Daily Devotional For Sunday, May 19, 2024

Today is Sunday. Praise the Lord, right? David writes this in Psalm 150:

“Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heaven! (2) Praise Him for His mighty works; praise His unequaled greatness! (3) Praise Him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise Him with the lyre and harp! (4) Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flutes! (5) Praise Him with a clash of cymbals; praise Him with loud clanging cymbals. (6) Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (NLT).

David says let everything that has breath sing praises to the Lord. Do that today at church. Cut loose. Hold nothing back. It has always amazed me how excited, involved and motivated we are when it comes to praising our sports teams. We wear clothing with their names on it. We don’t care what people think. We shout, jump, and praise them through the game. Why is it — pagan, ungodly teams get more from us than Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, rose from the dead, has given us salvation and eternal life does? Can anyone answer that question for me?

If you look around the average church “worship service,” the average persons there look like they are either drugged, zombified, dead, uninterested or wishing they were somewhere else. David writes this in Psalm 47:1-2: “Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise! (2) For the Lord Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth” (NLT).

David writes in Psalm 149:1, “Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing His praises in the assembly of the faithful” (NLT). In Psalm 147:1, David writes this: “Praise the Lord! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting!” (NLT). 

Then in the rest of Psalm 147, David lists why the Lord deserves our praise. David writes in Psalm 146:1-2, “Praise the Lord! Let all that I am praise the Lord. (2) I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath” (NLT).

Do these passages from Psalms describe you and your worship at church? When Jesus was making HIs triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the disciples were praising Him with and we read this in Luke 19:37-40:

“As He was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, (38) saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (39) And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” *(40) He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (ESV). 

I think it is sad that stones, rock themselves will outdo us in praising Jesus Christ. I think it is sinful we get more excited about praising and cheering our sports teams, than we do on Sunday mornings praising Jesus Christ. This Sunday, please don’t let the rocks out praise you. Please don’t wonder what people may think. You are there for an audience of One — Jesus Christ! If you are more concerned about what others think, then you are there for the wrong reason. Worship is not a ritual we do on Sundays or any day. It is about affirming the relationship we have through Jesus Christ. There is a song on K-love titled “Praise “that has these lyrics:

Let everything (let everything  that has breath, praise the Lord, (Hey) praise the Lord. I'll praise in the valley, Praise on the mountain, I'll praise when I'm sure, Praise when I'm doubting, I’ll praise when outnumbered, Praise when surrounded, ’Cause praise is the water, My enemies drown in, As long as I'm breathing, I’ve got a reason to Praise the Lord Oh, my soul, Praise the Lord, Oh, my soul, I’ll praise when I feel it, And I'll praise when I don’t, I'll praise 'cause I know, You’re still in control, Because my praise is a weapon, It’s more than a sound, Oh, my praise is the shout, That brings Jericho down, As long as I'm breathing I've got a reason to . . . 

Praise the Lord, Oh, my soul,  praise the Lord, Oh, my soul, I won't be quiet, my God is alive, So how could I keep it inside? Praise the Lord, Oh, my sul (Praise the Lord), Come on, let me see that dance, Put a dance on it tonight, If you're grateful, Come on, aye, aye, I’ll praise 'cause You're sovereign, Praise 'cause You reign, Praise 'cause You rose and defeated the grave, I’ll praise 'cause You're faithful, Praise 'cause You're true, Praise 'cause there's nobody greater than You, I'll pray, I’ll praise 'cause You're sovereign, (You reign) praise 'cause You reign, Praise 'cause You rose and defeated the grave, I’ll praise 'cause You're faithful, Praise 'cause You're true, Praise 'cause there's nobody greater than You

Praise the Lord, Oh, my soul, I gotta praise the Lord, Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul, I won't be quiet, I won't be quiet, my God is alive, How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet, My God is alive, How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet, my God is alive, How could I keep it inside? 

I gotta praise the Lord, Oh, my soul, Let everything, That has breath, Hey, hey, Hey, hey , Let everything (let everything), Come on, come on, Come on, come on praise the Lord, Come on, come on praise the Lord, Let everything If you got breath in your body, If you got breath in your body, Praise the Lord, come on praise the Lord, Let everything  That has breath that has breath, Praise the Lord, What? Praise the Lord!—  Source: (Google — lyrics to Elevation Praise).

Questions To Consider

1. Do you freely let lose in your praise to Jesus in worship on Sunday? Why or why not?
2. Do you believe Jesus Christ is worthy of your unhindered praise? Why or why not?
3. Do you get more into praising your sports’ teams than you do Jesus Christ in a worship service? Why? Today, in worship, will you risk praising Jesus Christ with everything you have? Why or why not?

Scripture To Meditate On: Psalm 34:1, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, You are worthy of my praise. Please forgive me when I am more excited, thrilled and praising of so many other things than You. I commit today to no longer let even rocks out praise me. I love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! — Pastor Kelly