Grace CRC Midweek Devotion: Week Twelve

Scripture: Read Psalm 98

Devotion – “Finding Jesus in the Psalms” from The Worship Initiative: In Psalm 98
the sea itself roars and then all the things in the sea roar along with it. The rest of the world and every single thing that lives in it join in. The rivers clap their hands. Can you imagine rivers clapping their hands? The mountains and hills get in on this too. They lift their voices together in a harmony and range more incredible than we can begin to fathom. Strike up the band! Come enter in! Everything we could imagine, and things we could never imagine, come together in a curtain-closing, everlasting jollification of maximum joy. Why? Because Jesus has come back, for good.

The hope of all the earth has finally become reality. That which all the earth has seen from afar, through the ups and downs of a fallen world, through the fog that is our fallen lens, is now standing right before us in the person of Jesus, our resurrected and returned King. He has come back. His kingdom is here, and His reign is final. This is the hope of Psalm 98. It looks forward to the end of time as we’ve known it. It looks forward to the day when all evil is ended, the day when the wicked are judged and banished — the day when all the rescued sinners for whom Jesus died are gathered together to celebrate the victory of God. It would be a day, as the saints of old used to dream, when all the ends of the earth would see the salvation of our God. They knew, sooner or later, it was coming, and the Messiah would usher it in. What they knew by faith, we know by name. Jesus the King.

Jesus is the Lord who has come, and will come again in the end. Jesus is the King so true that one day every knee will bow before Him. He’s a King so good that in His presence we find the fullness of joy. He’s a King so gentle that He gives rest to the burdened, the King so fierce that He will crush the wicked with His word, the King so humble that He gave up His rights for the undeserving.

Trustworthy is His name. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. He’s so near that right now, even in this very moment, our lives are actually hidden in His. He’s a king so loving that He suffered and died for all the Father chose.  Jesus is a King so holy — so different from us — that although we have rebelled against Him, although we have sinned against Him, He took our sins upon Himself and suffered for them in our place. Jesus is a King so undefeatable that though He died and was buried, He was raised from the dead and is ascended, and at this moment, He is alive and real. He changes everything. Sing praises now because of what Jesus has already done, and because of what He is yet to do. Sing now and remember that we will sing forever, with all the earth, because Jesus is our coming King and He will reign for ever and ever.

Reflect

• Attribute: Psalm 98 is about Jesus, our Savior. However, as you read the psalm, look for an attribute of God. Worship Him for who He is and for His amazing plan of redemption through His son.
• Pray: Make your prayer today be a song of worship! Let your voice join the angels and the saints that have gone before you. Imagine what it will be like to hear the roaring of the ocean and the rivers clapping in jubilation as the one and only King returns to His rightful place.
• One Kind Act: Put your joy on and share it with someone else. Let someone in your life see your delighted presence or hear your elated voice. Tell them why even in the face of our serious times, you are celebrating! “…for He has done marvelous things;…”.