Day of Praise

Tues, 08/23/16, "Day of Praise"

"So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it." - 2 Kings 25:1

Have you ever been surrounded?

Yesterday, I listened to multiple people at church who described what surrounded them. Most did so with tears in their eyes. And they weren't tears of joy. 

They felt surrounded by demands
Or disappointments
Or challenges
Or anxiety
Or a sense of unsettledness. 

And yet these were the same people who filled the sanctuary on Sunday to worship in a way that the sanctuary felt surrounded and filled by the presence of God.

This is why worshiping with others weekly is so important. 
Life comes at us, 
surrounds us, 
sometimes because of our own poor choices (as with King Zedekiah and the
whole people of Israel in today's Bible verse), 
sometimes because of the brokenness of the world, 
sometimes because of the evil in the world, 
sometimes because of...well, the possibilities are endless.

But the bottom line is this, worship is God's gift to us to hear again that God wants not our destruction but instead that God wants us to wake up and trust Him as our Shield, our Protector, our Sovereign, on Sunday, on Monday, on each day and moment that God grants us. 

This is why the psalmist is inspired to sing, "Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield." (Psalm 5:12)

If you're reading this, you're alive in this fallen, broken, sinful world on this day, which means that you're surrounded by the demands
and disappointments
and challenges
and anxiety
and unsettledness that go with the world.

But you're also surrounded by the LORD who "surrounds you with His favor as with a shield." (Psalm 5:12)

Worship Him this Wednesday and this Sunday but also today in each segment of your day by remembering Him, looking to
Him, calling on His name, listening for Him, trusting His word, walking in His truth, and encouraging others to do the same.

He will deal with all the ill that surrounds you...and He will surround you with His favor, His shield, and His peace.

Praise God!

Pastor Chris 
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson