Praise The LORD! Praise The Name Of The LORD
Devotional
Companion to the Psalter
A Devotional Guide to the Psalms
Object:
Praise the LORD!
Praise the name of the LORD;
give praise, O servants of the LORD ...
For I know that the LORD is great;
our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the LORD pleases he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps ...
For the LORD will vindicate his people;
and have compassion on his servants.
-- Psalm 135:1, 5-6, 14
Theme: The surpassing greatness of Yahweh
Outline
1-4 -- Call to praise the LORD, who elected Jacob (Israel) for himself.
5-7 -- His greatness is seen in his power over nature.
8-14 -- His greatness is to be seen in Israel's actual experience of redemption.
15-18 -- By contrast, the heathen gods are mute and powerless.
19-21 -- Blessed be the LORD from Zion!
Notes
• Praise -- Creation/History
• The psalm is a mosaic of fragments from other psalms, the law, and the prophets.
• "Your name, O Lord" = God's reputation, conveyed through the recital and memory of his deeds; his revelation.
• "Vindicate" = justify, exonerate, show to be right.
For Reflection
• What is it to praise God? Does God want compliments? No. He wants us to enjoy him, exult in his grace and love and power, and to have a part in his activity with gratitude, gladness, and anticipation. But modern man has been robbed of this revelation.
• Science has no consideration of God in its descriptions. Historians take for granted that they need not consider God in their telling of the past. Psychologists avoid consideration of God in their efforts to understand and interpret the human psyche. Against all this skepticism and all the rivals to our faith in the ideologies of the day and the idol of greed, the psalmist calls us to delight in God because of his power shown in the created universe, and the historical events that called Israel into being.
• The Christian knows the greatest reason for the praise of God: the gift of Jesus Christ to the world. His life, death, resurrection, and giving of the Holy Spirit are the most awesome and revelatory events in all history. Do these "mighty acts of God" call forth grateful joy, confident hope, and reverent yielding to him, our Lord?
Prayer
Lord God, you have given us good reason to trust you and to yield to you our hearts and lives. But both heart and mind are in bondage, and our knowledge of you is lifeless until your Spirit makes it live. As we read and ponder your word, may your Holy Spirit open our eyes to see your glory, our hearts to exult in you, and our lives to show it in humble service for you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Praise the name of the LORD;
give praise, O servants of the LORD ...
For I know that the LORD is great;
our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the LORD pleases he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps ...
For the LORD will vindicate his people;
and have compassion on his servants.
-- Psalm 135:1, 5-6, 14
Theme: The surpassing greatness of Yahweh
Outline
1-4 -- Call to praise the LORD, who elected Jacob (Israel) for himself.
5-7 -- His greatness is seen in his power over nature.
8-14 -- His greatness is to be seen in Israel's actual experience of redemption.
15-18 -- By contrast, the heathen gods are mute and powerless.
19-21 -- Blessed be the LORD from Zion!
Notes
• Praise -- Creation/History
• The psalm is a mosaic of fragments from other psalms, the law, and the prophets.
• "Your name, O Lord" = God's reputation, conveyed through the recital and memory of his deeds; his revelation.
• "Vindicate" = justify, exonerate, show to be right.
For Reflection
• What is it to praise God? Does God want compliments? No. He wants us to enjoy him, exult in his grace and love and power, and to have a part in his activity with gratitude, gladness, and anticipation. But modern man has been robbed of this revelation.
• Science has no consideration of God in its descriptions. Historians take for granted that they need not consider God in their telling of the past. Psychologists avoid consideration of God in their efforts to understand and interpret the human psyche. Against all this skepticism and all the rivals to our faith in the ideologies of the day and the idol of greed, the psalmist calls us to delight in God because of his power shown in the created universe, and the historical events that called Israel into being.
• The Christian knows the greatest reason for the praise of God: the gift of Jesus Christ to the world. His life, death, resurrection, and giving of the Holy Spirit are the most awesome and revelatory events in all history. Do these "mighty acts of God" call forth grateful joy, confident hope, and reverent yielding to him, our Lord?
Prayer
Lord God, you have given us good reason to trust you and to yield to you our hearts and lives. But both heart and mind are in bondage, and our knowledge of you is lifeless until your Spirit makes it live. As we read and ponder your word, may your Holy Spirit open our eyes to see your glory, our hearts to exult in you, and our lives to show it in humble service for you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
