Praise the Lord, my soul.

Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendour and majesty.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works—
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice in the Lord.
But may sinners vanish from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.

Psalm 104: 1, 31-35

We serve an amazing God. This psalm is pure praise to God who is so amazing. God is clothed in splendour. This psalm paints a picture of God as all powerful, as someone who touches mountains and causes them to smoke. Someone who only has to look at the earth and causes it to tremble. If you have time, read the rest of the psalm to get a fuller picture the psalmist is painting. God creates and cares for his creation, which in turn gives glory to God. The psalmist observes the world around him, and credits God with creating and sustaining it all. The psalmist looks around at the world and sees the work of God everywhere; he cannot help but praise God.

Often we separate our life into sacred and secular. Part of our life is very spiritual (church, quiet time, growth group) but then the rest of our life is ordinary and unspiritual. We come to church and we praise God, and then during the week we act as if God does not exist. Yet the psalmist sees God everywhere, he sees the work of God in all areas of life all over the earth. He marvels at the works of God, and he cannot help but praise God. For the psalmist, there is no part of life where God is not to be marvelled. There is no part of life where we are not to be amazed by God.

Do you divide your life into sacred and secular?

The psalmist though lived before Jesus. If he is able to marvel at the work of God, then surely we have even more reason. We who have come to know and believe in the love and grace of God poured out in his son. The great victory of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus should give us even more reason to marvel at God. God should amaze us even more, now that God has given us a living hope. The psalmist praises God because of the world he has created and sustains. Now we praise God as a father who loves and cares for us, who has given us a living hope and an inheritance that can never fade.

Grow Deeper

If anyone had reason to doubt how amazing God is, it is Job. For Grow Deeper this week we’ll read through some chapters of Job and see how he thought of God in the midst of great suffering.

Read Job 1.

How is Job described? How would you describe him in your own words?

How do we see God’s authority in this scene?

Would Job be justified in saying that God was not great? Why or why not

Could you respond in your heart the same way Job responded to his suffering? Why or why not?

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

I praise you as the God who creates and sustains. Every aspect of life is under your care. There is nothing that escapes your gaze. Your works are all around us, every second of every day. Yet I praise your greatest work; the sending of Jesus into this world. I thankyou that Jesus died and rose again, so now I can call on you as father. I thankyou that my sin has been taken away and now I have a living hope in Jesus.

Help me to see your works every second of every day. Help me in the day to day grind of life to see your works in this world. Help me to marvel at your works, even in the places that seem so far removed from you. Help me to see your works everywhere, so that I cannot help but praise you.

I pray all this because of the death and resurrection of Jesus,

Amen