A Psalm of David. Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

“Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” What does that mean? The earlier phrases give us valuable hints: it is to be the glory and strength due His Name, I.e, the Name that is above all other names. It is a name of totality, of completeness, of harmony, of rhythm. In short, a name never to be used lightly or as a curse.

But how often do we hear the LORD's name taken in vain, or as a curse; or a joke, or ????? Is it not a measure of the validity of our faith, the degree to which our soul cringes when we hear the Name of the LORD, God, the Almighty used in one of these manners?

Reading

Morning Psalm 135 Noon Psalm 119:41-48, Evening Psalm 74

Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.

The LORD is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed. Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.

Another instance where David finds himself erupting in praise and thanksgiving because the LORD served as his strength and his shield. John Piper points in Providencethat we are quick to curse God on the occurrence of a disaster but never remember to praise Him for the thousands of 'opportunities' for a disaster that did not happen that same day.

'Huh,' you say, “What's he blithering about now?” Piper's obvious example is blaming God for allowing a plane crash with major loss of life while neglecting to praise Him for the thousands of worldwide flights completed successfully each day.

If the LORD, God, the Almighty is in charge of all things, and He is, then we need to learn to be on our knees constantly praising Him for the smooth functioning of His creation.

Reading

Morning Psalm 134 Noon Psalm 119:33-40, Evening Psalm 73

My soul faints for Your salvation, But I hope in Your word. My eyes fail from searching Your word, Saying, "When will You comfort me?" For I have become like a wineskin in smoke, Yet I do not forget Your statutes.
How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me? The proud have dug pits for me, Which is not according to Your law. All Your commandments are faithful; They persecute me wrongfully; Help me! They almost made an end of me on earth, But I did not forsake Your precepts. Revive me according to Your loving kindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.

Again a stanza of worship, but coming a different angle. It is a recognition that the LORD, God, the Almighty stands between creation and assaults from the Enemy. The Scribe recognizes that he has a responsibility in the battle when he states that he will not forsake the precepts of the LORD. In a sense, it is a recognition that those precepts arm us for the battle. For example, when we hear that commanding voice state that “Thou shalt not take My name in vain” that we are being handed the Sword of the LORD, and being instructed to use it appropriately.

Reading

Morning Psalm 133, Noon Psalm 119:25-32, Evening Psalm 72

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

To grow in faith is to grow in belief; to grow in belief is to grow in trust; to grow in trust is to grow in concomitant; ; to grow in concomitant is to grow in faith. And round and round we go.

“Wait, I say, on the LORD”

Reading

Morning Psalm 132, Noon Psalm 119:17-24, Evening Psalm 71

Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek."

Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.

Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.

This passage is reflecting a message that we are seeing in earlier Psalms: that of worshiping through seeking His presence in all aspects of our lives. I know that I have a ways to go for this instruction counsels me to seek the LORD, God, thee Almighty in everywhere in my life.

It is not so much that I wall off a portion of my life, oh, I can and do at times, but much worse. I FORGET! I need to seek to be deliberate about seeking Him—everywhere--all the time—without reservation.

Reading

Morning Psalm 131, Noon Psalm 119:9-16, Evening Psalm 70

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.

One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

I remember from my studies of German, many, many years ago, that one of the common literary constructions was the zange konstruction. Literary, tongue formation. We see it here in these first 6 verses of the 27^th Psalm. “ The LORD is my light and my salvation” to“Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.” A paean of praise rising up into a shout with that climatic cry, “ One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.”

And then there will be no more doubt and uncertainty in me, I will sing His praise forever.

Reading

Morning Psalm 130, Noon Psalm 119:1-8, Evening Psalm 69

A Psalm of David. Vindicate me, O LORD, For I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the LORD; I shall not slip. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. For Your loving kindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, Nor will I go in with hypocrites. I have hated the assembly of evildoers, And will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash my hands in innocence; So I will go about Your altar, O LORD,  That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all Your wondrous works.

LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells. Do not gather my soul with sinners, Nor my life with bloodthirsty men, In whose hands is a sinister scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes.

But as for me, I will walk in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful to me. My foot stands in an even place; In the congregations I will bless the LORD.

This is a very interesting Psalm in which my first reactions were to read and move on to #27. Somewhere, I sensed a 'not so quick, Johnny Boy', reread the passage several more times and began to let it soak it. A question: how many of the readers of my musings are parents? How many have had children, whether juvenile or adult to go to them for advise? How did you feel when that happened?

We now have three adult children who will (some what infrequently) come to one of us with a search for advice. WOW! It may be stretching the point to classify that as worship, but it certainly ranks high on my 'respect for old dad' scale.

Does not our triune God cherish those times when one of His own comes to Him in prayer seeking wisdom and guidance when faced with a difficult problem. Wasn't David doing something of this sort in the Psalm? Maybe I need to be considerably more vigilant to utilize similar opportunities? How often do I pray for wisdom and guidance?

Reading

Morning Psalm 129, Noon Psalm 119:169-176, Evening Psalm 68

Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You.

A component of worship is to trust that individual with all my heart and soul. The evidence of that trust is the form my life takes in conformance to the directions of the LORD, God, the Almighty. Do all aspects of my life conform to His directions?

Reading

Morning Psalm 128, Noon Psalm 119:161-168, Evening Psalm 67

All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Your name's sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.

My eyes are ever toward the LORD, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins.

“Who is the man that fears the LORD? “ Definition of fear from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Man focuses on those definitions that involve danger and alarm, but Scripture uses that third definition 'profound reverence and awe especially toward God.' But does my profound reverence and awe contain elements of an awareness of danger, solicitude, and danger? Absolutely! After all, we are considering YAHWAH, the I AM WHOM I AM. It begins there and then morphs into reverence and awe. As that transformation progresses, we begin to sense that love that emanates from the LORD, God, the Almighty until it becomes the central emotion.

Reading

Morning Psalm 127, Noon Psalm 119:153-160, Evening Psalm 66

Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.

Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, Because I have hoped in Your word.

I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, According to Your word to Your servant. Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; For Your law is my delight.

Let the proud be ashamed, For they treated me wrongfully with falsehood; But I will meditate on Your precepts. Let those who fear You turn to me, Those who know Your testimonies. Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes, That I may not be ashamed.

This is Worship. This is Praise. This is Glorification of the LORD, God, the Almighty. John 14:15 in action. This is applying the Word of the LORD to my life and as a witness to others.

Far too often I hear someone saying, “Oh, if the LORD would reveal my calling to me.” I need the courage to tell them to look down to see where their feet are planted and then get busy living out this stanza of the 119^{th .}

Reading

Morning Psalm 126, Noon Psalm 119:145-152, Evening Psalm 65

A Psalm of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.

Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.

Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

This psalm is one where David throws himself wholeheartedly upon the mercies of the LORD. No holding back! Straight forward reliance and dependence upon the strength and goodness of the LORD. I see this as a form of worship as David enumerates the various areas in which he needs the LORD, God the Almighty.

This is not the usual list of gimmes that characterizes our normal Sunday “worship” services. David is not pleading for a new chariot, he's pleading for a knowing of the LORD. Look at that second paragraph. “Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.”

Listen tomorrow morning. What are you hearing? Gimmes or praise? There is a place for both but it is not the same place.

Reading

Morning Psalm 125, Noon Psalm 119:137-144, Evening Psalm 64

This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah

Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah

Who is this King of Glory? He is the LORD, God, the Almighty. He is the Creator of All Things. He is the One who said, “Let there be and there was.” Why? If He is the King of Glory and if He is the Creator of ALL Things, then the two must be consistent—And they are. ALL THINGS ARE FOR THE GLORY OF THE LORD, GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.

Now for the $64 question. How does my life reflect that Glory? Do my prayers acknowledge that He is the King of Glory? This thought must be front and center all day long, from those first few sentient thoughts of the day, before my feet hit the ground until lights out many hours later. Are all my decisions and actions, all my conversations, all my attitudes, all my desires, in short, is that being, known to the world as John A. Nunnikhoven, totally God centered?

No, not yet!

Reading

Morning Psalm 124, Noon Psalm 119:129-136, Evening Psalm 63