Wednesday 1 Oct 2014

October 1: Psalm 98:1-9

Key Verse: Psalm 98:6
With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.

Devotion:
When was the last time you really told the Lord just how much He means to you? How did you do that? We all like to be able to show our love for God in different ways, some by shouting from the rooftops and some by singing within our hearts. But when we do praise the Lord, how do other people react? Well, if we are going to quietly praise God inside our own hearts then the only one to hear that will be God. But if we are willing to praise God with a loud voice or in public, then many more people are going to hear how we feel about God.

Drawing the line between shouting out so that we can gain attention and shouting out because we love God seems to be a grey area for many people. Some of us may have been brought up in households where we were taught that children should be seen and not heard and that attitude may come out in our grown up lives where we believe it is better to be quiet than to raise the roof. Yes it is difficult to find out where we should be on this; many people may look on an outward burst of affection as showing off or raising attention… so what do we do?

If we take the bible literally then we should be singing out loud to God, but not in a voice giving glory to ourselves but rather in such a manner where we bring glory to God. Going to church to be entertained is not what God is about, that is bringing glory to the entertainers and not to God. Going to church to be bored to death is not where it is at either because that is not glorifying Christ in any way but feeling sorry for yourself in some way.

God wants us to be happy in our relationship with Him, praising Him, singing about our love for Him and joining in with others with a similar attitude. Bringing joy to one another through lifting up God is something very special and what God wants for us. It is encouraging. It is uplifting and it brings praise and glory to God through being together and not through separation. Bring people in to your church today by showing them how great God is!

Points to Ponder:
How do you praise God?

Do other people know you are praising Him?