Ps 149:2-5 "Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. 3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. 4 For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. 5 Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds." NIV
Do you rejoice in your Maker? DO you live with a sense of gratitude to the one who has created you? Most people live as if they were the one to thank for all of the good things that have come into their lives and yet God is the one to blame for all of the bad things. Psalm 149:2-5 is a call to celebrate the God who created us and from whom all blessings flow! “Praise his name with dancing and make music to him…” This is a statement of God’s worth and a celebration of His love! He has given us all that we have and made us all that we are. James exalts in his generosity in James 1:16-17 by saying “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” There is nothing good that we possess that did not find its inception in God. He may have chosen human channels to deliver it but He is the source! For this we give thanks. Because this is true we can celebrate!
The Psalmist continues his praise in verse four with one of the primary foundations of why we praise the Lord. There are many attributes in the person of God that can move the heart to praise Him and yet there are a few that stand above the rest. Verse four points to one of these. Why do we praise the Lord? “The Lord takes delight in His people!” Praise is a celebration of God’s pleasure! He delights in you! What a wonderful truth to build your life upon. He delights in you! This is reason for praise. He delights in you! We do not have to live in fear any more. Rejection cannot hold us down any more! We are God’s delight! The heart can sing for joy, knowing that God is smiling upon it! A son finds security in confidence for living when he looks into the face of his father and finds delight waiting for him! When my son looks my way and sees a joyful countenance he knows that he can do anything!!!!!!!! Paul lived in the power of this truth. He stated in Phil 4:13 “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Boldness for life comes through the strength that God provides through His Son Jesus Christ. When we look to Him and see his delight smiling over us the joy of God strengthens our hearts and we can do the impossible! Again Paul reflects this boldness in Rom 8:31 where he cries out in words of faith “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
God has given us the crown of his salvation. We are deserving of death and yet He chooses life. We are deserving of judgment and yet He chooses mercy. We are deserving of rejection and yet He chooses acceptance and forgiveness! This is God’s crowning glory. He has chosen love! He has chosen life! He has chosen us!!!! This is why we praise Him. This is why we celebrate Him! He has placed upon our lives the crowning glory of his name through the death of Christ on the cross. Jesus told his disciples John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” And then he demonstrated this love towards each one of us by laying down his life in death on the cross. This is the crown that has been given us, the crown of God’s friendship, the crown of God’s love! Wear that crown today with joy, knowing that you are the delight of God and that His is reaching out to you to empower you to live confidently in His glorious presence!
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