December 14 - Shout with Joy!

Today's Reading:
Joshua 15:1-63
Acts 18:1-22
Psalm 66:1-12
Click on Text Link to Read Online

Focus Verses:
Psalm 66:1-5, 16
1 Shout with joy to God, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! 3 Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." 5 Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf! - - - 16 Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.

Insight:
The psalmist is absolutely exuberant with praise at the thought of all God is and all God has done. So many of the psalms are filled with appeals for God to do something, but this psalm is simply a celebration of all God has done.

Response and Action:
I spend a lot of time asking God to do things for me. I want to spend more time reflecting on all God has done and the many blessings he has provided. I will lift up my needs to the Lord, but I will also lift up enthusiastic shouts of praise for the awesome deeds he has done on behalf of humankind—the awesome works that have blessed me in so many ways.

Not only will I praise God, I will make that praise glorious and unrestrained. I will tell anyone who will listen of the great things God has done for me. I will celebrate and tell others about the things God is doing in my life. I will delight in the great things God has promised to do.

O God, thank you for hearing my prayers. Thank you for the love you have not withheld from me. Give me a mind to recount my blessings. Give me a heart to offer up thanks. Give me a mouth that is quick to sing praise. Give me an eagerness to tell others of all you have done for me. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.

Spiritual Formation Verses:
Ephesians 5:18-20
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Resources:
Reflections on the Psalms
by C. S. Lewis