Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 147:1-6
Ps 147:1-6
1 Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! 2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. 5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. 6 The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.
If you have ever had the opportunity to be in a remote area at night and see the stars in the sky, you have seen one of the most beautiful and majestic sights on the earth. Also beautiful but not equal to this is when we go up on a mountain that overlooks a large city and see the lights of that city at night. But when we are in the city and all the lights are over and around us, we can hardly see the stars that were so visible before. In fact, many in our world have never seen the true glory of the stars without the disturbance of manmade lights.
There are a lot of things in life that are fun, that taste good or that are beautiful to look upon or to hear. There are relationships that fill our hearts with joy and give us peace in the midst of a very turbulent world. But none of these even begin to compare with the beauty or the majesty of God. There is no relationship on earth that can give the joy and peace that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. Yet, we too often settle for the earthly instead of keeping our eyes on Jesus and the things above. And sadly as with the lights mentioned above, there are so many in the world who have never even known the peace and joy of God and have never even known his glory, his majesty or his unconditional love because their minds are set on this earth and they never look up to God.
As children of God, we need to rejoice in the Lord always! We should be filled with his peace so abundantly that we will shine as stars in a dark world. Our love should overflow from God so that those around us will see Jesus in us in all we do and all we say. This kind of life will open the door for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus and his salvation from sin. It is up to us to use them.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the majesty of the stars, the beauty of the flowers and the songs of the birds. Thank you for showing your power in the waves of the oceans and even in the destruction from the storms. Open my eyes to see you in the lightening and to hear your voice in the thunder. But even more than all the earthly things, thank you for loving me and giving Jesus to die in my place and for my sin. Thank you for the joy and peace that surpasses understanding. Fill my heart with songs and my voice with praise to your holy name. Use me to lead others to you and your salvation. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
