Praise the Lord! The Lord has been good to us throughout our life so far and, therefore, we are called to sing and praise and worship Him and proclaim His holy name and tell of His wonderful acts, as it is written in Psalm 105:1-5, the Scripture passage we chose for our SftW meditation this week. Psalm 105 focuses on a various of subject-matters related to God’s faithfulness in the lives of His chosen people Israel, such as: an invitation to worship the Lord God Almighty (Vs. 1-4); reminding the later generations the covenant the Lord God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Vs. 6-15); tells us the way God prepared Joseph from being a shepherd in the land of Canaan to the ruler of Egypt (Vs. 16-22; also refer to Genesis 37:1); narrates the way the Lord delivered the Israelites from Egypt through Moses and his brother Aaron and by sending plagues and with silver and gold (Vs. 23-38); and how the Lord God had led and guided them with His presence [in the form of cloud during daytime and pillar of fire at night] (Vs 38-39); and the way God provided for them with food and water throughout their wilderness journey [quail and water from the rock] (Vs. 39-45); and, so on. The passage we chose for our meditation this week (105:1-5) focuses on a variety of matters. For instance, as faithful followers of Christ our Lord and Savior, while being thankful and grateful to the Lord for all that He has done for us so far in life, we are commanded to (i) give thanks with a gratitude of heart for everything the Lord has done for us; (ii) praise and worship the Lord our God; and (iii) proclaim holy name of our God; which need to be done with music and singing because everything the Lord has done in the universe, particularly for us and for the rest of the humanity are marvelous and wonderful. As God’s understanding has no limit as the Creator of the universe and everything in it (Deuteronomy 29:29; Psalm 145:3; 147:5; Romans 11:33) and our understanding has limitations as created beings (Job 11:7; John 13:7; Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 8:2; 13:9), it is very difficult for us to understand all that the Lord has done in the universe as its Creator, especially for the humanity ever since they were created in the likeness and image of Him.

The reasons the Psalmist invites us to praise and worship the Lord with a grateful heart while remembering all that the Lord has done for us is that He is the One who created everything we see, hear, smell, touch, taste and experience is created by Him and He is the One who hold everything together by His power, as Apostle Paul stated: He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17; also refer to Genesis 1:1-2:3; Nehemiah 9:6; John 1:3; Hebrews 1:3a, 10). The Lord alone is holy and majestic and powerful and glorious and gracious and compassionate and loving and rich in His mercy to save us from eternal condemnation. Apostle Paul stated while writing to the believers in Ephesus: God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ [by grace you have been saved] (Ephesians 2:4-5). There is none but God alone is our savior (Isaiah 43:11; 45:5a; Hosea 3:4). When we are physically or spiritually weak and tired, He is the One who strengthen us with His power (Deuteronomy 1:31; Psalm 46:1; Isaiah 41:10; 46:4; Ephesians 6:10; Philippians 4:13). Therefore, let us look to Lord and His strength and seek His face in all life situations , as it is mentioned: Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always (Psalm 105:4). Let us again read the Scripture passage we chose for our meditation (Psalm 105:1-5) to analyze and study and meditate it in order to strengthen our spiritual walk with the Lord our God:

• • Give praise to the Lord (105:1a)
  • Proclaim the name of the Lord (105:1b)
  • Make known among the nations what the Lord has done. (105:1c)
  • Sing to the Lord (105:2a)
  • Sing praise to the Lord (105:2b)
  • Tell of all His wonderful acts (105:2c)
  • Glory in His holy name (105:3a)
  • Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice (105:3b)
  • Look to the Lord (105:4a)
  • Look to the Lord’s strength (105:4b)
  • Seek His face always (105:4c)
  • Remember the wonders the Lord has done (105:5a)
  • Remember the miracles He has performed (105:5b)
  • Remember the judgments He pronounced (105:5c)

Dear friends in the Lord, as we come to the close of our this week’s meditation, it is time to acknowledge the Lord our God and be grateful and faithful to Him for His faithfulness toward us. Let us thank Him, praise Him, worship Him, and seek Him in every life-situations we go through during our earthly. The similar way the Psalmist invites his readers/hearers to worship the Lord with singing and tell of all his wonderful acts and seek His face at all times (105:1-5), Apostle Paul also encourages his readers/hearers to be filled with the Holy Spirit and worship the Lord with psalms and hymns and music and songs, as it is mentioned: Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:18b-20). As the Lord remains faithful to us and always keep His promises to us, let us rededicate our life once again to praise and worship and serve Him and Him alone. May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!