You can follow today’s reading here: Psalm 111
You can listen to today’s reading here: Psalm 111 Audio
What a beautiful psalm today’s is. We are reminded again and again of the greatness of God. I sometimes wonder ‘does God need reminding how great He is?’ I can’t see that He does, so when we say ‘God is great!’ it probably is serving more of an important function for us. I think it does at least two things:
- It reminds us that this God that we love, follow and serve is great and that He is worth praising and living for. Today’s psalm gives us lots of reasons for the greatness of God. There are so many of them, to list them all would go on all day, but to keep reminding ourselves ‘God is great’, whether in good times or in bad, that seems healthy and useful to me.
- When we say ‘God is great’ out loud, or as the psalm puts it here ‘extol the Lord in the Assembly’ – to put it another way, say loudly in front of other people ‘God is great’ I think it encourages others. It encourages them to think. It might encourage them to decide whether they agree with us. It might even encourage them to decide to join in with us in giving their lives to God.
So, how do we do this, without seeming too, well, odd. Speak it out loud, for sure, where you can. But alongside speaking it out, live it out. Show by how you live your life and how you prioritise that worshipping God and doing what He invites those who love Him to do that you truly believe God is great. And where do we start from in this? The repeat of the proverb ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is a good start’. We could simply go around being scared, but that’s not the type of fear talked about here. To fear God is to recognise His power and authority and to understand that His authority over your life is the highest authority of all and that this is good for us. It’s good for us to be loved and cherished by the King of Kings, the creator of Heaven & Earth. What could be better than that? So if you want wisdom, start exercising some wisdom today and give God authority over your life and ask Him to lead you in the way that you should go, the way that leads to everlasting life.
Something To Do
If it feels tough today, try and remember to say ‘God is great’. Even a small thing like that can give us perspective and help us to respond calmly.
Something To Pray
‘God, I trust You. Take the authority in my life that rightly belongs to You and help me to do good things today. Amen’.
