Monday 3 Sep 2018

September 3: Psalm 106:1-6

Key Verse: Psalm 106:6
We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

Devotion:
I like the way this Psalm starts out by saying we should praise God and continues with “Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.” Maybe, like me, you begin to think this leave us out of the picture, but the Psalmist continues with admitting to sinning.

We have all sinned and come short of God’s laws, but that does not exclude us from heaven or from His presence. Jesus Christ gave up His life in our stead, so our sins could be forgiven before we get to see God; before we were even alive! If that single fact does not deserve all of our praise, then what does!

Mankind has always found a way of doing something wrong and we have shown that throughout history. Right from the beginning of records through to modern days we continue to break laws and get things wrong. One of the earliest manuscripts is the book of Job which tells us of a man who did do everything right. Even then, the evil one got his hand in and made things go wrong. Was Job to blame? No! Was God to blame? No! Satan was to blame because he caused things to go wrong.

Just like with Job, there will be some things in our lives which do go wrong, not because we have caused them, not because we deserved it, just because stuff does go wrong. During all times, be they good, bad or indifferent, we need to lift up our praise to God to show Him we love Him for all He has done for us. Giving God the glory takes it away from evil people and from the evil one himself.

Do you feel like you don’t give God the glory enough - well, you are not alone. It is hard for us to remember to continually lift up our praise when things are not going right. Job found it hard, just as others in our bibles found it hard. But when we do get back to praising God, our lives begin to make sense once again. Is it the act of praising God or does God do things in return? Lift up your praise to God continually and see what happens in your life today!

Points to Ponder:
Are you ready to praise God?

Give Him the glory!