P119C – Day 164
Gentle Reader,
Today’s Verse:
“Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.”- Psalm 119:164
Point to Ponder:
We Protestants are too afraid of tradition. After all, religious tradition must be empty. Worse yet, it smacks of Catholicism. The horror!
Look at the words of this verse. Seven times a day, the author writes. Specific times during the course of a 24-hour period to contemplate what God has done and to praise Him for it. This was part of the religious culture of ancient Israel; in fact, standard prayer times continue to be part of the routine of many Jews. Is this just an empty gesture?
Maybe. I happen to like the idea, however. What a lovely way of choosing to make time revolve around God. Imagine taking just a few minutes every couple of hours to pause and disconnect from the chaos to worship the Lord. How much more thankful might you be? How much less anxious? How beautiful and precious those intimate moments would be!
My world needs to become much less about me. So, I’m going to try this. Looking at the clock, I think I can take five minutes eight times a day, from rising in the morning to turning in at night, to specifically praise and worship God. Not to pepper Him with requests or to try and figure Him out. Just to say, “You’re amazing! I love you, too, Lord.”
Grace and peace to you,
Amen! I love it. You are right, in our freedom in Christ we take for granted our joy to commune with an awesome God. Maybe one day we will all understand what it means to “pray without ceasing”…live your prayers, breathe your prayers, and walk in them as a right to do so…
RIght on, sister! Thank you.
Strangely enough, as weird as it sounds, I really needed this right now, because “peppering” and “trying to figure Him out” is exactly what I’ve been doing, but when I get really honest, I know that what I really truly want to do–past the duty and drudgery that prayer sometimes feels like–is to adore Him because of who He is, plain and simple.