Psalm 134:2. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.
Well hello there mih lovelies! It’s a new day –Sunday –the day of the Lord, when we gather in His sanctuary to praise, worship, give thanks and glorify His Holy Name!
And all God’s children boldly declared: ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord who hath blessed us with all good things!’
Yes Friends, as usual, today will be filled with a whole new slew of blessings and mercies from our magnificent and majestic God! Thus His people joyfully proclaim: ‘This is the day the Lord has made. We WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’
Ah mih breddren, what a wonderful God we serve! Who else would still fill our coffers with mercy and forgiveness in spite of our less than exemplary service and obedience eh? Nobody else Friends, nobody else! That just goes to show how much He LOVES us and desires a personal relationship with each and every one of us.
It’s just like and earthly family, where the parents provide for and look after the children, nourish, protect and LOVE them, but not always unconditionally like our God LOVES us. That’s the big difference! Our God will never turn His back on any of His children. We are the ones who stray, who walk away from Him.
But yuh know what? Whenever we choose to return to His wonderful and LOVING fold, He is always there to welcome us back with open, outstretched arms and wrap us in a big bear hug, gently whispering in our ear how much He missed us and how glad He is that we’ve come back home.
Ah mih people, what a glorious Father we have in heaven! It’s just like the parable of the Prodigal Son that Jesus told.
So now that we’ve established what a great and magnanimous Deity we worship, let’s put on our Sunday-best and get ourselves out to the sanctuary and fellowship with other believers. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a big sprawling fancy church building, or an old wooden shack, because it’s not the building that matters, but the people within it.
And please note that dressing up to go to church is not to incite envy and jealousy from your fellow believers, as so many of us do, (smile) but as a mark of respect and appreciation to Almighty God, though He doesn’t really care so much about our dress, but more the state of our hearts.
Now let’s check out Psalm 134, from which our Bit comes. It’s an exhortation to praise. And according to the scholars it’s ‘apparently antiphonal: the people call on the priests to bless the Lord (vv. 1-2); the priests respond by pronouncing a blessing on the people (v.3).’
So let’s get on with it my people: ‘Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.’ (Ps.134:1-3)
Yes Friends, it’s short, but certainly to the point!
Now hear how Bruh Paul puts it to Timothy: ‘I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.’ (1 Tim.2:8) That’s certainly a wonderful idea, my brethren!
And the scholars have this to say about that verse. ‘2:8. I will…that men pray every where (or, “I intend…that men in every locality pray”): The Greek word andres means “males.” Men are to lead audibly in public prayer; women are to pray silently.
This directive remains the same “in every locality,” geography being no factor. The manner in which men are to pray is that of lifting up holy hands, that is, with a pure life, which is without wrath and doubting (disputes).’
And though women now conduct public prayers, the requirement for doing so is still the same; without anger, resentment and disputes. As Bruh David says so wisely in Psalm 133; the joy of brotherhood: ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!’ (Ps.133:1)
Oh my brethren that is gospel truth, and what Jesus desires of His followers here on earth. But unfortunately that unity doesn’t exist in Christ’s earthly body, His church, as strong and prevalent as it ought to. There is still too much dissension, disagreement, resentment, envy and jealousy in the church.
We’re supposed to all come under one umbrella, that of the Lord God Jehovah, with pure and humble hearts and clean spirits, all for the purpose of worshipping, of fellowshipping, of exhorting and encouraging and teaching each other, so that we can stay strong and grow, become mature in Christ and spread the good news of his gospel through the living example of our lives.
But obviously that’s not happening, hence the poor view that so many unbelievers have of Christians and the sad state of our very troubled and strife filled world. Every day I hear about the hypocrisy with which we are viewed. And I dare say Friends, that if we, as Christians had a better testimony amongst the heathen, our world would definitely not be as war torn and strife filled.
Please remember that we are the ones Jesus is depending on to bring the world to Him, to salvation and eternal life. And if we falter on the job, then numerous souls will miss out on the good things that Christ died for them to have, meaning His tragic and very painful death would have all been in vain.
Oh my people, we can’t allow that to happen. So please let’s get our act together nuh, let’s clean up whatever we need to, so that when we go out into the world, others will notice a difference in us; that the light of Jesus is truly shining through us, that we’re truly the salt of the earth, and they will want to become like us, for remember that examples work more forcibly on the human mind than words.
Remember too, Jesus’ last directive to the disciples, the Great Commission, of which we are now the recipients: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
Let’s concentrate and ponder on that today nuh Friends, truthfully considering how we are individually obeying Christ’s directive, and then let’s invoke the Lord’s help to improve our obedience to it. For if we don’t improve, our world will sink even deeper into the evil morass in which it’s now wallowing. Heavenly wisdom is desperately calling for us to respond favourably. Much LOVE!
…it’s all about truly LOVING our God… sincerely LIVING our Faith…and diligently SPREADING His word…
SCRIP-BITS 