Psalm 100 English Standard Version (ESV)
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
A Psalm for giving thanks.
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!2 Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing! 3Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Meditation according to the dictionary-continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation.
Meditation on scripture- thinking about what the scripture is teaching about God, His creation and you.
In sunday school psalm 100 was split up by verse and given to each table to meditate on. Then after a few min our pastor asked each table to share what they had meditated about the Lord. Our table had verse 3. We meditated on the first phrase "Know that the LORD, He is God" (Psalm 100:3). We reflected on who God is and listed different things that God is.This caused me to begin to mediate on who God is and to find scripture relating to who God is.
For example, I have been meditating on the fact that "our God is a Consuming Fire" (Hebrew 12:29). So I began to look at what it means that "our God is a Consuming Fire."
Here is what I have so far:
1. He consumes everything. I want him to consume me and to burn away everything that is not of Him. Isaiah 33:14 "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?""
Zechariah 13:9 "And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”"
2. He is a jealous God who will destroy his enemies with his consuming fire. Deuteronomy 4:24 "For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." Psalm 97:3 "Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side."
3. He is worthy of reverence, awe and worship because He is a Consuming fire. Hebrew 12:28-29
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire."
May I be consumed in His fire...May He burn away my impurities, and may I come through the fire like pure gold.
ReplyDeleteI need to keep him at the forefront. It is so easy to create idols. Somehow we manage to take things that are merely good and makethem into something of greater value than "good"...then they become not good and need to be burned away. I like the sound of your sunday school class and I love your cheerful blog. I was filled with a great feeling when I saw all the colors :)
ReplyDeleteLove the psalms! They're so raw it's sometimes hard to handle. This made me think about the sermon we listened to yesterday. We talked about how God will swallow up death in the end. SWALLOW UP! It will be conquered, consumed, disappear... God is awesome indeed!
ReplyDeleteTauna
So glad you joined Hear It, Use It, this week -- welcome! And thank you for your comment -- that translation gave me a fresh interpretation to consider (especially the part about the Holy Spirit, as I have been contemplating that facet of God lately).
ReplyDeleteHere your mediations on "consuming fire" bring to mind the pillar of fire that God traveled as in Exodus -- sometimes I wish I had a big sign from God like a pillar of fire...although in the end, it would probably totally wig me out!