Being Thankful With our "Whole Heart" (Psalm 138)

I was flipping through my Bible in search of a passage the other night and stumbled upon notes on a passage I don't remember making. Upon investigating closely, I had written notes all over Psalm 138. What follows are notes and reflections put together to share.  I feel God brought me back to this passage for reasons only He knows. Hope it encourages you.

David introduces Psalm 138 this way- "I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;" He was giving thanks to the Lord!  Notice with his "whole heart."  David said he would even do it before the "gods." This is simply a phrase referring to rulers who are in a sense little gods. Psalm 95:3 and 96:5 are perfect examples of the use of the term "god" in the Psalms to refer to rulers. Before all kings God is worthy of praise for He is greater than any king! This brings us into the first thing David gives thanks for.

He was thankful for God's name.

I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness - Psalm 138:2

He gives thanks to God's name (who He is at His core) because of His steadfast love and faithfulness.  This would draw us back to the words of God to those in Exodus. God's faithfulness is not something He gives, but it something He is. He is thanking God for being who He is. He also thanks God for what He has done.  He is thanking God for His character, which means he must have had something to inform this understanding.  God's word was what informed it.

What Does it Mean to be Filled with the Spirit?

Photo Credit and Helpful Blog Via Cripplegate

So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;  always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;  and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. – Ephesians 5:18-21 (NASB)


     What does it mean to be “filled with the Spirit”?  Many have given attempts to answer this question, but often I find the answer is not found using the Scriptures but subjective experience.  Often the Holy Spirit of God has been put in a box to be nothing more than a “warm fuzzy” which seems to only come when the slow songs are playing, and on the 6^th repetition of the bridge.  "We can unleash Him, we just have to get the situation right."  "We just have to set the mood."  But, according to the Scriptures, we have it reversed.  Being “filled with the Spirit” is not produced by our Sunday gatherings, but our being filled with the Spirit produces our Sunday gatherings!

What Window Blinds can Teach us about Corporate Worship

"Also for the house he made windows with artistic frames." - 1 Kings 6:4

The windows in the temple of God communicate much to us about worship.  First, we know based on how other translations rendered this verse, they are "latticed","beveled" or "recessed" (i.e. the windows of the temple have blinds!).  What does God's interior decorating teach us?  First and foremost,worship must be functional.  The blinds serve a basic purpose, light the sanctuary so the priests can work.  So whatever is done in corporate worship must be done for a purpose, so the people of God (priests)  may do the work they are meant to do (the meaning of liturgy is “public- work”). What is our work?  Our work is to worship God through proclaiming the Gospel.  All of a worship service is about the Gospel: from the songs we sing (Col. 3:16),to the ordinances  we observe (Roman 6, 1 Cor. 11:23-34), to the sermon that is preached (Luke 24:44).  Our worship must function for the end of proclaiming the Gospel.