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Read Psalm 100:5 Praise is the highest use of man's faculties. When we contemplate the attributes of God, we can't help but thank and praise Him. This verse speaks of three of God's attributes that make Him worthy of our praise. First, we see His goodness. It's part of God's nature to be kind and benevolent. He is not frowning upon us; He's smiling on us through Jesus. We see His goodness in creation ( Gen. 1:31 ; Ps. 33:5 ), even though man has wrecked it ( Rom. 8:19-23 ). G

Read Psalm 101:1-8 A pleasant elderly couple who attended the first church I pastored came to me one day and said, "Pastor, we have moved into a new house, and we'd like you to come and dedicate it." So my wife and I went to the house, read Scripture, prayed and dedicated that house to the glory of the Lord. What is the most important part of a house? At first you might say the foundation, the heating system or the plumbing. But the most important part of a house is the home.

Read Psalm 102:1-11 One day I phoned a friend of mine who is in the ministry and asked, "How's it going?" His quiet reply was, "Well, I'm having one of those days." The next time you're having one of those days when everything seems to be going wrong--your plans are falling apart, you don't feel well, there are problems and burdens, and it seems as if all of the forces of the enemy are against you--read this psalm. "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to You. Do not h

Read Psalm 102:12-28 Have you heard the phrase, "It's as sure as the world"? In fact, nothing is more unsure than the world. "Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure" (vv. 25,26). The "sure" world will perish. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away" ( Matt. 24:35 ). What is the surest thing in your life? On what are you building your life? You'

Read Psalm 103:1-5 I wonder how long we could talk to the Lord without asking for something. "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" (vv. 1,2). Psalm 103 has no requests. It is nothing but praise; David is blessing the Lord. What are some of these benefits David sings about? They are ones we may have forgotten or that we may be taking for granted. First, the Lord saves. "Who forgiv

Read Psalm 103:6-12 We usually praise the Lord for something He has done for us. Today, let's thank the Lord for something He has not done. "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities" (v. 10). Everyone knows the plague of his heart--not only the occasional sins but those that try to get us into bondage. What's more, God knows all about it, too. In fact, He knows our sins better than we do. God sees the origin and the outcome o

Read Psalm 103:13-18 Our God remembers what we often forget. Sometimes we forget the things He wants us to remember, and that gets us into trouble. Have you remembered lately what you are made of? "As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (vv. 13,14). God took the dust of the ground and made Adam. Then He breathed into Adam the breath of life, and he became a living soul. Physically, we are

Read Psalm 103:19-22 No matter how difficult your situation may be today, no matter how discouraging the news, you can still lean on this: "The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all" (v. 19). God is enthroned in heaven and in control of everything that happens. Sometimes it may not look like it. If you're walking by sight, you may wonder if there is a God at all. Or if there is a God, does He care? Or if He cares, can He do anything? The ps

Read Psalm 103:1-12 Someone has said that memory is a sepulcher of broken bones. Someone else has said that memory is a nursery in which children who have grown old play with their broken toys. Memory is the library and the treasury of the mind. Psychiatrist Rollo Mays says, "Memory is not just the imprint of the past upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears." Memory is selective. Often we forget what God has done for us. Charles Spurgeo

Read Psalm 103:1-12 This psalm has no petitions, only praise. Verses 3 through 5 are Hebrew poetry with parallel construction. Each verse has two statements. The idea that is presented in the first statement is repeated, illustrated or amplified in the second statement of the verse. The second statements in verses 3 through 5 are illustrations of three blessings: forgiveness, redemption and satisfaction. The first blessing is forgiveness (v. 3). The psalmist illustrates forgi

Read Psalm 103:1-12 Bless the Lord, O my soul" (v. 1). The psalmist opens by addressing God on a personal level. He is praising God for what He does and for who He is. As we read this psalm, we discover why God is so wonderful. He is the merciful Savior (vv. 8-12). God in His grace gives us what we don't deserve and in His mercy doesn't give us what we do deserve. But He does have a holy temper, and we must not provoke Him by deliberately sinning. He is the tender Father (vv.

Read Psalm 104:1-4 Have you thought lately about angels? We usually don't think about them because we don't see or hear them. But God's Word tells us they are His special messengers. "Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire" (v. 4). We have a fire of God at work--His angels, accomplishing His will. The angels have always served God. They sang at creation. They visited Abraham. They came to Hezekiah when Jerusalem was under attack, and one angel destroyed 1

Read Psalm 104:5-13 People who live in the city sometimes forget that God is the God of creation and nature. In the United States alone, more than 2700 acres of pavement are laid each day. Before long, God's creation might be completely covered by concrete and asphalt. We need to pause and get reacquainted with the God of creation. "You who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be moved forever, You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters sto

Read Psalm 104:14-18 The psalmists were captivated by the God of creation. Of course, the world they lived in was a little cleaner, a little purer, maybe a little more beautiful, because man had not yet exploited it. They recognized their dependence on Him for their sustenance: "He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, a

Read Psalm 104:19-26 After surveying God's work in creation, the psalmist wrote: "O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your possessions" (v. 24). This verse shows us important traits of God. First, creation reveals God's wisdom. We ought to take time to admire His wisdom in creation. I've read that if the proportion of gases in the air were changed ever so slightly, all of us would die. The way God tilted the earth, the w

Read Psalm 104:27-30 Scientists tell us that our world is governed by what they call "natural law." Most of them forget that behind the law is the Lawgiver. Behind creation is a Creator, who cares for His creation and His people. Who unifies the universe? The God who made it. All of creation waits upon Him and trusts Him to supply what is needed. As the psalmist wrote, "These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season. What You give them they gather in;

Read Psalm 104:31-35 When Jesus Christ is your Savior and God is your Father, when the Holy Spirit is within you and the Word of God is teaching you, all of creation takes on new beauty and new blessing. The sky is a deeper blue, and the earth is a richer green. You don't see just creation; you see the Creator. And you don't simply see a Creator; you see the Heavenly Father, who cares for you. "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I ha

Read Psalm 105:5-15 Your spiritual memory is vital to your spiritual health. Do you remember what God wants you to remember? Are you grateful for what He remembers? "Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.... He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations" (vv. 5,8). We should remember God's words, His wonders and His works, but we often forget. How easy it was for the Israel

Read Psalm 105:16-23 How wonderful it is to receive an answer to prayer. But there is something even more wonderful--to be an answer to prayer. Have you been an answer to prayer lately? Joseph was. In verse 17 we read, "He sent a man before them--Joseph--who was sold as a slave." At the time, Joseph could not see what God was doing. But God was preparing him to be an answer to prayer. He was going to use Joseph to protect the people of Israel. If Joseph had not done this, the

Read Psalm 105:24-45 Suppose you were an Egyptian during the time of Moses and Aaron. You lived through the plagues that came on your land because of the stubbornness of Pharaoh. What would be your response when you saw the Jews leave Egypt? The psalmist wrote, "Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen upon them" (v. 38). I have no problem believing that at all. Furthermore, I suspect that when God's people depart from this world, when our Lord comes

Read Psalm 106:1-5 "Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Or can declare all His praise?" (v. 2). Who can truly praise the Lord? Those who know God through faith in Jesus Christ. "His mercy endures forever" (v. 1). Only when we've experienced the mercy and the grace of God can we utter His mighty acts. We've been saved by His grace. This was God's greatest act--greater than bringing Israel out of Egypt and even greater than the creation of the universe. Who else can prai

Read Psalm 106:6-15 Sometimes an unanswered prayer is the best thing for us. The psalmist says, "And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul" (v. 15). The Israelites had prayed selfishly. God was feeding them with manna from heaven, angel's food, but they wanted meat. All they had to do every morning was step out of their tents, stoop down and pick up the precious, clean, sweet, life-giving manna. But after a while their old appetites came back. They sai

Read Psalm 106:16-23 We often think of Moses as a great leader and a great legislator, and indeed he was one of the greatest. But have you ever thought of Moses as a great intercessor, a man of prayer? I was amazed to discover how many instances of prayer are recorded in the life of Moses. For instance, when the Israelites turned against God, made a golden calf and began to worship like the heathen, God was prepared to judge them. But Moses went up on the mountain and interce

Read Psalm 106:24-33 Moses wanted one thing that God would not give him: the privilege of entering the Promised Land. You'll remember that Moses had sinned against the Lord and therefore was not permitted to go into Canaan ( Num. 20 ). He brought the nation right up to the border and then had to go up on the mountain and die. The Israelites were partly to blame for Moses' sin. "They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them; b