Sunday Scripture

 

 Here's another in our new series for Sunday Scripture!  Back in 2018, I did a simple study from Rachel Wojo called Everything Beautiful.  You can read about it here: Everything Beautiful Bible reading plan. My answers and input on this series are a combination of what I learned back then, and what I found in looking over the Scriptures now, six years later.  I'm going to attempt to SOAP the passages too, though some of them are longer.

S= "O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory.
"The LORD hath made known His salvation: His righteousness hath He openly showed in the sight of the heathen.
"He hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
"Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
"With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.
"Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
"Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together
"Before the LORD; for He cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity."  (Psalm 98)

 O= Psalm 98 is titled by Scofield "Praise to the LORD".  The Bible titles it simply "A Psalm".

"Why should we praise the Lord?  Because of His redemption (v. 1), the revelation of His righteousness (v. 2), and the remembrance of His mercy (v. 3)." -- Warren Wiersbe, With the Word

A few cross-references:

For "Sing unto the LORD" (v. 1) --

"Sing unto Him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise."  (Psalm 33:3)

"Oh, sing unto the LORD a new song; sing unto the LORD , all the earth." (Psalm 96:1)

"Sing unto the LORD a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth; ye that go down to the sea, and all that is in it; the coasts, and their inhabitants."

Wiersbe explains concerning "a new song": "The word translated 'new' means 'fresh, new in quality'.  The song may be an old one, but our growth in the Lord and our new experiences of His grace enable us to sing an old song with fresh new meaning and blessing.  This explains why the Lord allows us to go through trials. He is tuning us up to praise Him in a new way!"

Cross-references for "done marvelous things" (v. 1) -- 

"Remember His marvelous works that He hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth." (Psalm 105:5)

"Thou art the God who doest wonders; Thou hast declared Thy strength among the peoples."  (Psalm 77:14)

"Who is like unto Thee, O LORD, among the gods?  Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?"  (Exodus 15:11)

For "known His salvation" (v.2) --

"The LORD hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."  (Isaiah 52:10)

"To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins."  (Luke 1:77)

"For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people."  (Luke 2:30-31)

For "all the ends of the earth" (v. 3) -- 

"And He said, It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the nations, that Thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth."  (Isaiah 49:6)

"Be it known, therefore, unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it."  (Acts 28:28)

For "cometh to judge the earth" (v. 9) --

"Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth.  The world also shall be established that it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously ... He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth."  (Psalm 96:10, 13)

A=  Warren Wiersbe asks,

* How should we praise the Lord?  "With a joyful shout and song (v. 4) and with musical instruments skillfully played to please Him (v. 5-6). Let voices and instruments join in praising the Lord!  Not religious entertainment, but the joyful expression of praise to God."
* Who should praise the Lord?  "Everybody in the world -- and all the world of nature (v. 7-9).  The anticipation of His coming excites creation, and you should be a part of their excitement.  Joy to the world -- the Lord has come!" 

The One Chapter a Day Psalms study from Good Morning Girls states: "Not only do we see instruments, such as trumpets and horns praising God in this psalm, but we also see nature personified as the seas and rivers and hills clap their hands to the Lord.  Our praise to the Lord must not be silent."

 For this Scripture, there were a number of ways to apply it as prompted in the journal.  

"Salvation can always be listed in the search for beauty." -- Rachel Wojo

The question was asked: How can I realign the eyes of my heart to see the Father's present of everyday elegance?

My response in 2018: I can keep my eyes open to see what He has done and is doing.  I can always be ready to praise Him for what I see.  I can make it a habit to look at God and not at my circumstances.

Answering this same question in 2024

My response: It can be possible, I think, especially through the difficulties of our culture and world today, to focus almost completely on the big picture -- that God has a plan, and He is working all things after the counsel of His own will to achieve His purposes.  And this is an important focus.  But I never want to look at the big picture so intently that I can't see God in the beauty of every day.  He is doing marvelous things every day, and I want to have eyes that will take note of that beauty and share it with others.

This prompt was given, along with a list: Today I will keep my eyes open for God's beauty in one or more of these places.

These are the places I circled: The words I read; the food I eat; the air I breathe; the weather I experience; the rest I receive; the grace I give.

In 2024 I can note that the words I read include not only God's Word (which is incomparable in its beauty in addition to being living, powerful, and so much more!) but words from Christian novelists, devotional writers, Bible commentators and teachers and even bloggers and Instagrammers.  Many of them write beautifully to encourage and strengthen believers.

A journaling prompt was this: Everything God made is beautiful.  Where have I noticed God's beauty in the last 24 hours?

2018: In the incredible beauty of the snow.  Like most people, I'm ready for spring.  But this is New Hampshire.  We get snow in March -- sometimes a great deal of snow.  The snow is beautiful and richly symbolic of salvation.

2024: Yesterday we went downtown to walk, as is our habit.  Along Main Street are planted a number of small trees which I believe to be mountain ash trees.  We noticed that one of them was full of birds -- cedar waxwings.  How beautiful!  Later in the day, my husband glanced at our bird feeder and spotted a lovely female cardinal.  We have only had cardinals visiting in the past couple of years, so we don't take their presence for granted.

P= "Lord, I praise You today  for the beauty of Your creation, particularly the snow that covers and freshens the landscape and trees with a beautiful coating of white.  It brings to mind Isaiah 1:18 where we're told that though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.  Snow is such a lovely picture of salvation, and I thank You for giving it to us.

    "I praise You too for the amazingly beautiful birds You have created, and for the opportunity to enjoy these on a daily basis.  The birds have so many object lessons to teach us, as we read in Your Word.

"And I pray that You will help me not to be so focused on the big picture of what You are doing in our world that I fail to notice Your everyday elegance.  I pray in  Jesus' name, Amen."

And there is the Sunday Scripture for this week!  I'd love some input on this series so far.  Wouldn't you like to share your thoughts with me?