Just Praise
Opening Prayer
Lord, the history of Your people Israel reveals Your day-to- day care for them. Thank You for treating Your Church similarly.
Read Psalm 105
1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”
12 When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
14 He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
16 He called down famine on the land
and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17 and he sent a man before them—
Joseph, sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,
his neck was put in irons,
19 till what he foretold came to pass,
till the word of the Lord proved him true.
20 The king sent and released him,
the ruler of peoples set him free.
21 He made him master of his household,
ruler over all he possessed,
22 to instruct his princes as he pleased
and teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel entered Egypt;
Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;
he made them too numerous for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark—
for had they not rebelled against his words?
29 He turned their waters into blood,
causing their fish to die.
30 Their land teemed with frogs,
which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail,
with lightning throughout their land;
33 he struck down their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
grasshoppers without number;
35 they ate up every green thing in their land,
ate up the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their manhood.
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,
and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
because dread of Israel had fallen on them.
39 He spread out a cloud as a covering,
and a fire to give light at night.
40 They asked, and he brought them quail;
he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed like a river in the desert.
42 For he remembered his holy promise
given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
45 that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Whatever your situation—grief, pain, trouble, lack of work or too much—turn your attention to God and let him fill you with joy.
I have vivid memories of a retreat I went to years ago. I was privileged to
be invited to a weekend in Colorado with Christian leaders from Inter-Varsity (UCCF) in North
America. On Sunday morning, we had a time of prayer together, which the leader divided into separate sessions, the first of which was praise. This was to be only praise, not thanksgiving, and to include nothing of our own needs or intercession for others. I remember how hard that was. No sooner had we uttered words of praise than we turned them into thanksgiving for how God had helped us. Our minds continually jumped either to ourselves or to other people. We couldn’t do it! And these were Christian leaders. Just recently I read how even the phrase “thank you” in English is short for “I thank you.” That word “I” is there again, even in giving thanks.
This psalm is one of pure praise and lends itself to that kind of prayer that is so hard to do on our own. It rehearses the early history of Israel, but it differs from the historical account in the Pentateuch by omitting all of the stories of the Israelites’ failures. It just focuses on what God has done.
One might single out verse 4, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always,” remembering that we, as Christians, are “his chosen ones” (6), adopted as “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). Verse 8 reminds us that God is utterly reliable and “remembers his covenant forever.” Translate that idea into praise for the new covenant that Jesus has made with us. He protects us from all harm (15; cf. Luke 10:19), he raises up leaders (26), he gives us joy (43; cf. Gal. 5:22).
Apply
Let’s remember that prayer is much more than just asking for things! Praise him!
Closing prayer
Lord, we understand from this psalm how important it is to remember Your beneficence toward your people. Help me always to remember Your beneficence toward me.
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