A Praiseworthy God (Abide Devotion for September 29, 2016)

Psalm 113

¹ Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord.

² Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore.

³ From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.

⁴ The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens.

⁵ Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high,

⁶ who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?

⁷ He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

⁸ he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.

⁹ He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.^[1]

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This psalm of praise points to two things in particular that are praiseworthy about the Lord.  And both would have made the worship of Yahweh stand out in the ancient world.

First, the Lord is exalted over all the nations.  It’s really an amazing claim to make if you are a little tiny nation.  But Israel departed from the national religions that were so prevalent at the time, and maintained that their God was the only God.  In fact, their God wasn’t their God at all, but God of all the nations, whether they knew it or not.

Secondly, the Lord is compassionate.  His eyes are not on the kings and rulers as much as they are on the poor and needy.  The gods of antiquity were not looked upon as moral examples.  You didn’t try to follow after Baal or Zeus and become like them.  But Yahweh sets the standard for moral goodness and kindness.  Because He is compassionate, His people are called to be compassionate.

These two praiseworthy features of our Lord are just as relevant today.  He is the universal God, Lord over all the nations in our troubled world.  He is Lord over all of our lives, over the false gods of money, popularity, beauty, pleasure, etc.

And He is still the God of compassion, exercising His compassionate care through His people.  We are compassionate not just because He is compassionate. His compassion resides in us and through us as we care for the poor and needy.

So my prayer today is one of praise.  I praise God who is Lord of all, especially in a world which does not acknowledge Him.  And I praise God for the privilege of being able to be the hands and feet of His compassion.  I pray that I may demonstrate God’s compassionate heart through my words and deeds today.

What is the Word leading you to pray about today?

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^[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Ps 113:1–9). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.