Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
The LORD has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the LORD with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
before the LORD,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.—Psalm 98
I confess that my spirit doesn’t often break forth in song, rejoice, and/or sing praises. It is difficult for me in my flesh…which is sadly my natural resting place…to pull my feet out of the miry clay and allow my spirit and my voice to soar into the heavenlies where I am seated with Christ.
As I read Psalm 98 this morning my mind began to think on it in light of a verse I have been meditating on for a couple of days.
Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.—2 Thessalonians 3:5
Beloved…there is not a more perfect way to soar into the heavenlies than to pray that God would direct your heart into His love. I want to spend all my time here on earth head over heels in love with my God. I want to see His goodness surrounding me and His kindnesses always before my eyes. I want to think on heaven where His love will be perfected.
Here is what I know…I cannot do this unless unless God by His grace does it for me.
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way.—Psalm 119:37
Father…my misplaced affections cause me much trouble and heartache. They waste my time and set my heart on the earthly rather than the heavenly. By Your grace, direct my heart aright. Keep me in Your love. Set my affections on things above and not on the earth. May I seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and as I do may all my other affections be ordered in accordance with Your perfect will. As I love You more, Father, may my faith in Your Son, Jesus, abound more and more. Help me to wait patiently for Him and as I wait, may I imitate the patient endurance that He exampled as he walked on this earth. Matthew Henry says it this way…patience for Christʾs sake and after Christʾs example.
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.—Philippians 2:1-4
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.—Colossians 1:9-14
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.—Ephesians 2:4-7
Today I will praise Him for His redemption, His righteousness and His mercy. I will praise Him with a joyful shout, because He continually shows me His love. Truly, He daily renews my spirit and my mind with the increasing depth and wonder of His love. I will sing to Him an “old” song, but I will sing it anew and with a deeper affection because He is constantly doing great things for me and I am glad!
Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
mount of God's redeeming love.
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