Psalm 8  As I’ve been reading through the psalms recently I have been struck (or perhaps “nudged by the Holy Spirit”) at how frequently God calls on nature to praise Him, or how nature was made to praise Him.  (Later in your reading you’ll read about it in Psalm 98:7-9). Today, in Psalm 8: 1, 3 “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!  You have set Your glory above the heavens.  When I consider You heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the s tars which you have set in place…”  Here’s a prayer I wrote in my journal this morning, “LORD, as I read  Psalm 8 and last Sunday Psalm 19 and others during this past week I am struck at how frequently Your worshippers were awed by Your creation and how You reveal Yourself in creation.  Holy Spirit nurture in me a sense of awe and seeing God in His creation / nature.”  O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth.”

Psalm 38  This is a prayer David prayed when he was suffering physically for some sin.  He felt terrible!  In verse 4 he wrote, “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden to heavy to bear.”  The turning point in his prayer is verse 18, “I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.”   I am thankful that each Sunday we have an opportunity to offer a corporate prayer of confession which is printed in our bulletin. I cut it out and tape it into my journal, and then I pray it throughout the week.  Confessing our sin, humbling ourselves before God is critical to uninterrupted, sweet fellowship with the Holy Spirit.  Why not pause, right now, and sincerely pray those words of verse 18, and ask God for specific forgiveness.  Remember the words of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Amen.

Psalm 68  “May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.  Sing to God, sing praise to His Name… His Name is the LORD and rejoice before Him.”  I know it’s only Monday, but already I’m anticipating our time of corporate worship together this coming Sunday.  We “the righteous” will have the opportunity to come together and in unison, “be glad and rejoice before God and sing praise to His Name.”  You don’t want to miss it!

And I love verses 19-20a “Praise be the Lord, to God our Savior, Who daily bears our burdens.  Our God is a God Who saves.”  Amen! He invites you today to “cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)  He invites you, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).  My response:  “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, Who daily bears our burdens!”  Go ahead, right now unload your burdens, the challenges you will face today; give them to Him.  He can handle them, and He’ll help you do the same!

Have a great day!  I’ll see you right here tomorrow.

Pastor