“Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds ; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord . A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdans. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. Your procession, God, has come into view, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the young women playing the timbrels. Praise God in the great congregation; praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel. You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!”
Psalm 68:4-6, 19-20, 24-26, 35
King David knew God’s greatness and he loved to share it with others. He begins Psalm 68, a processional psalm, sung on the way to the temple, with an exclaimation of God’s goodness. He says, “sing His Name-praise Him Who rides on the clouds”. The imagatry is fantastic-God, in majesty, riding high above the clouds! David continues, “rejoice before Him!” That means we should literally go nuts for God, just like we do when our favorite team scores!
David now shifts to talking about God’s chatacter: God is . . .
•A father to the fatherless,
•A defender of widows, •A God (Who) sets the lonely in families,
•One Who leads out the prisoners with singing (by contrast) whilethe rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
What a Savior!
The next verse is special to me (vs 19): “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” Our God daily saves us, daily delivers us, daily carries us, DAILY BEARS OUR BURDENS! What better partner to have? In vers 20, we find a our God provides us escape from death!
David finishes the psslm from the perspective of an onlooker: “Your procession, God, has come into view, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the young women playing the timbrels. God is having a pre-service parade. His Kingly procession comes into veiw, led by the singers, musicians and young ladies playing tamborines-again the imagatry is beautiful–ALL SINGING PRAISE AND GIVING GLORY TO GOD!
David finishes his psalm with, “You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!”
David loved to sing praise to God and loved leading others to do so. It was his personal custom. It was his public practice. It was his lifestyle. We should make it our own!
Think about it!
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