Our Daily Scripture – 2/1/24 (Thu)

SCRIPTURE:  PSALM 66

MEMORY VERSES:

“Shout with joy to God, all the earth!  Sing the glory of his name! make his praise glorious!  Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!  So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.” (Psalm 66:1-3)

“Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf!” (Psalm 66:5)

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;” (Psalm 66:18)

PSALMIST’S INVITATION:

  1.  Come and see what God has done. (v. 5)
  2.  Come and rejoice in Him. (v. 6)
  3.  Come with burnt offering to His temple and fulfill your vows to Him. (v. 13)
  4.  Come and listen to the testimony of how God heard my prayer. (v. 16)

HOW THE PSALMIST PRAISED GOD:

  1.  Shout with joy to God. (v. 1)
  2.  Sing glory of his name. (v. 2)
  3.  Say to the Lord: “How awesome are your deeds!  And so great is your power. (v. 3)

AWESOME WORKS OF GOD TO MANKIND:

  1.  He turned the sea into dry land and they passed through the waters on foot. (v. 6)
  2.  He rules forever by his power; his eyes watch the nations. (v. 7)
  3.  He preserved their lives and kept their feet from slipping. (v. 9)
  4.  He tested man and refined him like silver. (v. 10)
  5.  He brought men who went through fire and water to a place of abundance. (v. 12)

WHAT THE PSALMIST DID:

  1.  He came to his temple with burnt offerings and fulfill his vows to God. (v. 13)
  2.  He sacrificed fat animals to God with an offering of rams, bulls and goats. (v. 15)
  3.  He cried out to him with his mouth and praise on his tongue. (v. 17)
  4.  He praised God for not rejecting his prayer or withholding his love. (v. 20)

THOUGHTS:

God tests us to refine us like silver.  He let us go through fire and water but he will bring us to a place of abundance. (v. 10-12)

Any vows made to God must be fulfilled.  God always keeps his promise so that we have to follow his example to keep our vows.

Since we are born with sinful nature, we tend to harbor and cherish certain sins.  God listened to the prayers of the Psalmist because he did not cherish sin in his heart.  Confession of sin is essential for God to listen to our prayers.  True confession requires us to stop doing what is wrong and obeying God’s word.