Wondrous Works for Us - January 30 Readings: 1 Chronicles 16:8-36

We are going to "enter the year with praise." Our January readings and devotionals will all focus on the goodness and grace of God. Get a journal or notebook to write down your thoughts every day. Our passages are shorter - please don't rush through them. Take time to meditate and consider why God is worthy of your praise.

Enter 2020 with the praise of God on your lips!

Today's Praise Passage:  1 Chronicles 16:8-36

Give thanks to the Lord; call on his name;
proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
9 Sing to him; sing praise to him;
tell about all his wondrous works!
10 Honor his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
12 Remember the wondrous works he has done,
his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced,
13 you offspring of Israel his servant,
Jacob’s descendants—his chosen ones.

14 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments govern the whole earth.
15 Remember his covenant forever—
the promise he ordained for a thousand generations,
16 the covenant he made with Abraham,
swore to Isaac,
17 and confirmed to Jacob as a decree,
and to Israel as a permanent covenant:
18 “I will give the land of Canaan to you
as your inherited portion.”

19 When they were few in number,
very few indeed, and resident aliens in Canaan
20 wandering from nation to nation
and from one kingdom to another,
21 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their behalf:
22 “Do not touch my anointed ones
or harm my prophets.”
 23 Let the whole earth sing to the Lord.
Proclaim his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his wondrous works among all peoples.

25 For the Lord is great and highly praised;
he is feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
30 let the whole earth tremble before him.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be shaken.

31 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
32 Let the sea and all that fills it resound;
let the fields and everything in them exult.
33 Then the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.

 34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.
35 And say: “Save us, God of our salvation;
gather us and rescue us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and rejoice in your praise.
36 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting.”
 Then all the people said, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

Through the Bible Reading: Exodus 13–14, Matthew 19:16–30, Psalm 18:12–18, Proverbs3:32-33

Some of our readers want a little more "meaty" devotional, so I am including a link to the through Through the Bible in One Year readings we did last year. 

Devotional: Wondrous Works for Us

It was a momentous day for King David. The long lost ark had been returned to Israel and finally, after stops and starts, after tragic missteps, it was back in the tent. It was time to praise the Lord. David had tried to return the ark without carefully doing things God's way and Uzzah had paid the price with his life. This time, David was careful to do everything as God has commanded in his law and the ark was back where it belonged. Praise swelled in his heart. This psalm echoes the words of many of the great songs of praise we have looked at in our month of praise - Psalm 145, Psalm 95 and 96. Psalm 118 and 136. Many others.

I read a post on Facebook the other day that sounded so spiritual. "I am tired of hearing songs and other acts of worship that focus on us. I just want to focus on God." That sounds great. Just think about God and forget about human beings. How spiritual. The problem is that God's words NEVER does this. Yes, the Bible is focused on God. Salvation starts in his sovereign plan and is worked out by him. It is all of grace and not by works. We must look to him and focus on him and glorify him and praise him and...you get the point.

But the psalms never ignore the human experience. The Psalms focus on how the glorious God affects our lives daily. God is holy and we should worship him, but we should also think about how that holiness affects us. "Be holy because he is holy." He is sovereign and we must react to that. He is love and because of that, we are loved. We love because he first loved us. We do not simply focus on God, but consider how the greatness of God affects us and how we live in the light of it. The worship of God is intensely experiential. Application is the fruit of worship, not the enemy.

In this Psalm, we see God as the victor over all enemies, the one who reigns in this world. He has splendor and majesty and strength and joy, does wondrous works among his people, and causes the whole earth to tremble before him. Because of God's victory, his people also have victory. Our salvation is a product of God's victory over his enemies and ours.

Rejoice today that the God you worship is greater than all that you face. Give thanks that his glory and holiness and power and love have practical application to your life every day. Your life is blessed because of who he is. When you worship God, who you are is shaped by who he is!

Father, may your glorious character shape my character. May I live daily in the light of who you are. 

Think and Pray:

Meditate on this passage and write down:

1. The character qualities of God for which you can praise him. 

2. The gracious acts of God for which you can give thanks to him. 

This Psalm contains many treasures about the character of God. Spend time meditating on what it says about God.
Remember that what it says about God is to shape who you are and how you live.