Psalm 147:12-13
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
Welcome to our Covenant Worship.
The Apostle Paul says that He has made himself a servant of all. He served them with his life and even his death. In the same manner our Lord came to serve in His life and in His death. Paul’s service was actually part of his evangelistic mission. He writes in I Corinthians 9 that He became a servant so that He might win more to the gospel of grace. Servanthood becomes an apostolic method to win those outside of Christ. If this meant sacrificing his tradition, He did it. If it meant not eating meat, He did it. Why? Because He did it all for the sake of the gospel. The gospel was greater than his differences with the weaker brother. For Paul, if it did not violate the law of God, he would do it for the sake of the gospel. Can we be imitators of Paul as he imitated His Lord? Beloved, let us serve one another in the body, but let us serve those outside the body also. They are the ones in need of grace. Paul says: “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” Paul is so selfless that He wants everyone to embrace the blessings of the gospel. How selfless are we this morning?
Prayer: Teach us, O Lord to love your gospel and doing so, to live the life of a servant; the life of the cross, the life of your beloved Son who became a servant of us all by dying the death of the cross. In the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.
“Those do well that pray morning and evening in their families, those do better that pray and read the scriptures, but those do best that pray and read and sing the psalms.” – Philip Henry, Matthew Henry, The Life of Philip Henry, p. 75.
http://www.lifefebc.com/resources/Midis/psalter/psalm147_lancashire.mid
Psalm 147
1 Praise GOD! “Tis good
and pleasant,
And comely to adore;
2 Jehovah builds up Salem,
Her outcasts doth restore.
3 He heals the broken hearted,
And makes the wounded live;
4 The starry hosts He numbers,
And names to all doth give.
5 Our Lord is great and mighty;
His wisdom none can know;
6 The LORD doth raise the lowly
And sinners overthrow.
7 O thank and praise Jehovah!
Praise Him on harp with mirth,
8 The heav’n with clouds
Who covers,
And sends His rain on earth.
9 He clothes with grass the
mountains,
And gives the beasts their food;
He hears the crying ravens,
And feeds their tender brood.
10 In horse’s strength delights not,
Nor speed of man loves He;
11 The LORD loves all who fear Him,
And to His mercy flee.
12 O Salem, praise Jehovah,
Thy God, O Zion, praise;
13 For He thy gates has
strengthened,
And blessed thy sons with grace.
14 With peace He’ll bless thy
borders,
The finest wheat afford;
15 He sends forth His commandment,
And swiftly speeds His word.
16 Like wool the snow he giveth,
Spreads hail o’er all the land,
17 Hoarfrost like ashes scatters;
Who can His cold withstand?
18 Then forth His word He sendeth,
He makes His wind to blow;
The snow and ice are melted,
Again the waters flow.
19 The words that He has spoken
To Jacob He makes known;
His judgments and His statutes
To Is-ra-el has shown.
20 Not so to any nation
Did He His grace accord.
For they’ve not known His
judgments.
O do ye praise the LORD.
Tune: Lancashire
Trinity Psalter
Publisher: Crown & Covenant Publications
http://www.crownandcovenant.com/