Bless the LORD forever….

Dear LORD, I praise You this morning with all my soul. All that I am praises Your Holy Name, today.

Praise the Lord, my soul, O, God, in all my inmost being, praise Your Holy Name. In my busyness today, LORD, help me not to forget all Your benefits. You have so kindly forgiven all my foolish sins and have healed me from countless illnesses and accidents. I praise you that I have been eternally redeemed from the everlasting punishments of those who do not know you.

You crown me with love and compassion and satisfy my desires with good things so even in old age, I can have renewed strength and youth like eagles.

Thank You, in the precious name of Jesus. Amen

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Four Questions As I pray Your words in Psalms

I find it helpful to ask, as I read a psalm, the following questions:

  1. What would it have meant for David, or the original psalmist, to sing the psalm? How would it have expressed his convictions, his hopes, his prayers, his praises in his original circumstances?
  2. What would it have meant for old-covenant believers (such as Simeon and Anna in Luke 2) to sing this psalm?
  3. What might it have meant for Jesus of Nazareth, as the perfect worshiper, to sing this psalm in his earthly life?
  4. What will it mean for us, as men and women in Christ, as the church of Christ, to make this psalm our own today?

May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus fill you with his Spirit, and cause the word of Christ richly to indwell you, as you too join with God’s people in praying and singing the Psalms. (Christopher Ash)