Today, Sunday July 02
Praising and Rejoicing All the Day Long
Psalm 71:22-24
“Also with the lute I will praise you-- And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt.”
Today is Sunday, the Lord’s Day, and I trust that you woke up with rejoicing in your heart aa you remember “this the day that the LORD has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24). This is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our LORD! I love what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14-19: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty… And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”
Despite what circumstances we might be facing are presently dealing with, we don’t have to be “pitiable”, sorry or miserable! Why? Because Christ is risen we have resurrection hope and we can be glad!!!! This weekend, we also are celebrating what is considered the birthdate of our great country 247 years ago! And I wanted to take a minute to declare, despite the problems and current crisis our country is in, I’m still proud I’m an American! I would rather live here than in any other country in the world!
Join me today in believing that there is “nothing too hard for the LORD”! The hope of America lives in the heart of every believer! We can believe that God can send revival and transformation, even in the midst of this present darkness! But we must pray and live holy and righteous lives, as we possibly can, by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. And our great God, “Is still able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think”. Take time this weekend to seek the LORD and pray for our country!
In this wonderful chapter, we have learned how this anonymous psalmist was presently trusting the LORD to help him (vv. 1-4). He believed this because he recalled how the LORD had helped him in the past (vv. 5-13). He knew now that he could trust the LORD to also help him in the future (vv. 14-21). And now in these last few verses, he wanted to worship and praise the LORD for His help (vv. 22-24).
The writer was a poet, a singer, and an instrumentalist, and he used all his gifts to praise the Lord. “Also with the lute I will praise you-- And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed.” (vv. 22-23). Despite his old age, his enemies, and a bleak future, he has made the choice to praise the LORD anyway! This is a good time for us to do the same!
The divine name "Holy One of Israel" is used thirty times in Isaiah but only three times in the Psalms (71:22; 78:41; 89:18). The name connects with the emphasis in the psalm on God's righteousness. "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25). The psalmist sang and shouted all day long about the “righteousness” of the LORD (vv. 24, 8). He didn’t wait for just during a special day, or the days of stated services at the temple. He wanted the world to know that His God was always at work fulfilling His righteous deeds!
The psalm comes full circle with the word shame. The psalmist had opened the psalm with a request that he would never be put to shame and confusion (v. 1), and now he closed the psalm with the assurance that his enemies would be put to shame and confusion! He had looked back at a life of trials and blessings from the Lord; he had looked around at his enemies; he had looked ahead at old age and its problems; and he had even looked down into the depths of the earth (v. 20).
But it was when he looked up and realized that God's righteousness "reaches to the heavens" (v. 19; see Psalms 36:5; 57:10; 108:4) that he grew in confidence and left his worries with the Lord. This is a good example for us to follow. The Lord has answered his prayer and He has protected His righteous servant.
Yes, despite his problems and circumstances, he was going to trust and praise the LORD anyway! May the LORD help us to do the same!
God bless!