Bible scholars believe that David was speaking prophetically regarding the reign of Christ is this psalm and not about his own life.

Application:

It is not possible for us to live a life without committing a sin. (Romans 3:23)  However, we should strive to live a sin-free, blameless life.  Our goal should be to conduct our lives in such a manner which would be pleasing to The Lord.  We should endeavor to walk in the light, and in an upright and righteous way. (1 John 1:7)  Our behavior should be a Christ-like example to our family, friends, and to all of the people that we encounter.  The books that we read and the movies that we watch should not be vile, evil, pornographic, or demonic.  We should not even think about those things.  We should not let the ungodly, worldly people influence us to participate in things which would displease God.  We should be involved in and meditate on things which are true, honest, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, and Godly. (Philippians 4:8)  We should read and meditate on The Word of God day and night. (Psalm 1:2)