Week of September 10
Make Your Life a Greeting Card to God
Read: Ezekiel 20-21; Psalm 111; Revelation 8
“Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.”
Psalm 111:1, ESV
Introduction
“That has love written all over it!” “I couldn’t have said it any better than that!” These are common responses that we make when our minds touch our hearts and we open our senses to express our deepest feelings about a person or an event.
I read Psalm 111, and I believe that the hymn writer does this very thing. A Bible commentator expresses similar sentiment when he writes about this psalm: “Here we see the Old Testament proclamation of God’s love and grace” (HCBC). What an amazing statement to make about God’s word!
Let me ask you a question: Does your mind often reach down inside your heart and search for a total-body response to the grace of God? Let’s see how this sort of life of praise may be developed in our daily lives.
I read Psalm 111, and I believe that the hymn writer does this very thing. A Bible commentator expresses similar sentiment when he writes about this psalm: “Here we see the Old Testament proclamation of God’s love and grace” (HCBC). What an amazing statement to make about God’s word!
Let me ask you a question: Does your mind often reach down inside your heart and search for a total-body response to the grace of God? Let’s see how this sort of life of praise may be developed in our daily lives.
The Meaning of the Text
The literary style is beautiful
The literary style of Psalm 111 is an acrostic form that ends with the motto of biblical wisdom (see Proverbs 1:7). Each of the 22 lines in the psalm begins with a different letter from the Hebrew alphabet. The psalm may be divided into three sections: vv. 1-4a, vv. 4b-9, and verse 10 (Handbook).
The message of the hymn is timeless, even though we have no way of determining the period in which it was written! Its beauty is found in its simplicity and the relative ease with which we may learn how to praise the Lord in all circumstances. Let’s learn a fresh way to offer our thanks to the Lord today.
The message of the hymn is timeless, even though we have no way of determining the period in which it was written! Its beauty is found in its simplicity and the relative ease with which we may learn how to praise the Lord in all circumstances. Let’s learn a fresh way to offer our thanks to the Lord today.
Embodying our praise
The subtitle may catch a few of my readers by surprise, but I want you to open your minds and hearts to the possibilities that this approach to praise will yield in our lives. I suggest that we employ a body, mind, and soul devotional approach to the first section of the psalm. Let me enlarge upon this idea.
When the psalmist writes that he will give thanks to the Lord with his whole heart, he indicates that what he feels inside will be expressed outwardly in the assembly of the people (111:1). There goes the stoically silent male or female worshiper who hardly moves a muscle throughout a church service! Well-rounded praise requires us to search deep within our beings to explore fresh and vibrant ways to communicate our thanks to God as a community of worshipers.
Step one: This will require the use of our minds (111:2; cf. “study”). The word the psalmist uses means “worthy of study” and, when combined with the Lord’s great works, it yields the idea that we are to ponder God’s works and offer praise from what we have learned. This spiritual scholarship will require us to say goodbye to a superficial understanding of God’s activity in the world.
Step two: We are sentient beings who have been created to respond to God with our physical lives as active agents of His will in creation. God’s presence demands our careful consideration of His mighty deeds in order that we may respond properly with our praise. There is absolutely no reason to lead a black and white existence with all the majestic colors of His grace around us (111:3-4).
God’s mercy and compassion extends to the whole of our existence, and we must show Him our gratitude (111:4b-9). It is quite possible that the middle section of the song suggests a festival atmosphere—perhaps one of the great feasts. There is a reminder that Israel was fed manna and quail by God’s hand throughout the wilderness wanderings (111:5). Despite their rebellion, God provided for their daily needs.
God showed His power to these wanderers by opening Canaan to them as a home (111:6). He completes the circle of benefit by providing His law so that the people may live faithfully with one another and Him (111:7-8). He does the same for you and me. Ponder the significance of this truth, then respond to God in worship through your physical gifts of worship, service, and offerings.
Step three: Ultimately, God’s deliverance (likely from Egypt) came with a price (111:9; meaning of the word; cf. salvation by Christ’s payment for sin). The word “redemption” is used only here and in Psalm 130:7 and in Exodus 8:23. God has paid the price necessary so that we may be free to live in relationship with Him!
Therefore, the beginning of wisdom, or the greatest wisdom, consists in honoring and serving the Lord (v. 10; cf. Proverbs 1:7). Roll all this psalm into the preparation for worship. By doing so, we will understand what the great hymnist Isaac Watts meant when he wrote: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
When the psalmist writes that he will give thanks to the Lord with his whole heart, he indicates that what he feels inside will be expressed outwardly in the assembly of the people (111:1). There goes the stoically silent male or female worshiper who hardly moves a muscle throughout a church service! Well-rounded praise requires us to search deep within our beings to explore fresh and vibrant ways to communicate our thanks to God as a community of worshipers.
Step one: This will require the use of our minds (111:2; cf. “study”). The word the psalmist uses means “worthy of study” and, when combined with the Lord’s great works, it yields the idea that we are to ponder God’s works and offer praise from what we have learned. This spiritual scholarship will require us to say goodbye to a superficial understanding of God’s activity in the world.
Step two: We are sentient beings who have been created to respond to God with our physical lives as active agents of His will in creation. God’s presence demands our careful consideration of His mighty deeds in order that we may respond properly with our praise. There is absolutely no reason to lead a black and white existence with all the majestic colors of His grace around us (111:3-4).
God’s mercy and compassion extends to the whole of our existence, and we must show Him our gratitude (111:4b-9). It is quite possible that the middle section of the song suggests a festival atmosphere—perhaps one of the great feasts. There is a reminder that Israel was fed manna and quail by God’s hand throughout the wilderness wanderings (111:5). Despite their rebellion, God provided for their daily needs.
God showed His power to these wanderers by opening Canaan to them as a home (111:6). He completes the circle of benefit by providing His law so that the people may live faithfully with one another and Him (111:7-8). He does the same for you and me. Ponder the significance of this truth, then respond to God in worship through your physical gifts of worship, service, and offerings.
Step three: Ultimately, God’s deliverance (likely from Egypt) came with a price (111:9; meaning of the word; cf. salvation by Christ’s payment for sin). The word “redemption” is used only here and in Psalm 130:7 and in Exodus 8:23. God has paid the price necessary so that we may be free to live in relationship with Him!
Therefore, the beginning of wisdom, or the greatest wisdom, consists in honoring and serving the Lord (v. 10; cf. Proverbs 1:7). Roll all this psalm into the preparation for worship. By doing so, we will understand what the great hymnist Isaac Watts meant when he wrote: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
The Message for Our Lives
I have known many of you for quite some time, so I will invite you into my inner life when I am shopping for a greeting card at CVS! Seriously, I have long prided myself in finding just the right Hallmark or Dayspring card to fit special occasions. Achieving this goal of the perfect card requires me to spend a considerable amount of time looking for a card that will express my exact sentiments.
First, I cleanse my palate by beginning with humorous cards. I have to get beyond my natural sense of humor, or I will lose the opportunity to express my since gratitude. Secondly, I move to what I call the “catch-all” section where cards for any and everyone are categorized from age to gender to event to you name it. This rarely yields the result that I desire! Thirdly, I wait for the moment when my mind begins to reach toward my heart where the deep waters of love and gratitude are found. I begin to picture what the relationship means to me, and I look for a card with words that are rich with meaning and resonate throughout my being. That’s the one I buy! I cannot wait for the recipient to read it.
You know my spiritual point, don’t you? Make your life a moment-by-moment greeting card to God that you cannot wait for Him to receive. Worship of the Father is not a Hallmark moment, but our approach to expressing our thanksgiving begins with a similar desire to express with our mouths what our minds and hearts and bodies feel about His love and mercy. Live this week in search of just the right words to express your gratitude in worship.
First, I cleanse my palate by beginning with humorous cards. I have to get beyond my natural sense of humor, or I will lose the opportunity to express my since gratitude. Secondly, I move to what I call the “catch-all” section where cards for any and everyone are categorized from age to gender to event to you name it. This rarely yields the result that I desire! Thirdly, I wait for the moment when my mind begins to reach toward my heart where the deep waters of love and gratitude are found. I begin to picture what the relationship means to me, and I look for a card with words that are rich with meaning and resonate throughout my being. That’s the one I buy! I cannot wait for the recipient to read it.
You know my spiritual point, don’t you? Make your life a moment-by-moment greeting card to God that you cannot wait for Him to receive. Worship of the Father is not a Hallmark moment, but our approach to expressing our thanksgiving begins with a similar desire to express with our mouths what our minds and hearts and bodies feel about His love and mercy. Live this week in search of just the right words to express your gratitude in worship.
For Thought and Action
1. Take time each day this week writing down the ways that you are thankful for God’s goodness in your life. Follow the body, mind, and heart pattern that we have built above. Glance at these written words when you are worshiping this Sunday and give voice to your gratitude from the depths of your experience.
2. For Families: This is a good week for your family to write cards full of love to God. Your kids can design their own, paying particular attention to how their bodies, minds, and hearts can say, “I love you” to God. Invite your children to write their cards and place them in envelopes. Then, encourage them to put their cards in the offering plate this coming Lord’s Day. He will know exactly what they write to Him!
May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock
2. For Families: This is a good week for your family to write cards full of love to God. Your kids can design their own, paying particular attention to how their bodies, minds, and hearts can say, “I love you” to God. Invite your children to write their cards and place them in envelopes. Then, encourage them to put their cards in the offering plate this coming Lord’s Day. He will know exactly what they write to Him!
May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock
Posted in Pathway Devotionals