Day 38

By
David, A Man After God's Own Heart!

Weekly Devotional

February 7— Psalm 9: Let’s Just Praise the Lord with all our Heart

Reflection

Leviticus may not be an easy book to read through, but when you think about it, God’s holiness shines through each line. As you learn of the various offerings he required, the requirements for the priests, and the various laws to maintain purity in life, you see holiness is stressed in national life as well as personal life. And as you study the concept of atonement for sins, you realize just how praiseworthy he is to enable you to come before him as his child through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who is our atonement.

Praise the Lord

A famous author once commented that “one of the difficulties in language is that all our words have lost their edge from loose usage.” Sadly, the church is not immune to this phenomenon. Christian clichés develop so quickly and so subtly. Almost before you realize what’s happening, words that once prompted heartfelt responses have turned into empty shells—phrases spoken more from habit than from the heart.

The exercise of praising God never became a well-worn “routine” for David. Rather, it involved the deliberate, reasoned response of his heart to God. The first two verses of Psalm 9 summarize David’s “pattern of praise.” First, he rejoices in God’s person; then he publicly proclaims God’s wondrous ways. Put them together and you have meditation turned into communication, inward delight turned inside out. In a word, praise.

Try David’s plan for praising the Lord right now. Take an aspect of God’s character that you discover in Psalm 9 and translate it into the language of praise by singing a hymn, composing a short poem of praise, and/or read the words of Psalm 9 back to God out loud. Make that a habit, and you—like David—will become a person after God’s own heart!

Prayer

Dear Lord God, when we pray, we know that no half-hearted, half-spirited effort will do. Please help us to surrender our all to you to be like David, as people after your own heart! In Jesus name amen!

Just Praise Him!








© Odessa Mathis about my Father's business! 2019

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