December 29, 2022
Scripture: Psalm 98
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
What it means
I hope you have enjoyed our new responsive readings out of the Psalms that we have started doing in worship on Sunday mornings. I continue to be encouraged and lifted up every time I dig into the Psalms and spend any time there whatsoever. Pastor Jerry is the one who got me hooked on them. He said he typically tries to read through them twice a year, and I can see why. I won’t spend much time adding to what King David is offering in this one, but sufficed to say, I’d say that Beverly must be a fan of this Psalm with all the discussion of music – using the harp, trumpets and singing. And not just us, but the sea, the rivers, the mountains…all these forces of nature are melodic in their praise to their Creator.
What it means to me
As most of you know, January is the busiest time of the year for me in my secular job. I know many of you have worked much harder than I, but I’ll be working 6 days a week, about 9-10 hours/day. It’s hard, but I am committed to trying to read through The Psalms as much as I possibly can during January when I finally retire for the night, right before my head hits the pillow. If any of you feel like joining me, let’s go through them together and compare notes on what we learn on a particular Psalm. I’d love the company, and it’ll make the month pass more quickly 😊
Also, wanted to let you know that we just heard from Kay Corbin - a good friend of Jan's from NC and the daughter of Bob Corbin, whom we prayed for on Sunday. He was in the hospital with Covid, and Kay said that they watched our service online from the hospital, and today as we speak...he is back home recovering. Good job guys - there is power in the prayers of God's people, and you all get that. I am honored to be your pastor.
Love you guys, see you in church on New Year’s Day!
In Christ,
Brian