Seize the Moment – Day 1095
The Pattern of Praise!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, March 17.
Psalm 9 is a hymn of unconditional praise to God. It starts with the command to praise, “I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” (vs 1-2) This psalm teaches me that the decision has been made, my mind is made up, no matter what I will praise God today!
How is this possible? How am I expected to praise God in the good, the bad, and the ugly of my life? There is a pattern of praise in Psalm 9 that teaches us how to do this: I remember how God rescued me in the past (3-6); therefore, I will praise God believing He will do it again in the future (7-20)! Paul exhorted believers to live this way in Ephesians 5:20, “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”
God has bestowed grace upon you so that you can live a life of thanksgiving, as Psalm 9:13-14 highlights, “Be gracious to me, O Lord; see my affliction from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may tell of all Your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.”
Do you see the pattern of praise? God is gracious to you; therefore, you declare His praises and bless others! See it again in Psalm 51:12-13, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.”
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 9, meditating upon the grace of God freely given to you in Christ Jesus so that you may praise God with your whole life (Ephesians 2:8-10).
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.