When I Need to Sing a New Song
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It's Summer and around here - if you've been here for long, you know, that means it's time to be refreshed as we spend a Summer in the Psalms together.
I encourage you to start with us today and read Psalm 33, then read one psalm a day. Each week, check back in with us and a friend of mine will join to offer a reflection from their own personal walk with God.
Our faith is deeply personal but God intended for us to live it out in community. I'm so honored you're here with us and part of The Good Day community!
Psalm 33, it's a love song. What a way for us to begin!
There's something about Summer. It makes you want to roll the windows down, turn on some music and sing! The sunshine beckons us to breathe in the fresh air and get lost in a familiar song.
At night, sitting on the porch or watering the flowers and vegetables, I hear creation's choir join together. Sometimes the frog who likes to rest beneath the wispy stems of the asparagus plant serves as the conductor for the evening, other times it's the wind rushing through the leaves of the trees, inviting them to clap their hands while the ladybugs come out to dance the jitterbug and the crickets leap with joy in rhythm with the beat of the evening. The stars telling creation below it's time to sing!
When we settle in, we see this - we hear this - for what it really is. A musical masterpiece - a love song offered by creation for its Creator.
As Randy Travis would sing, "There's at least a million love songs that people love to sing. And every one is different and every one's the same."
Psalm 33 is just that. The psalmist puts pen to paper, writing down the song in his heart and welcoming us to worship the Almighty together - to join creation's choir:
Shout for joy in the Lord...sing to him a new song - Psalm 33:1,2
I agree with Randy. There are at least a million different love songs. Some are short, some are long. Rarely does a day go by when Will and I don't share a line of a love song - it's usually sung, sometimes hummed or whistled. It's not because we're overly musical but because we love one another so. Love leads the heart to sing! It's involuntary, a natural response.
It's the same for us with God. As we think about His power and creativity, specifically as verse 6 points out:
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth all their host - Psalm 33:6
Then continues in verse 8 and 9:
Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke and it came to be; he commanded and it stood firm. - Psalm 33:8-9
Though nations find courage in the number of soldiers in the army and the strength of their horsepower, our hope - our courage for tomorrow - is in the Lord's steadfast love. A love so true, so unconditional, so unwavering. Our only response is to join creation in today's love song to our holy God. How incredible Elohim, the Creator God, is also Jehovah, the relational God. God, who spoke creation into existence, longs to have a relationship with His creation. Let that sink in. God, who spoke creation into existence, longs to have a relationship with His creation. It's incredible.
The last line of this psalm ends with a a lover's plea:
Let your steadfast lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion as we have hoped in you. - Psalm 33:22
This is our prayer. Lord, the more we lean on You and learn to trust You more fully, may Your lovingkindness wash over us - wave upon wave. To the untrained ear, this may sound like the rush of water but tune our ears to be sensitive to Your voice and Your Spirit so we would hear and understand, this is today's love song and we would stand and sing with every fiber of our being for You alone are worthy of all the honor and praise! Amen!
Now, It's Your Turn!
Before opening God's Word, take a moment to pray and ask God to meet you there. Then...
Read Psalm 33 a couple times. Highlight what stands out to you.
Circle verbs or specific wording you notice.
Then, write down a bullet point takeaway based on this. "I-statements" help make this personal. Think of this as a challenge statement.
How incredible Elohim, the Creator God, is also Jehovah, the relational God. God, who spoke creation into existence, longs to have a relationship with His creation - with me.
Then, jot down a question or two to think about today. You don't have to have the answer to this question now. And yield to the Holy Spirit - prayerfully ask God to search your heart and lead you to more truth and grow your faith through the Holy Spirit.
Where am I placing my hope? Nations find courage in the number of soldiers in the army and the strength of their horsepower. What about me? Is my hope - my courage for tomorrow - in the Lord's steadfast love? How do I respond to a love so true, so unconditional, so unwavering? Is my life responding to this love in the way God longs - to join creation in today's love song to my holy God?
Again, we don't have to be Bible scholars and talk only in the thou's and art's of King James version to read this book. ...because when we pray before we read, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is with us, guiding and teaching us.
Praise God for this!
And praise God for refreshment as we are intentional to spend a summer in the Psalms together, for if we want His truth to ever be on our lips, it must first be planted in our hearts.
Our strength grows as we rely on strength from above. Our joy grows as we see God transforming us from the inside out. Our peace grows as we spend time in God's presence, and we find rest when we intentionally seek the Lord first in our lives, for the Lord is ever our portion.
The good life, well it starts with a good day. Then another. Then another. Let's choose to live #TheGoodDay one day at a time.
I love hearing from you, so go ahead. Leave a comment. Be brave. Maybe your comment will speak life into someone else!
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