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Daily Devotion: Psalm 76:1-3

Psalm 76:1-3   To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.  "In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.  (2)  In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.  (3)  There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah."

"In Judah is God known." Sometimes, we skip right over words without really stopping to think about the reason they are placed. For me, it is very important to have a good concordance. I use Strong's and Vine's concordances. There is much depth of understanding when we can stop to look at the original meaning of words. We know Judah is one of the tribes of Israel named according to one of the 12 sons of Jacob. Judah was the tribe from which our Lord was born; therefore we can find a great truth from this statement. The writer of Hebrews states, "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda." (Hebrews 7:14) The definition of the word, Judah, is praise. We are told in Psalm 22:3, "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." We can see from all these things that God inhabits the praise of His people and He springs forth when we begin to lift our praise to Him. We are to praise God and show from that praise that His name is great to us and for us.

Praise is beneficial to us in that darkness must go when we begin to lift praise unto our Lord. Heaviness of heart is relieved when we offer our praise unto the Lord. Satan's fiery darts are quenched when we begin to praise our Lord Jesus from the heart. Praise magnifies the Lord and diminishes our anxiety. Praise brings to our hearts and minds the great truth that "greater is HE that is in us than he that is in the world." We are told in Hebrews 13:15 that we are to "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." The word, praise, is mentioned 248 times in the Bible. It must be a pretty important matter in our lives, wouldn't you think? Again I say, God springs forth from the praise that He inhabits when we lift our hearts and voices unto the Lord.  It is no coincidence that the very last words of the book of Psalms tells us, "Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD." (Psalm 150:6)

Oh Lord, my God
When I, in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

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