This devotional guide is designed to help you in your walk with God. The goal of each day’s reading is for you to communicate with God; to hear from Him through His Word, and to respond in prayer. In order to meet this goal, I encourage you to keep a daily journal of your time with God. I have found it helpful to use the following four categories when I journal...
- Scripture: Write out a verse or verses that especially spoke to you.
- Observation: Briefly write down the truth that is expressed in the verse.
- Application: Reflect on how the truth of this verse can be lived out in your life. Record these reflections. The thoughts expressed by the pastoral staff each day can help you in your observation and application.
- Prayer: Write out a prayer of response to God. Thank Him for the truth He has shown you. Ask for His wisdom and strength as you seek to apply this truth.
May God bless you as you journey with Him through His Word.
Pastor Lyle
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Psalm 96
1 Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deedsamong all peoples.
4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and gloryare in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns. ”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judgethe peoples with equity.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Reflect
As you read this psalm, you may notice that many of its verses have been put to music and are part of the songs we sing in worship. Sometimes, however, we can get used to singing or saying certain verses without really thinking about what they mean. Let’s take verse 5 as an example. It reminds us that any of the “gods” of surrounding nations are just manmade idols. Only the True God is our Creator. While we may not see many people bow to physical idols in our culture, this verse remains very relevant as it challenges us to explore what manmade sources of identity, security or pleasure we put before God, as if these can give any meaning to life outside what our True Creator intended. So, let’s not just sing that God is the great King above all other gods, let’s explore our own lives to see where we may be giving allegiance to anything other than Him.
Pastor Lyle
Apply
- What are the forces in and around your life that vie for your allegiance?
- Take some time to confess these “idols” to God as you reaffirm your ultimate allegiance to Him.
Pray
- Pray that God’s Spirit would work powerfully and effectively in all the various activities taking place on our church calendar this weekend.
- Pray for our Property Development Team.
- Pray for these missionaries our church supports, Nick & Iris Hung in Nigeria.
- Pray for the NAB Conference in Chicago.
Pray for the nation of Canada. Pray that God would bring spiritual renewal to Edmonton and the churches in our land.
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