Psalm 99:1 tells us this:
1THE LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble [with reverential fear]! He sits [enthroned] above the cherubim, let the earth quake!
The Lord is Yahweh or Jehovah! The Eternal Self-existing One! And He "reigns", the Hebrew word, "malak", which means: to fill the functions of ruler over someone. In THIS case, it means EVERYONE! He is the Head of the Army of Heaven, the Chief Executive of all of God the Father's business, the Head of His people (that's US!) and the final authority! No wonder the people tremble [with reverential fear]! Hallelujah! When we meditate on that, it's certainly NOT hard to obey verse 9!
9Extol the Lord our God and worship at His holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy!
To extol means to praise highly! I can't think of ANYONE more worthy of that kind of praise! AMEN!
Luke 11 has the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Do you think that it might be because they were continually seeing Jesus get HIS prayers answered? What Jesus gave them was NOT meant to be a prayer, but rather a format for praying! Whenever we approach the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible, we need to come with thanksgiving, praise and worship! Commit your work, your desires, your plans and purposes to Him, trusting Him with them! Forgive others and pray for them and expect God to lead your steps! AMEN!
In Deuteronomy 5-6, Moses is reminding the people of the Law and the 10 commandments. Then he tells them some of the most important and powerful things he has said up to this point. Deuteronomy 6:1-9:
1NOW THIS is the instruction, the laws, and the precepts which the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land to which you go to possess it,2That you may [reverently] fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, and keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.3Hear therefore, O Israel, and be watchful to do them, that it may be well with you and that you may increase exceedingly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.4Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord [the only Lord].5And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might.6And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then]7You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.8And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (forehead bands) between your eyes.9And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Then He reminds them again with verses 10-15:
10And when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you, with great and goodly cities which you did not build,11And houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and when you eat and are full,12Then beware lest you forget the Lord, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.13You shall [reverently] fear the Lord your God and serve Him and swear by His name [and presence].14You shall not go after other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are round about you;15For the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and He destroy you from the face of the earth.
THAT is the reason that Israel continually landed in sin and apart from fellowship with God. They FORGOT Who God was, what He had done for them, what He had promised them and what He had commanded them. They would go in to exile, finally repent of their actions, call on God and He would deliver them again! Don't YOU forget Who it is that has blessed you! That is one of the quickest ways to fall out of fellowship with Him! If you find yourself in that condition, REPENT! It only takes a moment to realize that God is right and you were wrong, ask for His forgiveness, pick yourself up and MOVE ON in obedience to His Word! Remember, His mercies are NEW every morning! (Lamentations 2:22-23)
Shalom in Him!
