Today’s Reading: Psalm 63-65, Romans 6
Today’s Reflection: Psalm 65:1 Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed.
Sion, also known as Zion, was at one time a stronghold of the enemies of Israel. In fact, it was such a stronghold that it was said that it was impossible to conquer at one point by many. However, King David set his heart upon this stronghold, and with the help of his mighty men, overcame Mount Zion, which afterward was first referred to as the City of David, and later was known as the Temple Mount. It was in this land or region that King David set up his throne, and where in the Temple they offered up sacrifices in praise to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
David was a man after God’s own heart. When he praised God, he held nothing back! In his prayer to God here in verse one, it is as if he is saying to God, “Upon Your arrival into our city, you shall be greeted and exalted with praises!” Many times David relied upon God to “show up” in battle to assist him in conquering his enemies. As was his custom, he would offer up praises to God for what He had done to help David win his battles.
That said, what I want to focus on today is David’s eager anticipation of God’s arrival. Today, theologically, we know that we do not wait for God to perform prior to our praising Him. We offer praise to Him because He is worthy of our praise, regardless of whether or not He may or may not answer prayers specific to our asking. However, there is something to be said of ANTICIPATING God to “show up” on the scene!
I do not believe that David was depriving God of His worthy praise at all. Instead, he was simply illustrating both his faith in the fact that he knew God would soon “arrive” to his city in a time of need, and his willingness to simply let God know in advance that when He arrived, He would be greeted with praise! That is, He would not be disappointed with His welcome.
How about you and I? Are we in a constant state of readiness and in a posture of praise while we eagerly anticipate the timing of His arrival so that we can release our praises unto Him with all of our might? Or, like the nine lepers who were healed and did not return to give thanks, do we receive His entrance only to forget to offer so much as a thank you for His goodness, faithfulness, and presence in our lives? May we ALWAYS be PREPARED to PRAISE The Lord!!
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Floodgates of Heaven
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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill
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