To Praise Delights the Soul
84 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalm 84 (KJV)
The Morning Exhortation
You get knocked down, you get back up. Circumstances are temporary. Even a long life of 120 years is a mere grain of sand on the beach of eternity. Whether you ultimately thrive and bloom, or shrivel and die, depends greatly on the condition of your soul. Love is everlasting. The kingdom of God is like driving a car. Easy to take for granted until we lose the ability to drive or the way to enter. There are those who say they hate to drive just as there are those who say they hate to exercise or be told what to do. How easy it is to forget that there are great multitudes of people who are not blessed with the ability to drive, exercise, or enter in through the straight gate. Living according to what you know to be true will not always be easy and fun. That’s okay. It is better to suffer under the work than to be counted among the multitude of ease-seekers that know the right thing to do, yet cannot bring themselves to actually do it. The only guaranteed remedy for “I should to this” or “I should stop doing that” is prayer and faith. (Proverbs 24:13-16; Psalm 1:5-6; Matthew 13:1-23, 25:1-13, 24:35-39; Romans 6:1-14; James 4:5-10; James 5:14-16, 1:2-4, 5:17-18; Romans 6:15-23; Proverbs 25:28; 1 Corinthians 13:13; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
Today’s Bible Reading
Numbers 4; Psalms 38
Song of Solomon 2; Hebrews 2
The Prayer Appointed for This Week
O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that I, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ my Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen. The Book of Common Prayer
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