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Psalm 136; Psalm 146; Psalm 147; Psalm 148; Psalm 149; Psalm 150<\/strong><\/span> Psalm 136 is a liturgy of Praise to God as Creator and Redeemer.\u00a0 A Levitical priest singer likely led the recital, while either worshippers or a Levitical choir responded with the refrain.\u00a0\u00a0Fun Bible factoid here \u2013 the response \u201cHis love endures forever\u201d is repeated 26 times in this Psalm, which is the numerical value of God\u2019s name \u201cYahweh\u201d \u2013 back when Hebrew letters were also used as numbers.\u00a0 A lot of intricacies went into the Psalms\u2026 some of which do get lost in translation from Hebrew to English.\u00a0 Below is an image of the Hebrew letters yud, hey, vav, hey \u2014 often depicted in English as YHWH or Yahweh \u2014 spelling the name of God.<\/span><\/p>\n Psalm 136 is also a Michael W. Smith song!\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 C\u2019mon, you know the one \u2013 verse 1 \u2013 \u201cGive thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (and Smitty carries on \u2013 \u201cfor he is good, he is above all things, his love endures forever. Sing praise. Sing Praise! Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong\u2026\u201d) <\/span><\/p>\n I love Psalm 146 verse 9 today: \u201cThe LORD protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 If God protects foreigners, orphans and widows, should we protect these folks in our communities as well?\u00a0 How in your life today are you caring for orphans and widows and foreigners?\u00a0 Below is Psalm 146 verses 5 through 10 in another language (can anyone identify this language? I\u2019m sure one of our readers can\u2026), but I think we\u2019ll get the point of this image with these 5 verses (re-read verses 5 through 10 again and reflect on this image for a moment):<\/span><\/p>\n Psalm 147 was thought to have been written for Levitical singers on the happy occasion of the dedication of the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem \u2013 see <\/span>Nehemiah 12:27-43<\/span>.\u00a0 Psalm 147 was divided into two Psalms \u2013 verses 1 through 11 and 12 through 20 \u2013 in the Septuagint, the pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament.\u00a0 However, the Hebrew text has the Psalm as one whole Psalm.\u00a0 Verses 10 and 11 are an incredible middle point of this Psalm that stood out to me today: \u201cThe strength of a horse does not impress him; how puny in his sight is the strength of a man. Rather, the LORD\u2019s delight is in those who honor him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.\u201d<\/em> These verses remind me that God really is not impressed with our shows of \u201cstrength\u201d or \u201cindependence.\u201d\u00a0 God is much more impressed when we are dependent on Him.\u00a0 Are you honoring the Lord with your life today?\u00a0 Do you put his hope in his unfailing love?\u00a0 Or do you rely on your own strength?<\/span><\/p>\n Today in Psalm 147 I liked verse 15 a lot: \u201chow swiftly his word flies!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Indeed, it is true!\u00a0 I pray God\u2019s Word, the Bible, is flying swiftly (and powerfully!) in your life this year!<\/span><\/p>\n Psalm 148 is a call for all creation to praise God!\u00a0 I love it.\u00a0 As I was reading this Psalm I was reminded of the Matt Redman song that we sometimes sing in church that goes something like \u2013 \u201cLet everything that.\u00a0 Let everything that.\u00a0 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!\u201d\u00a0 I love how the Psalms can stir up worship songs in our minds!<\/span><\/p>\n We read this in verse 5 \u2013 \u201cLet every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Do you agree with this verse?\u00a0 That you came into being because the Lord commanded it?\u00a0 Do you give thanks to God frequently?\u00a0 And joyfully?\u00a0 Even in the midst of maybe some challenging times in your life, can you still give praise to your Creator? <\/span><\/p>\n Psalm 149 is a beautiful song of praise today!\u00a0 Verse 3 I love: \u201cPraise his name with dancing, accompanied by tambourine and harp.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Do you praise God\u2019s name with dancing and music?\u00a0 Yes, I confess, I am a huge fan of the praise and worship thing going on in churches and with CCM artists and their concerts these days.\u00a0 I know this is not the only way to praise or worship God by any means.\u00a0 Are you praising God\u2019s name each day with the very \u201cdance\u201d of your life??\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Psalm 150 is a wonderful end to the Psalter filled with a call to Praise God with all that we are!\u00a0 Give it up for God and God only! <\/span><\/p>\n Worship Video:<\/strong> Today\u2019s Psalms remind me of the MercyMe song \u201cHow Great is Your Love:\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \n
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