OT Fire Starters – Day 236: Psalms 135-138
READ: Psalms 135-138
THINK: God’s love-it’s the reason He created us to know Him. It’s the reason He gives us charge over His creation. It’s the reason He gave us a free will to chose whether to follow Him. It’s the reason He had a plan to restore us to a relationship with Him after humankind chose to go it’s own way. It’s the reason He sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place and pay the price for our sin. It’s the reason He forgives us, heals us and continues to provide for us. It’s the reason He’s preparing a place where those who love Him will be with Him forever. It’s the reason Christ will come to take us home with Him, and it’s the reason He will ultimately return to earth to defeat evil once and for all and establish His eternal dwelling with His people. It’s even the reason He will judge all who have oppressed and opposed His people. It’s the ultimate reason to love Him-because He first loved us.
RESPOND: Psalm 135 calls us to praise God based on what three facts? (See 135:1-21 note.) In what ways is our Lord “greater than all gods” (135:5)? In what ways do people today follow “idols” and false gods (cf. 135:15- 17), and how do people become like the things they “worship” and prioritize (135:18)? What does the phrase that’s constantly repeated in Psalm 136 teach us about God’s actions and the reason we should always be grateful to Him? (See 136:1-26 note.) What does God’s love include and involve, and how can a person fully experience that love? (See 136:1-26 note.) Whose history is recapped in 136:10-22? What was the situation described in Psalm 137, and why wouldn’t the people sing? (See 137:9 note.) What severe judgments would ultimately come on those who were responsible for the atrocities, and why? (See 137:9 note.) In what ways will people’s own defiance against God eventually come back on them? What has God exalted above all things (138:2)? What did God’s answer to prayer do for David (138:3)? “Though the LORD is on high” (138:6), whom does He look upon?
PRAY: Give thanks for God’s eternal love and for what it means to you personally. Praise the Lord’s Name, which represents all He is and does, and for His Word, through which He reveals himself and His purposes for us.
ACT: Make every effort to reflect and demonstrate God’s love in all you do as a display of sincere gratitude to Him.