July 3, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the next 15 days we will be reading through the Psalms of Ascent together as a church! The Psalms of Ascent are a collection of 15 psalms (Psalms 120-134) that pilgrims would sing on their way up to Jerusalem to worship. These songs are meant to instruct and prepare the hearts of the traveler to worship the Lord! As sojourners and aliens in this world, we too need to have our hearts prepared for and instructed in the worship of our God. Let\u2019s meditate on these psalms and allow the Spirit of the Lord to move us to true worship as we seek Him together!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a song of thanksgiving because of the victory the Lord has given His people, the deliverance He has shown them when there should have been none! The pilgrim journeying to worship in Jerusalem celebrates the Lord\u2019s deliverance from what was a seemingly hopeless situation. He expresses that they would have perished if it had not been for the Lord, but the Lord was with them and for them, and the Lord made a way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the story of every one of God\u2019s children. Our situation was hopeless; separated from God, dead in our sins, following the prince of the power of the air, under God\u2019s just wrath with no way to change our situation. But God stepped in and made a way for us through Jesus Christ! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.\u201d (Romans 5:6 NIV) Now we have been delivered and set free, just as the psalmist expresses in verses 6-7. We have been given the victory in Christ not because of anything we have done or anything good in us, but simply because God is for us, and every time we gather for worship we celebrate that victory! Let\u2019s remember today how hopeless our situation was apart from God\u2019s intervention and celebrate the victory and freedom which Christ has won for us today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n