Give it all You’ve got, today.

Sunday   10-04-15  Leon, Spain

Scripture reading:    Esther 1-2    Ps 150    Luke 17

S=Scripture O=Observation A=Application P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Ps 150  Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord!  Praise him in his Temple and in the heavens he made with mighty power.   Praise him for his mighty works. Praise his unequaled greatness.  Praise him with the trumpet and with lute and harp. Praise him with the drums and dancing. Praise him with stringed instruments and horns.  Praise him with the cymbals, yes, loud clanging cymbals.  Let everything alive give praises to the Lord! You praise him!  Hallelujah!  TLB

O.  The final... closing psalm tells us how to do it... just in case anybody has missed the point of the other 149 psalms. 

A.  So if I am going to church this morning, which, of course I am... I must give it all I’ve got!  I should go at it like I mean it.  My praise for God, My Creator, must rise from the depths of my heart.  And the birds of the air and the great whales of the sea will join in the chorus.

Drummers are fun to watch when they really get into it.  Their whole body is jumping on that little stool called a throne.  Sweat is pouring from their brow.  They can knock your ears deaf from 300 feet.  And since I am hopeful of keeping my hearing for several more years if possible, I prefer to watch them worship through a transparent enclosure J.  And in case there is none... I carry wax ear plugs.  I love to hear them, but my ears are no longer able to handle the decibels.

P.  Lord God, Creator of this marvelous universe, You gave us sound and the delicate ability to detect it.  You placed within me something that causes me to rejoice when the music well performed from the heart.  You also gave me the desire to sing and make instruments sing to You.  It is Your wonderful world of sound.  I have a dear friend that has lost her hearing, but she still can hear music in her soul... and I know that the singing of her heart is heard by You in heaven.  My voice is weaker than it used to be, but may I praise You with all I’ve got today!... For You are worthy.  Amen.

Ralph