Great Plains Daily Devotional for 11/13/2018

Psalm 113

Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord;
    praise the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord
    from this time on and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens.

Who is like the Lord our God,
    who is seated on high,
who looks far down
    on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust,
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
    making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

Several years ago, as I was reading through the book of Psalms as my daily scripture reading, I decided to start a log of every Psalm that had words or phrases which I recognized from a hymn or contemporary Christian song. Considering that Psalm means songs, I was surprised how many phrases from the Psalms were used in the music of the faith.

Words from Psalm 113:3 appear in the chorus of “Rising,” a song by Paul Baloche. “From the rising of the sun till the sun goes down, let the name of the Lord be praised.” The chorus goes on “From the sky to the depths, from the east to the west, we give you praise.” I love how this song reminds me that praise to God can and should be offered up all day long, no matter where I am.

Interestingly, the rest of the verses from the Psalm do not show up in the song. There are probably lots of reasons, but it could be that the last verses are more challenging for us to make sense of. How is it that God raises people from the dust and the ash heap to sit among the leaders? Oh, that every woman longing to have a child would find herself surrounded by children’s laughter. When will this happen, we might wonder.

The second verse of "Rising” is :
               We’re gathered to go out to cities and towns
               We’ll take Your Name into the nations
               Shining Your light in the darkest place
               People of God, in the power of God,
               For the Kingdom of God, we live

Maybe it is possible that if we faithfully went out to cities and towns and nations, shining the light of God and really living out what it means to be children of God, the world as we know it could be the place where the downtrodden are lifted up.

Prayer for Reflection

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17
Psalm 127 or Psalm 42
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-77