Days 20 and 21 Summer Psalms 96-105

Why am I writing this blog again? It started as a way of "overcoming", but now I know that I am writing it for other reasons and one of them is to "prepare." Am I prepared for anything, really? Rejection, confrontations, physical pain, grief, death, etc.? These psalms are giving me more insight into preparing for life's unexpected tribulations even in how to prepare for the final tribulation.

The Psalms of David 96 through 100 speak of the second coming of Christ and in them David gives some key instructions for "preparing":

Psalm 96: 2-3, "Sing to the Lord, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations."
Psalm 97: 12, "Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to His holy name."
Psalm 98: 4-6, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praise to the Lord with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King!"
Psalm 99: 5, "Extol the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is He!"
Psalm 100:4,  "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him, bless His name!

In summary, David's instructions to "prepare" for the second coming are full of fun stuff! All we have to do is sing to God in praise, bless Him, worship Him, extol Him, and thank Him. We are asked to be joyful and rejoice in our reverence of Him. David does not mention a bit of hard work in our "preparation". Nothing about singing and rejoicing to the Lord sounds difficult. So why is "preparing" a problem for so many? The answer lies in the next psalm. In psalm 101, we learn what not to do if we wish to enter the kingdom of God and in what "not to do" is where being prepared may become a bit demanding for many:

Psalm 101: 4-5, "Perverseness of heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil. Him who slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. The man of haughty looks and arrogant heart, I will not endure. 
Psalm 101: 7, "No man who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no man who utters lies shall continue in my presence."

The harsh reality of Psalm 101 may frighten many, and I believe it is meant to do so. We should fear the consequences of slander, haughtiness, arrogance, deceit, and lies; but not only that, we should also fear losing the prize rewarded for being prepared. In Psalm 103, however, as sinners all, we learn something about our great Redeemer and His love for us that should give us hope:

Psalm 103: 10-13, "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear Him;as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father pities those who fear him."

These verses are the Bible's greatest relief, they are like Ibuprofen for the soul. Simply said, despite the reality that we are all sinners, feeling unprepared, we still have a chance to enter the kingdom of God and it's nothing we have to do; it's purely because He loves us! Alleluia, God truly is awesome!

Psalm 104 is a great example of praising the Lord. If "preparing" because praise, worship, blessing, and thanking are too challenging, just read this psalm. It is a litany of praising God for all the wonderful things He has made for us: the clouds, wind, earth, water, sea, mountains, valleys, hills, rocks, animals, birds, fruit, grass, cattle, plants, wine, oil, bread, cedar and fir trees, goats, sun, moon, seasons, night, day, sea, lions, etc.

Psalm 105 continues the worship by remembering all of the miracles God performed for Moses to lead His people out of Egypt: He sent darkness to the land of Egypt, turned their waters into blood which caused their fish to die, He sent swarms of frogs, flies, and gnats, He pounded the land with hail and lightening, He shattered the vines and fig trees, He infested the land with locusts which devoured the vegetation, and He wiped out all of the first born of the unbelievers. Psalm 105 also praises God for sending bread from heaven for His people to eat as they wandered the desert and opening rocks with gushing water for them to drink. Hence, when at a loss for words of praise, open up to psalms' 104 and 105, read the verses aloud, and let them resonate within your heart.

The psalms truly do help us "overcome", but more importantly they give us the formula to "prepare", and the time to start is now. If we put down whatever it is we are doing and begin our own litany of praise, sing it or shout it, but do so joyfully, exulting His Holy Name, that's all there is to it! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, our God is an awesome God!