Author: timritanickel@gmail.com

Psalm 105:3-5 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.

We. respond to the Lord’s greatness and goodness by glorying in His loving presence among us, with us, and in us. Give God the glory, credit and praise. This action causes rejoicing in the sad and polluted heart. So we seek the Lord and His strength ever and always, in every and any circumstance. We look for, and expect to find, His loving presence among us, and we find His.strength for the day. The Lord is always here and present to us every day, all the time. But we get distracted by life in the world and don’t always notice Him. So we take time to seek and to see that He is here for us. His face is near; just seek it out.

Then we remember His work of salvation for us at the cross and the tomb, His wonders and miracles accompanying us daily, and His Word of judgment and mercy. He judged our sin at the cross and our death at the tomb. We remember His lovingkindness and His work of salvation every week in church and every day in quiet time. It is too easy to forget God in the struggles of the day, so we seek the needed reminders.

Psalm 105:1-2 O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of his wondrous works.

This Psalm rehearses the great deeds of deliverance and provision done by the Lord in the Exodus and Conquest. Our response to God’s great Salvation Event is thanksgiving, prayer, worship and proclamation.

Today we respond to God’s great Salvation Event worked for us at the Cross and the Tomb. We go to church every Sunday togive thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, sing unto Him, and talk of His great salvation for us. All of this goes on in the church worship service, and we have the privilege and joy of responding to His Gospel in public assembly.

We also enjoy a daily Time with God to worship, thank, pray, sing, and hear the Gospel. God has miraculously done everything for our life and salvation. The only thing left for us to do is respond exuberantly by worshipping, thanking, praying, and telling. This activity describes our life of joy, peace and hope. For God’s loving and saving activity happened once for all and its power and effect continues today and goes on forever.

Psalm 104:33-34 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. my meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.

The Creation, beauty, and glory of the Lord is so awesome that when I take note of what the Lord has done my response is to sing praises, meditate, and be glad. Singing praises to the Lord is a natural response whenever I see, feel, and think about the Lord God and what He has done. And the more we meditate and think about the greatness and goodness of the Lord the sweeter our thoughts become, the happier we are, and we are glad in the Lord.

In the midst of a life of sorrow and disappointment, God is always there, with us, in His glory and grace, loving and forgiving. Not only has He created blessings and good things for us to enjoy, He has also Redeemed us from every evil of body and soul. Therefore, we can, we may, we should, and we are, glad in Him. Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” Emphasize the word always, which means in any and every circumstance. No matter how we feel the truth is deeper and doesn’t leave.

Psalm 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

We are dependent upon the Lord for daily life and for every breath we take. God is in charge of our life and death. He takes away our breath and the soul separates from the body: we die. Every breath we take is a gift of God and a gift of life. Life comes from God’s breath: “The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living soul [Genesis 2:7].” Life comes from God, and death comes from separation from God.

And at the very moment Adam sinned he died (was separated from God), and so do we. And at the moment we believe in Jesus we are born again to a new life, a life that never ends. Jesus reunites us with God, the source of life. The Holy Spirit within our human spirit is the very air we breathe.

Trouble comes when God and His Life feel absent. He is hiding behind the troubles we experience and we can’t see Him clearly. However He promises to be with us, even when we are troubled, and He never forsakes us. We see with eyes of faith, given by the Spirit through the Gospel, that the Lord is present. Life, union with God, replaces Death, separation from God. The Law tells of death and convicts of Sin; the Gospel speaks of life and convicts of Forgiveness and reunion. We live in the midst of death; therefore, we repent and believe daily. “Let not your hearts be troubled. believe in God; believe also in me [John 14:1].”

Psalm 104:23 Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.

In the midst of God’s wonderful Creation and Provision, humans go about their daily work and labor every day, enjoying all the blessing and goodness of the Lord. Life still goes on in the daily grind of work. We do not become hermits or monks, but we remain in the world. We are priests in the world with our thoughts and prayers filling each seemingly mundane day with the glory and grace of God. God blesses our work while we bless the Lord always. He is always with us, though it may not be in spectacular ways. His Presence makes the routine special.

We go about our daily lives with the Lord on our minds with thoughts, prayers and praises, and He is on our lips with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The daily routine of work becomes the means by which we remember and bless the Lord for His unfailing goodness and mercy. We sanctify work by bringing the Lord into it with thanks, praise and blessing.

Psalm 104:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty.

My soul, my whole self, mind, will, and emotions, along with all created things, blesses the Lord in response to His greatness, honor, and majesty. We look in wonder and awe as we ponder God’s great Creation and Providence. The Psalmist then poetically recounts the Creation story of Genesis One. We are left speechless with nothing left to say except praise, honor and blessing to Almighty God, Creator of everything that is and of all things good.

Whether we look with the naked eye or through a telescope or microscope, we are moved to bless the genius and majesty of the very great and majestic Person behind the wonderful Creation. He must be awesome. So we praise, honor, and bless the Lord for His revealed glory, greatness and goodness. To bless is to think and to say good things about and to God. In our stunned state we speak blessing to the Lord.

But even more than being impressed with Creation, we are over-awed at His love and mercy in sending His Son for our salvation and life in Redemption. We who receive His blessings through faith in Christ in turn live lives of blessing God, other people, and all created things in thought, word, and deed. The appreciator is a beautiful sight to behold.

Psalm 203:17-18 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and His righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever. He is merciful and gracious, forgiving our sins for Jesus’ sake. Our life on earth is short and full of trouble, but His mercy is eternal and based on His promises. Our response to eternal mercy is to fear (believe) God. Because He is merciful, because He does not remember our sins, and because He grants us righteousness in place of sin, we keep His covenant, we remember His commandments and actually do them.

The Holy Spirit grants us faith in Jesus for forgiveness, He counts us as righteous, and He reminds us of His Commandments, giving us the desire and power to live according to them. The list of God’s blessings and benefits is extensive and mighty. We love Him because He first loved us. The grace of God changes our lives while faith receives all the blessings with joy and thanksgiving.

Psalm 103:1-2 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits..

”Count your blessings!” When life seems hard and things are difficult, take time to list the blessings that come from the Lord. Remember how good God is and all His freely given benefits. He forgives sins, He heals diseases, He redeems from death, He crowns with love, He satisfies desires, He gives righteousness. All these benefits He gives for free out of mercy, because of Christ. We receive all these without deserving any of them. When you feel you lost your joy and peace and nothing to praise God for, read David’s list.

Bless the Lord and His Name, and you will feel better about your life in the present circumstances. It is too easy to forget God and to take His benefits for granted. So we make it a point to bless the Lord at every opportunity, all day long. To bless is to thank and praise and to say good things about God and blessings enjoyed. We actually make God feel better, if that were possible. Use everything within your soul (mind, will, and emotions), and everything in your body (tongue, eyes, hands, and thoughts) to bless the Lord. For He is good, and His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 102:20, 22 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;…When the people are gathered together; and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

The Lord looked down from heaven to behold the earth to hear the groaning of those in prison and to loose them from death. He also declared His name and His praise when the peoples and the kingdoms are gathered together to serve the Lord. This is a prophecy about the sending of the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior, to the earth to set free the prisoners of Sin and Death.

God hears the groans and cries of the prisoners of death. That groaning is our response to being imprisoned in death. Our sin has caused this condition. And not only we ourselves, but also the whole Creation groans. “The whole creation has been groaning together…and not only the creation, but we ourselves…groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for…redemption [Romans 8:22-23].” This describes our human condition in this short life: groaning as prisoners waiting to be set free. Jesus accomplished this once for all, but sin and death remains while faith waits.

Because of Christ’s liberation we are free to serve the Lord by loving people. Gladly serving is our grateful response to being set free.

Psalm 102:17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

”God helps the helpless.” The Lord God hears and answers the prayers of the poor, weak, destitute and helpless. He does not need to pay attention to those who help themselves. If they are so self-righteous and prideful, then God says, “Try it yourself.” The Lord is there to help those who need Him. He loves the sinner who recognizes his own weakness and need. He died for them. He died for the self-confident also, but they don’t see the need for God.

We approach the Lord with repentance and humility, admitting our poor, miserable condition. We confess our sin, weakness and need spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. God loves to hear our cry for help. Our response to death, sickness, pain, suffering and helplessness is to pray. God hears and helps.

Jesus did not help the proud Pharisee, but He healed, helped and justified the humble tax-collector. He paid attention to the poor, weak, blind and lame. And He regards our prayers when we come before Him in Jesus’ name, pleading the blood of Christ, and in dependent need of help and mercy.

It is not really hard to see our destitution and turn to the Helper. But pride blinds us to our needful situation and prevents us from seeking His help. So we pray in penitence, humility and faith. He regards our prayers.