Recent Devotions | Devotion Archive

Devotions

Praise, Thanks and Glory to God

Psalm 117:1-2
"Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD."

In this, the shortest of the psalms, we find an expression of complete thanks, praise, and glory to God. All nations, everyone, is called to sing hallelujahs to the Lord for all that He has done for His people in Israel. God’s great love and faithfulness to His children can be seen throughout all of history. They are called to give praise and thanks to the God who created them and sustains them in all of life, the God who led them out of Egypt to the promise land.

But the psalm goes on from there. God does not just free them from the bondage of Egypt, lead them to the promise land and leave them. No, his love and faithfulness endures forever. The people are encouraged and directed to give thanks to God for all that He has done, especially His promise of the Messiah given to Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jacob and Isaac – the promise of the Messiah who would free them from the bondage of their sin, death and the devil.

Of course, that Messiah promised of old is Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. God is faithful to the promise He gave to His people as He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price for the sins of the whole world by shedding his blood on the cross in place of all mankind. Jesus, who suffered, was scorned and shamed, died also for us that we too might be freed from the bondage of our sins, from death and the devil. And this same Jesus, who rose victorious over death, comes to us today in Word and Sacrament to lead us to the promised land – eternal life with God in heaven. The Holy Spirit works through the gifts of God’s Word and Sacraments to bring us to faith in Jesus as our Savior. He sustains us in this faith so that as we walk through this life we, as the saints of old, hold onto the promise of eternal life with God through Christ Jesus.

We too are called to give praise, thanks and glory to God for all that He has done for us. He daily provides us with all that we need for this body and soul. We can never thank Him enough and with all the angels and saints in heaven we too sing hallelujah to our Savior, Lord and King. His love and faithfulness endures forever.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you always. Amen.