Praise and worship

Standing By Night

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Come bless the Lord all you servants of the Lord. Who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Psalms 134:1 ESV

Seeing our precious seniors braving the chilly afternoon to sing and pray was such an encouragement. Here is a video clip of our meeting along with two of the most classic songs of all time on praise. All Creatures of our God and King and The Doxology have echoed down through the centuries through times far more perilous than ours and serve as an example and encouragement. Let’s stand by night together and no matter what we face be sure to Bless the Lord!

All creatures of our God and King

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Oh, praise Him! Alleluia!

Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong, 
Ye clouds that sail in heav’n along,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou rising morn in praise rejoice, 
Ye lights of evening, find a voice,
O sing ye, O sing ye, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

And ev’ryone, with tender heart, 
Forgiving others, take your part,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
Sing praise and cast on God your care,
O sing ye, O sing ye, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

 Let all things their Creator bless, 
and worship God in humbleness,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
To God all thanks and praise belong!
Join in the everlasting song:
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Lyric poem by Saint Francis of Assisi 1225 (Canticle of the Sun)

William Draper paraphrase and music 1901

Come Bless the Lord

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Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
    who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Psalm 134:1

What can I say about today’s monthly outdoor worship at Sunshine Christian Retirement Village? It was cold (by Florida standards) and we were old! The breezy not quite 60 degree weather had us shivering between hymns – but God showed up! We sang, heard each other’s prayer requests and heard from the word. At the beginning of this New Year it seemed wholly appropriate to begin by singing A Mighty Fortress is Our God. Between chattering teeth, Luther’s classic hymn reminded us that opposition to the church is not unusual, in fact it has been standard operating procedure throughout the centuries.

Then we began the praise chorus from Psalm 134, “Come Bless the Lord.” In order to understand what the Psalmist wrote it is important to know that these servants were specifically chosen from the family of Asaph and their duty was both to guard and to give praise to the Lord in the temple both day and night. In this Psalm these musicians and guards had their duties at night, so maybe you could think of them as third shift worshipers!

Are you going through a dark third shift night in your life? Maybe during this time, God is giving you the opportunity to be one of his special servants who stand by night. Maybe your praise in the nighttime seasons gives God the opportunity to show others His grace and glory in a world that so desperately needs the light of the love of Jesus Christ. If you have not heard this little chorus I have posted a fun link to listen to. It is one of my favorites. God bless you and have a blessed Lord’s day as you stand both day and night in the house of the Lord!

Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth! Psalm 134: 2-3

Looking Ahead – Following Behind

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Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Mark 10:9

For those of you following my 12 gifts of Christmas series you might be wondering; “Aren’t we getting our 12th gift today?” Sorry! You cannot open your 12th gift until Christmas Eve! It is scheduled for noon tomorrow so have some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and be patient. I confess with my wife away caring for her sister I am sometime having an extra cookie right after breakfast! But enough family talk – let’s take a closer look at today’s verse.

Most of us connect Jesus’ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey to Palm Sunday and the Easter season But it is also a key here for every day; whether it is Christmas, Easter or the 4th of July. Remember Jesus teaches us to pray by starting with “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done.” And how else does His kingdom come but humbly riding in on a donkey every morning of our lives?

So as you begin your busy day, so close to Christmas, remember that This is still the – Day that the LORD HAS MADE. We can rejoice like those people did who went ahead of Jesus as He came riding into the city that morning 2,000 years ago. Just like them, we don’t know yet what Jesus might be doing today; but we can give him praise because we believe it will be great!

Then, tonight as we lay our heads on our pillows we can be like those other folks who followed behind Jesus and we can look back and say; “Hosanna! What a blessed day Jesus has given!” We will probably never understand all the details of His plan even for a single day. What we can do is to give Him praise as our day begins and ends. Have a blessed day! What you can give God praise for today?