Tag Archives: Praise

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 150

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The Divine Hours Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, praise him under the open skies; Psalm 150:1 (MSG)

Over the past two weekends I've been able to spend a lot of time "under the open skies." It never ceases to amaze me how our little place at the lake is as much spiritual refuge as it is vacation play place. For several months now I've been enjoying "The Divine Hours." It's a selection of daily prayers divided into four daily offices. It's a return to the ancient idea of taking time each day, at different times of the day, to stop what you're doing and pray.

At the lake, the daily prayer times took on a deeper meaning for me. I felt the depth of the water, the rootedness of the trees, and the expanse of the skies as I quietly prayed through each office in the morning, mid-day and evening. As I read the opening lyric to Psalm 150 this morning, I caught the contrast of the author. Praise God in church, but praise Him under the open skies, too. There is much to be gained from learning to praise God inside church and out.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 149

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Dance like no one is watching. Let them praise his name in dance; strike up the band and make great music! Psalm 149:3 (MSG)

Q: Why do Baptists forbid couples to make love standing up?
A: It might lead to dancing.

Ha! That joke is an oldie, but a goodie. The humor, of course, is rooted in the fact that we often become so rigid in our religious rules that we miss the point entirely. We diminish things of real importance like love, obedience, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness and in their place we raise up religious rules and regulations to manage the behavior of the masses.

I remember attending a church many years ago. One of the staunch, old denominational members of the church was talking to me after church. He was uncomfortable with the fact that, during the worship service, several people had raised their hands while singing.

"I don't get it," he said to me with a shake of his head, "Why do these people raise their hands in the air during the service?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, Jim," I answered, "Maybe it's because the Bible tells us to."

Ouch! You know what? I think the church would benefit from us letting our hair down, striking up the band, and, in obedience to Psalm 149, doing a little dancing before the Lord!

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 148

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In praise of our team. Let them praise the name of God— it's the only Name worth praising. Psalm 148:13 (MSG)

Yesterday I mentioned my favorite football team in my post and received some grief from my friend, Kathy, who happens to be a fan of a rival team. She ribbed me because a certain famous former player just signed to play with my team for a year. That's alright. I should have expected it and it gave me a great chuckle for the day. Sport rivalries are one of the many little things in life that help make it enjoyable.

It did, however, get me to thinking this morning as I read Psalm 148. It's human nature to glorify our heroes. Whether they are historical figures, soldiers, celebrities or athletes, we're good at praising their names. We list them in Top 10 and Top 100 lists. We dedicate magazines, raise statues, write books, dedicate concerts and albums to them. We will pay top dollar to see them in person and be in their presence. We do a good job of lifting our heroes up in praise.

Funny isn't it, how that constrasts with our praise of God? The One who deserves our loudest, most exclusive praise is more likely to receive an earful of complaints, petitions and laments.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and hefftech

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