July 5
Psalms 47-49, 84-85, 87
There are absolutely no conditions on God’s love for us. There is no “if - then” lists of things we must do to earn His love. He loves us when we do what He commands as well as loving us when we mess up, which each of us does daily. Meditate on that truth for a moment, then ask yourself whether we in turn place conditions on our praise of Him. For our praise should be as unconditional for Him as His love is for us. We praise Him because of who He is, not what He might fo for us on any given day.
We read in Psalm 47:1-2, 6-7, “ Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise! For the Lord Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth… Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King over all the earth. Praise him with a psalm.” Psalm 47 is sung seven times before blowing the trumpet to announce the beginning of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Notice they sing this psalm of praise before the year has begun. Not because of what He has already done, but because of who He is. Once we grasp who He is, we can organize our thoughts and priorities more appropriately. This psalm was written by the unnamed sons of Korah. Their ancestor, Korah, was the one who rebelled against Moses in Numbers 16, because he desired to be exalted among his peers. Yet, generations later, of the sons of Korah, who were gatekeepers of the temple, and in charge of the chambers and treasuries, we read in Psalm 84:10, “ A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.”
But our perspective should be different than theirs. Our praise even louder, since we have the fullness of God’s redemptive story in the person of Jesus Christ. We read in Psalm 49:5-9, “ Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me? They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches. Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave.” This is truth. None of us can ever do enough to redeem our own souls. Yet we read in 49:15, “But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave.” Impossible for us, but not for God. We get a glimpse into the person of Jesus Christ in 85:2, 10, “ You forgave the guilt of your people—yes, you covered all their sins… Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed!” There is only one Person where mercy and truth meet, and that is in Jesus Christ. He is perfect so that we don’t have to be. Praise God!! I will say it again, all praise to our God!
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: