…Opening To…

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me save that thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping thy presence my light (Ancient Irish Hymn)

…Listening In…

Come, let us sing to the LORD; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation. (Psalm 95:1; context)

…Filling Up…

Today is the final day of the Guitar Case series and the last day of Devo180 before the summer hiatus. Appropriately, we are finishing it with a verse of praise. (Also, as a bonus, you can click here to see a picture of the guitar case in question. You’ll notice that I never finished the project and now I don’t really use this guitar much anymore. So I guess it is finished!)

Today’s verse begins one of the numerous psalms of praise found in the book of Psalms. We’ve talked a lot about the psalms of lament, so much so that you might have forgotten that those aren’t the only ones in the book. But there are – and psalms of praise are another sizable group.

Psalm 95 is a psalm of invitation, and that’s what makes it so special. Notice that it doesn’t start with “Sing to the LORD about such-and-such” as other psalms do. Rather, it begins with a wonderful word: “Come.” This is a special word in the lives of the people who knew Jesus well; he invited many of them with a similar statement: “Come and see.” He says, “Come unto me, all you who bear heavy burdens.” And this is a special word in our lives:

“Why don’t you come and hang out with us?”

“Is Mommy coming home soon?”

“Come on, (fill in local sports team here)!”

The word “come” is so special because it signals an invitation, a welcome, an opening to hospitality and new relationship. No wonder then, that this psalm is one of praise! “Let us sing to the LORD,” it continues. “Let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.” I can think of no better invitation to offer than one that brings new people into the joy of singing to the LORD.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the rock of my salvation and the joy of my song. Help me to open myself up to new relationships and accept invitations from those who invite me into their lives. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, but I take with me your word, which settles deep in my soul and speaks life into my being.