“Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” (Psalm 111:1-4)
The Psalmist begins by giving thanks to God with all his heart along with the rest of the congregation. He then talks about the need for God’s wondrous works to be studied and remembered.
This is what church services are to be about.
We need to corporately come together to give thanks and praise to God for His wondrous works, including the greatest work of them all, our redemption. We then need to take time to study His word, which tells us of these marvelous works.
The Psalmist goes on to say that this is the food God has given to those who fear Him (verse 5), for His words are sure, true, and righteous (verses 7-8), and from them His covenant of redemption is established (verse 9).
He ends saying, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” (Psalm 111:10)
In our time together we need to invite the Holy Spirit into our gathering, for He’s the One who illuminates and enlightens our minds to God and His wondrous truths and works.
We are to stay true to His word, and give thanks with the whole of our heart for what He’s done. Therefore, the Holy Spirit and God’s word need to be intertwined in everything we do, from our worship, giving, and study of God’s word.
As the writer of Hebrews tells us, let’s not forsake this time together in our corporate worship, because we need it now more than ever (Hebrews 10:25).
Dennis Lee is the senior pastor of Living Waters Fellowship at 211 West 1st South, suites C-D, behind ACE Hardware. Sunday service times are 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Visit our webpage at http://www.mesquitelivingwaters.com.
