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1 O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! 8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways." 11 Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest." (Psalm 95 NRSV)
Good day, Friend. Yesterday, we looked at the trip that Papa Moses took in his huge station wagon with his many Israelite kids, and how unruly they were when they got thirsty. Well, they have "arrived" to their destination and this psalm gets written.
It is a call to celebration because they've arrived. Not just from a trip per se, but a point of reflection where one can finally say, "I've led a bad life and Jesus saved me, and I am thankful to be here." It's personal worship between a grateful individual and his/her God. We have been out of the presence of God, now we must enter His presence with thanksgiving, making all the holy racket we can as a way to let the world know how blessed we are. It's also a time to take stock of all we have done and seen. The psalmist makes a list for himself: God is a great God, and King above all other gods. God is the Creator of all things, from the mountains to the oceans; all belongs to God, along with us. He is worthy of our worship and praise. And we should not ever return back to that period in our lives where we acted like spoiled, thirsty children. We should know that God does not like for us to return back to those places where we found ourselves far from Him. Our having arrived means our need to stay close to God and never wander away.
Life provides many options, and many roads on which to travel. God offers us His loving guidance to help us reach His destinations not ours. C. S. Lewis said, "Hell is filled with people who said, 'My will be done;" while Heaven is filled with those who said and lived, "Thy will be done." It doesn't get much easier to say. We should live surrendered lives in which God can lovingly lead us. We all fit in the station wagon!
PRAYER: Loving Father, may Your grace be upon us as we live each day. We ask forgiveness for those times we've yelled a bit too loudly about our situation and location. Bless us with peace, patience, and the pace to walk closely with You. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Be an encourager of praise!
Receive our blessings of peace and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
Listen to the continuing study of Paul's Letter to the Romans at www.pimplesandwrinkles.org.
