Week 51: Psalms 145-147
Questions: Psalms 145-147
- From Psalm 145:4, consider to whom you could commend the works of the Lord and declare God’s mighty acts. What would you tell them? Take a moment to use your “mouth to speak the praise of the Lord” (from verse 21,) and what do you think it would look like to “let all (your) flesh bless his holy name.”
- Psalm 146:3 says not to put your trust in princes, but (v.5) hope in God. Do you entrust yourself to the Creator of the world or to men? Take some time to repent of not trusting God fully and ask Him to give you great confidence and faith in Him and Him alone.
- Psalm 147: List the many wonderful works of the Lord that are listed in this psalm. Which ones are especially meaningful to you right now? Why? Take a moment to praise God for His goodness.
Devotion
For Future Generations
Things are worse than ever before! Or, at least, it's easy to think this way. Just scroll through your feed or watch the evening news, and you'll find discouragement everywhere: high prices, conflict, crime. Of course, we know that our hope lies in Jesus and not in this fallen, broken world, and that’s Good News! A recent report by the Barna Research Group may give us additional hope for the future.
In their research, Barna found encouraging data among our youngest generations, Millennials and Gen Z. In their findings, they discovered that these two age groups are increasing both in Bible reading and church attendance. The research showed that 49% of Gen Z and 50% of Millennials read their Bible weekly. There was also a significant increase in monthly church attendance among these two age demographics. While this data is encouraging, it still requires us to invest in younger generations not just to read God's word, but to understand it correctly and live it out faithfully.
In Psalm 145:4, in fact, we see that God has an expectation that we pour into the younger age groups: “One generation will commend your works to another; They will tell of your mighty acts” We are to be actively engaged with our younger generations, teaching them what the Lord has done, in our own households, in our church, and in our community.
With that settled, the question becomes what to teach them? Thankfully, what follows after verse 4 in Psalm 145 (along with Psalm 146 and 147) is a pretty good list of what we need to share about God with the next generation. He is the Creator of all things (146:6). He is gracious and compassionate (145:8). He is our source of help and hope (146:5). He delights in His children (147:11) He provides all we need (145:15) He administers justice (146:7). And the list goes on and on!
Pray that the Lord would give you the opportunity to share what He has done with younger generations so that their mouths “will speak in praise of the Lord” (145:21)
- Gary Laird