Listen here.
Welcome to
Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for
the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
in Hudson, OH. Thank you for being with me today.
Our Gospel
reading put us in mind of bearing fruit, which makes us think of the growth of
God’s kingdom and more people coming to faith in Jesus. Our reading from Acts
demonstrated the spread of the faith beyond the Jews to the Gentiles. Today’s
reading rejoices in God’s salvation and calls all of creation to join in
celebrating that God saves His people in the sight of all the nations.
The Reading:
Ps. 98 (ESV)
A Psalm.
Oh 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 known his
salvation;
he
has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast
love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.
All
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD,
all the earth;
break
forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the LORD with the
lyre,
with
the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and the sound of
the horn
make
a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
7 Let the sea roar, and all that
fills it;
the
world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let
the hills sing for joy together
9 before the LORD, for he comes to
judge the earth.
He
will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. (Ps.
98:1-9 ESV)
Comments:
Each of the first
three verses of Psalm 98 speak of God’s salvation. This is the foundation of
our worship and praise when we come before God. It is not that we have figured
out that God is great or worthy of our praise, nor is it that we have a duty to
offer praise and sacrifice to God. It is the fact that God has saved us that
draws us to worship Him.
As with last week’s
psalm, we are called to praise and worship with musical instruments. Here,
however, we are called to make a joyful noise unto the LORD, so there is no
excuse for those who are tone deaf to remain silent. Indeed, the whole earth is
called to bring its praise and the sounds of nature are understood as giving
glory to our Creator.
And, yes, we are
reminded that God comes to judge the earth, but even this is set in the context
of His salvation as He judges with righteousness and equity. It is because we
are saved by God’s mighty power, salvation we have experienced in Jesus’ death
and resurrection, that we know that the judgement, too, is part of God’s
salvation for us.
Let’s listen to
the Psalm once again.
The Reading:
Oh 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
known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered
his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise
to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the
LORD with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and
the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
7 Let the sea roar,
and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap
their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
9 before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with
equity. (Ps. 98:1-9 ESV)
Prayers:
O God, hasten the
day when all will join in worshipping You. Keep us firmly in the salvation
Jesus has won for us with His blood, and let that salvation fill us with joy to
give us lips to sing your glory, tongues your mercy to proclaim, throats that shout
of salvation, mouths that speak Your Holy name so that all may come to know You
and join us in praise because they, too, have experienced Your salvation. Amen.
Memory Verse:
This is he who
came by water and blood-- Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water
and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is
the truth. (1 Jn. 5:6 ESV)
Thank you so much
for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you
and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle
around in your brain – for the rest of the day.
Would you do me a
favor? If you got something out of this devotional time, would you like and/or
share it on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you do social media? That would help
me get the word out, and hopefully help these devotions be a blessing to
others.
God bless you!
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