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Daily Devotion: Psalm 135:1-3 and 13

Psalm 135:1-3    "Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.  (2)  Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,  (3)  Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant."

Psalm 135:13    "Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations."

Am I the only one, or does it seem sometimes that the world is going too fast? Do you ever sit down and just wish for some time when things come to a standstill? What have we done to ourselves that brought us to the place where we stay tired all the time? Debby and I felt that way last night. We were trying to watch our usual evening programs and it seemed that even the pace of the plot of the program was going way too fast for us. You know what I did? (Of course you don't know, but I'm about to tell you.)  I turned the television to YouTube and found a video of worship music that played while the scenery was showing the beauty of God's creation. We were able to catch our breath and then we listened to a message from God's Word. When the world becomes so fast paced, we lose our praise. We get tired and worn out. We let our minds become focused on things that are temporary at best instead of focusing on the mercy and grace of our Lord.

I do not believe it was a coincidence that today's passage deals with the pleasantness of praise and worship. I encourage you to read the entire 135th Psalm, but read it with the intention of praise unto the Lord. Read it with the intention of changing focus from worldly matters to heavenly matters. I'm not just talking about heaven itself; but, I am thinking of the heavenly thoughts that take our hearts and minds to the very throne of grace where we can find mercy and grace to help in time of need. As our text reminds us, the name of the Lord endures forever. He is unchanging. The God of the Scriptures is the same God we serve today. The God who helped Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, and Paul is the same God who is our strength for today. He is the same One who gives peace, comfort, and assurance in our lives even when everything around us seems cattywampus. Yes, I said it... cattywampus! Things are all wrong in the world in which we live, BUT GOD remains the same. He is worthy of our praise, but here is something that is wonderful to me.... Praise unto the Lord is pleasant. How about that? Think on that for today and see what a difference it makes.

1 We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love—
for Jesus, who die, and is now gone above.

Refrain:
Hallelujah! Thine the glory! Hallelujah! Amen!
Hallelujah! Thine the glory! Revive us again.

2 We praise Thee, O God, for Thy Spirit of Light
who has shown us our Savior and scattered our night. [Refrain]

3 All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain,
who has borne all our sins and has cleansed ev'ry stain. [Refrain]

4 Revive us again; fill each heart with Thy love.
May each soul be rekindled with fire from above. [Refrain]


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