Historical Praise - January 16 Readings: Psalm 105

We are going to "enter the year with praise." Our January readings and devotionals will all focus on the goodness and grace of God. Get a journal or notebook to write down your thoughts every day. Our passages are shorter - please don't rush through them. Take time to meditate and consider why God is worthy of your praise.

Enter 2020 with the praise of God on your lips!

Today's Praise Passage:  Psalm 105

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell about all his wondrous works!
3 Honor his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wondrous works he has done,
his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced,
6 you offspring of Abraham his servant,
Jacob’s descendants—his chosen ones.
 7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments govern the whole earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he ordained
for a thousand generations—
9 the covenant he made with Abraham,
swore to Isaac,
10 and confirmed to Jacob as a decree
and to Israel as a permanent covenant:
11 “I will give the land of Canaan to you
as your inherited portion.”
 12 When they were few in number,
very few indeed,
and resident aliens in Canaan,
13 wandering from nation to nation
and from one kingdom to another,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their behalf:
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones,
or harm my prophets.”
 16 He called down famine against the land
and destroyed the entire food supply.
17 He had sent a man ahead of them—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They hurt his feet with shackles;
his neck was put in an iron collar.
19 Until the time his prediction came true,
the word of the Lord tested him.
20 The king sent for him and released him;
the ruler of peoples set him free.
21 He made him master of his household,
ruler over all his possessions—
22 binding his officials at will
and instructing his elders.
 23 Then Israel went to Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;
he made them more numerous than their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people
and to deal deceptively with his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his miraculous signs among them,
and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and it became dark—
for did they not defy his commands?
29 He turned their water into blood
and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land was overrun with frogs,
even in their royal chambers.
31 He spoke, and insects came—
gnats throughout their country.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and lightning throughout their land.
33 He struck their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke, and locusts came—
young locusts without number.
35 They devoured all the vegetation in their land
and consumed the produce of their land.
36 He struck all the firstborn in their land,
all their first progeny.
 37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,
and no one among his tribes stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.
39 He spread a cloud as a covering
and gave a fire to light up the night.
40 They asked, and he brought quail
and satisfied them with bread from heaven.
41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed like a stream in the desert.
42 For he remembered his holy promise
to Abraham his servant.
43 He brought his people out with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy.
44 He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they inherited
what other peoples had worked for.
 45 All this happened
so that they might keep his statutes
and obey his instructions.
Hallelujah!

Through the Bible Reading: Genesis 33-34, Matthew 11:20–30, Psalm 10:1–4, Proverbs2:20-22

Some of our readers want a little more "meaty" devotional, so I am including a link to the through Through the Bible in One Year readings we did last year. 

Devotional: Historical Praise

"It doesn't really matter if the stories of the Bible are true, they inspire us anyway." 

People who abandon the idea that the Bible is absolutely true often act as if the truth of the Bible's stories is irrelevant. What does it matter if God really created the world or if the Red Sea really parted? Who cares if the stories of Jesus' miracles are historically true? Does it matter if the Virgin Birth and the resurrection are real events in time or not? The Bible is about loving God and being happy and historical facts are not the most important thing.

That sounds so good, but it runs counter to everything the Bible says. Every doctrine of the Bible is rooted in historical fact and, as in Psalm 105, the praise and worship of God is based on those things he has done in time and space; his actual acts of power and grace in this world.

In this unattributed Psalm, the Psalmist enjoins the reader to give thanks to God and call on his name, to sing him songs of praise. He does not do this on the basis of emotion or some sort of subjective inner experience. He speaks of the "wondrous works of God," then recounts them as he reviews Israel's history. God has been faithful to the covenant he made with his chosen people throughout its history, both in demonstrating his lovingkindness and in the display of his disciplinary correction.

The point for us today is that the basis of thanksgiving and praise were the acts of God in reality, in history, in this world. Yes, praise will leave us in an emotional state and our experience of grace matters, but our praise is rooted in historical events. God created this world and he sent his Son to be born of a virgin, live a perfect life, die on a cross for our sins, rise again as victor over sin, death, and hell, and be exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords over all of creation. This is not just some ephemeral new-age feeling we have in our minds. It not just "my truth" or "my reality." It real life and I praise the God of the universe.

We praise him because he worked in time and space to save us from our sins, because he demonstrates his holiness and love to us on a daily basis and because we can know that God is working his plan in this world and in our lives every day and in everything that happens among us. He is a real God who works in real life to bring real blessings to real people.

Thank you, Father, for the real blessings you have brought into my life every day. 

Think and Pray:

Meditate on this passage and write down:

1. The character qualities of God for which you can praise him. 

2. The gracious acts of God for which you can give thanks to him. 

Take time to think back through your life and remember the real-life blessings God has brought into your life. There are spiritual blessings that are yours in Christ (salvation, adoption into God's family, an eternal home in heaven, forgiveness, etc), and temporal blessings. Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Take time to praise God for the blessings he has given you, both eternal and temporal.