A BEAUTIFUL THING
Psalms 33:1-5 NKJ
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Happy Thanksgiving! On this day, when we are more conscious of giving thanks, I thought it would be the right thing to do a devotional on giving God praise.
Rejoice in the Lord, you who have been made right with God! As the NLT says, “the godly ones.” Rejoice is used over 50 times in the Psalms and means a shout for joy or to sing joyfully. Praise is used over 130 times in the Psalms and, according to the Olive Tree Bible Dictionary, “connotes genuine appreciation for the great actions or the character of its object. It is used especially for the adoration and thanksgiving that humanity renders to God.” Whenever a word or subject is repeated in Scripture, we should pay attention. The word sorrow shows up in the Psalms only seven times. By the sheer weight of repetition, we are to be more joyful and thankful than sorrowful.
And David says that praise from the upright is beautiful. The Psalms give us a wonderful picture of a life with God. Yes, there are challenging times of sorrow and distress. But our praise and thanksgiving should outweigh the trouble. The psalms are not only inspired, but they also reflect a man who had a robust praise and rejoicing life before God. As I have often said, David is a man we can learn from. He experienced trouble but kept his faith and hope in God, and it showed in his expressions of joy and gratitude.
Sing a new song to the Lord and play with instruments to the Lord. David notes that musical instruments should be played skillfully. I am not a musician, but I appreciate high levels of skill when it comes to playing. A note of thanks to our musicians at The Ark. They are skillful!
And then David throws in a big dose of truth. The word of the Lord is right. There is so much we can point to today that is sketchy or dubious, but God’s word is right. All the time. And all the work He does is done in truth. There is nothing sneaky or deceptive about anything God does. What man does is often a vastly different story, but God’s works are true and good! The NLT says we can trust everything He does.
The Lord loves what is right and just. God has never had a love for things done wrong and for unjust ways. Although it may appear that some are getting away with injustice and unrighteousness, the game is not over. God is the just judge, and there is a day coming when all is made right and what is wrong is dealt with.
Even with all the negatives taking place in our day, the earth is still full of the goodness of the Lord. And thankfully a day is coming when everything on this earth will reflect the goodness of the Lord. Even as we are thankful for all God has done, we must never forget that this world is not all there is. There is an eternity and a dimension past this life. So give thanks today for what God has done and for the brightness that His future holds for you.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, for Your goodness and mercy and for the hope I have in You today, tomorrow, and a thousand years from now. May You receive my rejoicing and thanks as something beautiful to You!