Coffee With The Lord

Mental pictures can be pretty powerful!  Psalm 148 paints such a picture… all creation praising the Lord!!  Wow!  If we could only enter into it – if we could only see the reality of it in our mind’s eye.  Today I want to walk through my day with the mental picture of this in view!  I am convinced it will change how I see things…  Read it over and see what you think…

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts.  Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.  Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever— he issued a decree that will never pass away.  Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens… PRAISE THE LORD!”

Can you imagine it?!  ALL CREATION ENGAGED IN WORSHIP OF THE LIVING GOD!  One day it will become a vivid reality for us all… Sin’s curse will be lifted and what is now hidden will become visual and actual!  For those who believe – for those with eyes of faith – it is a present reality… both “already” of God’s Kingdom, and the “not yet” of it!!!  Wow!! Believe it’s going to change how I view things today (and what I do – I don’t want to be left out)!!!

A “Sip” from Psalm 147…

“The Lord’s delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor His pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love!” (vss. 10-11)

I’m reading and reflecting on the “Hymns of Praise” in Psalms (Psalm 145-150) during my time of “Coffee with the Lord” this week… Today my focus was Psalm 147.

I’ve got friends whose most natural impulse when they think about the Lord, His supreme power, His stellar character, His bountiful goodness, His mighty acts, His personal blessings… IS TO SING!!!  It may be a hymn, an “ol’ gospel song,” or a contemporary worship song… but for some, it may not be any of those – it may simply be personal praise expressed in a spontaneous stream of music (on an instrument or vocal worship)!  In fact, some of the best worship songs have issued from those spontaneous expressions of worship!

Now that is not the way it is for me… my most natural worship response is verbal – a personal verbal expression of praise and adoration to God! … I sing, don’t get me wrong – but I do it more deliberately than the spontaneity of the  “song inclined.”

Psalm 147 though, is especially for the “song inclined!”  I mean check it out… four times in the first 7 verses!  “It is good to SING PRAISES to our God… It is pleasant, and A SONG of praise is fitting! … SING to the Lord with thanksgiving; MAKE MELODY to our God on the lyre!”

And why?  Here’s just a taste from the Psalm (for what He does): “The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.  He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds!  He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names!  Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure!  The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.”  (From Psalm 147:2–6)  You should go on and read the rest of the Psalm (vss. 8-20)!  Wow!  Even I feel a song coming on!

I think Chris Tomlin caught the “Spirit” of Psalm 147 with his worship song “Sing! Sing!! Sing!!!) … give it a listen on YouTube!  (Here’s the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv4HiiOmAFg)