A SIMPLE VERSE OF PRAISE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.”

Jeremiah 20:13

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Much of the Book of Jeremiah is wrapped around three major themes.

The first is that God’s people had willingly chose to sin against Him by worshipping the false gods and idols He abhorred. Their blatant disobedience, disrespect, and disregard incited God’s wrath and resulted in the second main theme: God’s judgment.

God will not allow the sins of His people to go unaddressed. It was true in Old Testament times and it’s still true today. If we want to go down the road of intentionally turning to sin, rejecting God’s offer of righteousness, then we had better stand by to receive the negative consequences that comes along with that decision and as the Israelites found out, those consequences were harsh. In their case, the destruction of their homeland as the attacking Babylonians laid waste to Judah and Jerusalem, leaving them in ruins, before hauling off God’s people into seventy years of captivity. Insubordination toward God will always lead to His punishment and discipline coming on the perpetrators of that insubordination.

So what is the third major theme?

It revolves around God’s other side, the anti-judgment part of God. For as much as God is a God of judgment, He is also a God of mercy and grace and forgiveness and love. He is a God that corrects but He is also a God who renews and restores.

In the case of the Israelites, yes, they suffered through seventy years of exile but God had promised a day when that suffering would end and they would be allowed to return home to rebuild their lives, their homes, and their faith. And as we know, God perfectly kept His promise as He does all His promises, using the Persian army to overthrow the Babylonians and once they were in power, God used the Persian king to facilitate the release of His people.

It’s this last theme that we find at the center of today’s scripture, a single verse of praise from Jeremiah 20 that serves to give us respite from the ongoing discussion of sin and punishment to allow us to praise God for His great goodness. Look again at these words here:

Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.”  Jeremiah 20:13

It’s just one simple verse but it speaks volumes about the God who loves His people dearly, a God who wants the best for all His children.

The scriptures command us to sing to the Lord and give Him praise but none of us should have to be commanded to do so. We should pour out our praise to God as easily as we breathe in and out, as surely as our heart beats. He and He alone is worthy of our praise. No one is as deserving because no one else is God and able to what He can do.

So what does He do that makes Him so praiseworthy?

Our simple verse of praise tells us:

“He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.”

When we face enemies and adversaries to our faith in life, He is our refuge and help, our very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). In our deepest times of trouble and need, He is there and able to rescue us from any and all circumstances, even sin and death.

Indeed, while we were still sinners and destined for doom and destruction, God sent His Son to die in our place, to bear the penalty for sin that should have been on us (Romans 5:8). And He did it all out of love and a desire to want to share life with us forever.

Friends, through Jesus Christ, we have been rescued from the clutches of wickedness and the grave, pardoned and justified by the shed blood of the holy and precious Lamb of God who came take away the sins of the world.

Through Him, we have peace.

Through Him, we have hope.

Through Him, we have life, now and forever.

Thus, today and every day, let us sing and give praise to the Lord for He is good and His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 118:29).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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