110914 - Psalm 111-113 - those who take delight in God's works study them

S: Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the LORD is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
(Psalm 111:2-8)

O: The LORD's works are "studied by all who delight in them." Wonderful, full of splendor and majesty, revealing His faithfulness, grace and power.

A: The Psalms give the believer a structure for praise: consider how God's works are calculated to show His character. We who delight in God's works should be the first to study them. To collect evidences of His greatness in every respect.

One tragedy of the worldview watershed division of Christendom over the past century has been the polarization over this general revelation of the glory of God. From the perspective of a naturalistic assumption, "modernists," or theological liberals, proclaim that everything miraculous in the Bible is suspect - and slouch toward deism or agnosticism. From the perspective of a supernatural assumption, "fundamentalists," or conservative evangelicals, trust the Bible. Yet there is some truth to the criticism that there's a slouch toward anti-scientific, anti-intellectualism among Bible-believers. There has also been failure on both sides to continue diplomatic overtures towards each other.

There is no disharmony between God's general and special revelation: God's people today should be in the forefront, as they once were, of scientific discovery--because science, rightly so called, (see 1 Timothy 6:20, KJV), reveals the power, wisdom, mercy, graciousness, justice, righteousness, faithfulness, splendor, majesty and greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

P: Lord, as your Word says, there is no speech or language in which your works do not praise your name day after day, night after night. Let your people better study your works to give deeper structure to our praise and our evangelism.

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Why "SOAP?" See http://www.enewhope.org/firststeps/journaling

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