Bible Studies

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The Psalms
Psalm 145: 1-5, 17-21 - Praise, Prayer, and Glory
Key Verses: (MSG)

• 1-2: "I lift you high in praise, my GOD, O my King! And I'll bless your name into eternity. ²I'll bless you every day, and keep it up from now to eternity." - God is worthy of our praise at all times.
  
  
• 3: "GOD is magnificent; He can never be praised enough. There are no boundaries to His greatness." - There are no boundaries to His love for each of us and the more we seek to find Him the more we recognize the limitless bounty of that love.
  
  
• 4: "Generation after generation stands in awe of your work; each one tells stories of your mighty acts." - God is actively involved in our lives, working His miracles of love, and showering a bounty of blessings on His children.
  
  
• 17: "Everything GOD does is right--the trademark on all His works is love." - You can tell if God is involved if love is present.
  
  
• 18: "GOD's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it." - God listens to and hears all heartfelt prayer.
  
  
• 21: "My mouth is filled with GOD's praise. Let everything living bless Him, bless His holy name from now to eternity!" - "Praise God from who all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."¹
  

Points to Contemplate:

• Are you blessing God? In what ways are you doing this? David, in this psalm of praise, recognizes the fullness of God's love and the magnificence of His greatness. In response, he promises to bless God for eternity. If God is the source of all blessings, how are you, in turn, to bless God? Are you to reflect God's love to the world? Are you to let His light shine through so others can see His greatness? Do you bless God by recognizing His glory and by expressing your gratefulness through songs of praise and thanksgiving? Are you being the blessing God intends you to be? Or, are you a sponge, simply absorbing His many gifts?
  
  
• Do you pray with meaning and truth? In verse 18 David says that God hears every true prayer. When you pray, do you pray as though God is listening? Are you telling Him your deepest and truest feelings? Or, are you simply going through the motions, reciting words you have developed by rehearsal and rote? Or, perhaps, you have never given true prayer more than a cursory look? Maybe you know you should pray but rarely get around to it? Do you see how critical a life of prayer is to your journey of faith? Do you accept the promise that God draws close and listens to every word of prayer you utter when you truly believe He is there and when your words are true and filled with your love for God?
  
  
• Is your mouth filled with praise for God? If so, is it at all times or only on Sunday mornings when you stand in a crowd of other worshipers? When your mouth is truly filled with praise, is there room for anything else? Can every word you utter be a word of praise to God? What if you begin looking at each thing you say prior to speaking with a filtering perspective that says, 'how will this next word I say be a word of praise to God?' Will this perspective change your life? Will those around you begin seeing a clearer picture of God and how He is using you to be a blessing to the world?
  

Promise of the Gospel:

When we stop and take a moment in our busy lives to look around at the blessings that God has provided us, we can only respond, as David responded, with words of praise. In all things God is blessing us, listening to our heartfelt prayers, and working miracles into our lives in amazing ways. In response, we are to be a blessing to God and to the world, we are to fill our mouths with words of praise, and we are to live our lives knowing that God is intimately close, listening to every prayer we utter, and guiding us to the glory of His kingdom, here on earth as it is in heaven.

¹"The Doxology," by Thomas Ken, 1674.

FUMC Devotionals

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