Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

¹ Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
² Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
³ For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶ Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
⁷ For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
⁹ when your fathers put me to the test
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
¹⁰ For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
    and they have not known my ways.”
¹¹ Therefore I swore in my wrath,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”

Reflection

• This psalm celebrates God as the great king. We acknowledge his lordship by responding when we hear his voice. Only by showing respect to God as king and lord, and obeying his voice, can we find rest.
• This psalm recalls Israel’s refusal during the Exodus to obey God and enter the Promised Land. That failure to obey led to 40 years of wandering in a wilderness until an entire generation died.
• Imagine life for you without God’s promised rest. If your life and well-being were constantly threatened with adversaries in the land where you live and work, what would you be praying for? During those times in your past when your heart strayed from God’s ways (v. 10), how did God bring you back to himself?
• As you listen to God’s voice “today” (v. 7), what is he saying to you?
• Whatever the past or present circumstances of your relationship with him may be, this psalm invites you to come into God’s presence today. Try kneeling in his presence, acknowledging him as Lord of your life, even during those times you have strayed. Soften your heart and give him the praise and thanksgiving he deserves.

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the “Spiritual Journal” book.