July 21, 2006 - Psalms 29-30 and Acts 23:1-15
There are so many wonderful truths in these verses today, that I don't know where to begin! God is so good. I pray that He will speak to you as He did to me this morning.
Psalm 29 is a call to worship. What is worship? It is giving God all of the glory that He is due. When we worship God, we are acknowledging His perfection in every part of His character. We are giving Him praise for all of His power and love. That is what David calls us to do in this psalm. How often do you worship God? It should be a continual attitude of your heart, not just something you think about once or twice a week. Every morning we should worship Him, so that we see Him clearly all day long. We should begin the day with praise and thanksgiving and continue in it all day long. We should tell others of His glory continuously. Our worship should never cease, because He is worthy.
Psalm 30 changes gears. David is thanking God for healing him. (v.2) I am not sure if he was healed from a disease or from a wound, but David tells us that God kept him from dying. (v.3) I know the Lord as healer from my personal experience. He led me to find my prostrate cancer early, so it could be taken away, and my life on earth would be prolonged. I praise Him for that healing. That is God's character. He brings favor out of anger and joy out of weeping. (v.5) He is able to turn our mourning to dancing and our grieving to gladness. (v.11) That is another reason we should worship Him all of the time. We should remember all of the times He has helped us, and we should be looking forward to what He will do next.
Acts 23 is a unique passage about Paul before the Jewish Council. He continues to give his testimony by saying that he had lived in good conscience before God up to that point in his life. (v.1) That is a strong statement. He had sincerely tried to do God's will as he understood it, all of his life. However, that made the council upset, because he was referring to being a follower of Christ, too. They could not decide what to do with Paul, but 40 men decided to kill Paul. They made a vow not to eat until he was dead. I guess they all died unless they broke their vow, because God protected Paul from them. In fact, Jesus appeared to him in person, and He told him he would make it to Rome to be His witness there, too. What a blessing! Perhaps that is why Jesus chose Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He knew Paul's heart. He knew that Paul would continue to live in good conscience before God all of his life. Can He say that about you today? Does He know that you will always strive to do His will as you understand it? I hope that is true of all of us, or I hope we will repent, and trust Him in that way.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 31-32 and Acts 23:16-35.
Psalm 29 is a call to worship. What is worship? It is giving God all of the glory that He is due. When we worship God, we are acknowledging His perfection in every part of His character. We are giving Him praise for all of His power and love. That is what David calls us to do in this psalm. How often do you worship God? It should be a continual attitude of your heart, not just something you think about once or twice a week. Every morning we should worship Him, so that we see Him clearly all day long. We should begin the day with praise and thanksgiving and continue in it all day long. We should tell others of His glory continuously. Our worship should never cease, because He is worthy.
Psalm 30 changes gears. David is thanking God for healing him. (v.2) I am not sure if he was healed from a disease or from a wound, but David tells us that God kept him from dying. (v.3) I know the Lord as healer from my personal experience. He led me to find my prostrate cancer early, so it could be taken away, and my life on earth would be prolonged. I praise Him for that healing. That is God's character. He brings favor out of anger and joy out of weeping. (v.5) He is able to turn our mourning to dancing and our grieving to gladness. (v.11) That is another reason we should worship Him all of the time. We should remember all of the times He has helped us, and we should be looking forward to what He will do next.
Acts 23 is a unique passage about Paul before the Jewish Council. He continues to give his testimony by saying that he had lived in good conscience before God up to that point in his life. (v.1) That is a strong statement. He had sincerely tried to do God's will as he understood it, all of his life. However, that made the council upset, because he was referring to being a follower of Christ, too. They could not decide what to do with Paul, but 40 men decided to kill Paul. They made a vow not to eat until he was dead. I guess they all died unless they broke their vow, because God protected Paul from them. In fact, Jesus appeared to him in person, and He told him he would make it to Rome to be His witness there, too. What a blessing! Perhaps that is why Jesus chose Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He knew Paul's heart. He knew that Paul would continue to live in good conscience before God all of his life. Can He say that about you today? Does He know that you will always strive to do His will as you understand it? I hope that is true of all of us, or I hope we will repent, and trust Him in that way.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 31-32 and Acts 23:16-35.