Sunday Scripture

 

Just a reminder that I'm finishing up a One Chapter a Day study of Psalms 101-150 from Good Morning Girls.  Although I love working on more in-depth Bible studies, these simpler ones are also a blessing to do, and I think they've worked out quite well for my Sunday Scripture posts.  Only a couple more psalms to go, so soon I'll be making plans for future Sunday scriptures.

 As I've noted before, I like to use the SOAP method of Bible study, and the journal from GMG uses a very similar method.  I find this method a real blessing especially when I am studying shorter passages, and I hope others will give it a try if you haven't ever done so. Just a reminder that the S is for Scripture -- just write it out -- and the O is for Observation, the A is for Application and the P is for prayer -- concerning how you'll apply this verse or praise for what it means to you.

This study also includes a reflection question for each passage.  Sometime I answer this in my study, and sometimes not.  Whenever I do answer it (and this week I did), I'll do so right after the SOAP part.

Today's study is from Psalm 148.  The verse to focus on was verse 13.  

S= "Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is excellent: His glory is above the earth and heaven."  (Psalm 148:13)

O= C.I. Scofield titles this psalm "God praised by all creation".  The following are instructed to praise the Lord: His angels, His hosts, sun, moon and stars, heavens, waters, deeps, dragons, fire, hail, snow, vapor, stormy wind, mountains, all hills, fruitful trees, cedars, beasts and cattle, creeping things, flying fowl, kings, princes, judges, all peoples, young men, maidens, old men, and children.  That's a pretty inclusive list!  

"Excellent" in verse 13 literally means "exalted".  We are to praise His name, for it alone is exalted, and His glory is above both earth and heaven.

Cross-reference for "name" -- 

"O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who hast set Thy glory above the heavens!" (Psalm 8:1)

Concerning the phrase "the name of the LORD", 

Rayment wrote in 1630: "Jehovah is a name of great power and efficacy ... Thus ought everyone to stand in awe, and sin not by taking the name of God in vain; but to sing praises, to honor, to remember, to declare, to exalt, and bless it; for holy and reverend, only worthy and excellent is His name."

Spurgeon writes concerning the entire psalm, 

"It seems almost impossible to expound it in detail, for a living poem is not to be dissected verse by verse.  It is a song of nature and of grace.   As a flash of lightning flames through space, and enwraps both heaven and earth in one vestment of glory, so doth the adoration of the Lord in this Psalm light up all the universe and cause it to glow with a radiance of praise.  The song begins in the heavens, sweeps downward to dragons and all deeps, and then ascends again, till the people near unto Jehovah take up the strain.  For its exposition the chief requisite is a heart on fire with reverent love to the Lord over all, who is to be blessed forever."

Oh, my.  Spurgeon certainly had a way with words.

I also gave a little thought to the fact that older people are specifically directed to praise the Lord (v. 12).   The Treasury of David condenses a lengthy sermon by George Lawson (1749-1820) titled "The Duty of the Old to Praise God."  Now that's putting it bluntly.

Thomas Chalmers wrote: "It is a favorite speculation of mine that [as we] enter on the 7th decade of human life ... that this, if possible, should be turned into the sabbath of our earthly pilgrimage, and spent sabbatically, as if on the shores of an eternal world."

Which shores we are on as older folks, when you think about it.  I'm not sure how his speculation would work out or even if it's entirely biblical, but it is a very interesting thought.

A= All creation is instructed, commanded, to praise the name of the Lord, because His name alone is excellent.   His glory is above earth and heaven, and He is to be praised and worshiped.  

All people are specifically called to worship Him and to praise His name, so that instruction is for me.  As an older person, I am specifically directed to praise the name of the Lord, so I need to be doing that.  I must be honoring His name in deed as well as in word.

P= "Oh Lord, how great You are!  Truly Your name is exalted.  It is a name of incomparable majesty and power.  Help me in my praise and in my everyday conversation to take every opportunity to honor and bless Your name.  Help me, as an older person who is specifically commanded to praise Your name, to do so frequently and enthusiastically -- to take that responsibility to heart.  I praise You today and everyday, in the wonderful name of Jesus, Amen."

Reflection question: "Our praise to the Lord must not be silent.  Sometimes our worship is soft and quiet but other times it should be enthusiastic.  All the earth is commanded to praise the Lord.  Are you comfortable being noisy in your worship?  Why or why not?  How can you be freer in your worship this week?

My response:  I do honestly think that we need to temper our worship with an awareness of God's majesty and holiness and of the fact that He instructs all things to be done decently and in order in the church.  (Perhaps I will learn differently in heaven; however, for now I will err on the side of respectful awe.)  

That said, I also believe we should all worship wholeheartedly and enthusiastically, heartily "singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord."  I find it incredibly annoying (and sad) when people won't sing with the congregation.  

You could say this question touches on two of my pet peeves -- congregants who call attention to themselves, not God, and congregants who stand mutely (or even worse, chew gum rhythmically) when they are meant to be singing.  We must never forget that worship is about God and not about us.

And that's the Sunday Scripture for this week!