What does it mean to worship God?
What does it mean to praise God?
Worship and praise are words that we use all the time here in church.
They're words that we sing.
They're words that we read in our Bibles.
But what exactly are we talking about?
This morning we're going to look back to the words of David
to be reminded of what worship is all about.
We're in Psalm 103.
So if you have your Bible with you, please open it up to Psalm 103.
We will have some scriptures on the screen,
but here at the beginning it'll be easy to follow along
if you have it open in front of you.
We also have those black ones, Bibles, in the seats in front of you
if you left yours at home.
Psalm 103 is one of the most cherished Psalms in the Bible.
It's right up there with Psalm 23.
And for people who memorize Psalms,
this is one of the common ones to memorize.
Many Christians will tell you that they love this Psalm.
And we'll see why this morning.
Let me read it for us.
Of David.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
All my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
And forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger,
abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever.
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
For he knows how we are formed.
He remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass.
They flourish like a flower of the field.
The wind blows over it and it is gone.
And its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting,
the Lord's love is with those who fear him
and his righteousness with their children's children,
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
The Lord has established his throne in heaven
and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you, his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works,
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Now this Psalm of David is a little difficult
to divide up into sections
because there's a sense in which
it's all about one thing
from start to finish.
So we're gonna kind of trace out the flow
and if you're still looking at your Bible,
just kind of follow along here
as I touch on a few of these verses.
It begins in verse one with David saying,
praise the Lord, my soul.
And if you take a quick glance over verses one to five,
we see that David is here reflecting
on the various ways that God has been good
to him personally.
Then in verse six,
David expands this a little bit
and he reflects on how God has been good,
not just to him, but to all the oppressed.
Then in verses seven and eight,
he expands it again,
reflecting on how God has shown
his loving kindness to the whole nation,
all Israel, the people of Israel, to Moses.
In verses 13 to 18,
he reflects on God's father-like compassion
and the everlastingness of God's love for his people.
Then in verse 19,
it's about how God is sovereign,
ruling over all.
And then David ends by calling the angels
in all creation to praise God.
And finally, he calls his own soul,
once again, to praise the Lord.
He ends where he started.
So that's the flow of this psalm.
Now, let's dig into it a little bit
and learn what we can about what it means
to worship and praise God.
We'll start with the very first verses.
David says,
Praise the Lord, my soul.
All my inmost being praise his holy name.
So David begins with an imperative.
The word praise here is a command.
He's telling someone to praise the Lord.
Who is he telling to praise the Lord?
Now, this might sound strange to us,
but David is telling his own soul
to praise the Lord.
He's commanding his own inmost being
to praise his holy name.
So David is speaking to himself.
Now, you might think that you're weird sometimes
for talking to yourself,
but probably all of us do this from time to time.
David is doing it right here.
He's telling himself to praise God.
In verse 2,
he's telling himself not to forget
all the good things that God has given to him
and done for him.
And then the rest of this psalm
is basically just David
telling himself specifically
about all the good things
that God has done to him,
to the oppressed,
to Israel,
to those who fear God,
and remembering all of that
brings him back again to praise.
So as we look at these first couple verses here,
there's a few things to talk about.
Let's hit our main question
right on the head,
right here early on.
What does it mean to praise the Lord?
The word here for praise means to commend.
It means to acknowledge
something excellent about someone.
We could praise a child
for their good behavior.
We know how hard it is
for children to sit still
for a long time.
Where the other day,
as I was talking to my dad
about the thing with his eye,
I was sharing my highest regards
for my optometrist.
She's just awesome at what she does.
She stands out among doctors.
One of the best doctors
I've ever been to.
And so what I was saying
to my dad about her,
that was my praise for her.
We could praise a work of art.
Isn't that beautiful?
Look at the colors.
Look at the light.
Look at the way the artist did that.
And the key thing about praise
is that it has to have words.
I looked at praise in the dictionary,
the Canadian Oxford Dictionary,
the most modern one,
and it says this.
It says praise is to express approval
or admiration of.
And then the second definition given,
to glorify God in words.
So praise isn't praise without words.
Now, we might want to fight over this a little bit.
Isn't praise a feeling?
Can't I praise God without words?
Well, there's a sense in which,
yes, that's true.
But there is a distinction here.
That feeling of admiration,
that awe of God,
is what leads to praise.
It itself isn't praise.
It's the overflow
of that admiration,
of that awe of God in here
that gives rise to praise.
Think of going to a restaurant
and you're eating a tasty meal
and it was cooked just perfectly.
And inside,
you just have this appreciation
to the cook,
knowing that there's somebody
back there slaving away
in the kitchen
and he did it just right.
You feel thankful to the cook
for making it so good,
but you haven't actually thanked the cook
until you have said words to him.
That's true when it comes to praising God.
There has to be words.
Now, our praise doesn't have to be said out loud
because God,
he can hear our thoughts.
He knows the very things that we're thinking.
So we can praise God quietly
in our own minds,
in our own hearts.
But praise has to have words.
It has to be saying something to God
about who he is
or what he has done.
The next thing that we notice here
is where praise should come from.
David says,
Praise the Lord my soul,
all my inmost being.
Praise his holy name.
Have you ever come to church
and sang through all the songs,
but at the same time,
you felt like it was all
just coming out of here?
But not here.
David is a musician.
He's a singer,
songwriter,
harpist,
maybe one of the best in Israel,
hired by the king
to play for the king.
I'm going to guess that he knew
just how easy it is
to let skill
and habit
carry the performance
even when his heart wasn't in it.
How easy is it for us to do that?
To pray before the meal
because that's what we always do.
But are we really thankful to God
for the food that he has given us to eat?
And that's where I think this psalm gets real.
David doesn't just want to say
the right things about God.
He doesn't just want to sing another song
about God
if his heart's not in it.
He wants his praise and worship
to come out of that deepest part of him.
His soul.
His inmost being.
I love that phrase.
The deepest depths of who he is.
No holding back.
All my inmost being.
Not just some of it
but all of it.
No reservations.
Full flow.
Heartfelt praise.
And it's here that we maybe get a sense
that worship doesn't always come easily.
Sometimes it's a fight
to praise God from here
and not just here.
Look at verse 2.
David says
Praise the Lord my soul
and forget not
all his benefits.
Why does David tell himself
not to forget
the good things that God has given him
or done for him?
Because David has experienced this.
And probably all of us
have experienced it as well.
We so easily lose sight
of God's goodness.
to us.
We lose sight
of his love for us.
We get so focused in
on our circumstances
and things that are not going well in life
and stuff that's happening
out there in the world.
And we feel the pressures
and the stresses
and the problems
and we have these anxious thoughts
that just keep coming back.
And suddenly
it's like
when's the last time
I felt joy?
When's the last time
I just enjoyed
that reality
that God loves me?
We let all these
other things
crowd
the truth
of who he is
and how he loves us
out.
It's like we've forgotten
the goodness
and the kindness
of God.
So this is
David probably
in the midst
of some
circumstances
shouting at his soul
hey soul
listen
don't forget
all the ways
God has
given to you
his benefits
the good things
that he's done
don't forget
remember them
sometimes we need
to do this
we need to
sit ourselves
down
and give ourselves
a good spiritual
talking to
this is maybe
one of the most
neglected
spiritual disciplines
the one that's
least mentioned
in all the books
and from here on
David begins
to spell
them all out
all the benefits
of the Lord
he acknowledges
with words
the good things
God has done
this is his
praise
and he starts
with the things
that God has
done for him
personally
let's look at
this in verses
3 to 5
praise the Lord
my soul
and forget
not all his
benefits
who forgives
all your sins
and heals
all your diseases
who redeems
your life
from the pit
and crowns
you with love
and compassion
who satisfies
your desires
with good things
so that your
youth
is renewed
like the
eagles
what's the
first benefit
that comes
to David's
mind
he has
forgiven
all
my sins
and then
from there
he has
healed
all
my
diseases
now we
don't even
know what
David's
talking about
here
specifically
what kind
of diseases
what kind
of sicknesses
did he have
it's not
really mentioned
in the
narrative
about David
and neither
do I think
David is saying
that God
will heal
everybody's
diseases
all of them
whenever or as
soon as they
ask
this part of
the song is
very personal
for David
I think what
he's saying
is God
up until now
you have
healed all
my diseases
all my
sicknesses
he's praising
God
for his
good health
in verse
four
David praises
God for
saving his
life
you redeemed
me from the
pit
and I
think that's
poetic
that's
metaphorical
language
I was
I was in
deep trouble
and you
rescued me
out of it
and
you crowned
me
with love
and compassion
I like
this
if the
first half
of verse
four
has David
down in the
pit
here in the
second half
he is lifted
up
he's exalted
to the
status of
king
it's like
he's saying
I went
from way
down
here
in the
pit
to way
up here
on the
throne
and for
David
it's the
love
and the
compassion
of God
that has
done this
it's not
his cunning
or skill
or hard
work
or
political
maneuvering
it's
compassion
like
Lord
you look
down on
me
and that
lowly
and desperate
state
and your
heart
went out
to me
with compassion
and you
lifted me
up out
of that
you redeemed
me from
that
you put
me on
the throne
you put
the crown
on my
head
in verse
five
David
says
I praise
you for
you've been
the one
to satisfy
my desires
with good
things
you've been
the one
to renew
my youth
you've
strengthened
me
with that
youthful
vigor
and energy
that I
once
had
as David
reflects back
on how God
has treated
him
it's like
he's
acknowledging
God
you haven't
been stingy
with me
you haven't
withheld
from me
all the good
things that I
have
things that I've
desired
I've gotten
as a gift
from you
from your
generous
heart
from your
gracious
hands
and I
love this
line about
how
so that
your youth
is renewed
like the
eagles
now it's up
for debate
exactly what
the eagle
part means
apparently
eagles go
through this
process of
they call
molting
where they
actually grow
new feathers
at some
point in
their life
could that
be what
David
means
like you're
giving me
a fresh
a refreshing
new
feathers
to fly
with
or
is it
that he
felt
so heavy
so weighed
down by the
things that
had been
going on
in his
life
but God
graciously
renewed
his youth
making him
light
and carefree
able to
soar
again
like an
eagle
whatever
the meaning
it sounds
pretty good
to me
would you
like to
have your
youth
renewed
I do
God can
do that
and he
did it
for David
so David
first praises
God for
all these
personal
things that
God
has been
good
to him
loving to
him
with
and
as I
mentioned
earlier
now David
in verse
six
he widens
this
to express
praise
for how
God
has been
good
not just
to him
but to
others
to all
the oppressed
the Lord
works righteousness
and justice
for all
the oppressed
I'm not
going to
unpack all
of that
that's
that's a
whole bunch
of stuff
in there
except to
say that
probably
how he
gets to
saying this
is because
he himself
has been
one
of the
oppressed
think back
to his
story
and how
Saul
was hunting
him down
chasing
him all
over
Israel
it's a
great
distress
then in
verses
seven
to eight
David
widens
some
more
and now
it's how
God has
been good
to Moses
and the
people of
Israel
now we're
talking about
the whole
nation
and
this
piece of
his song
points back
to a moment
in Israel's
history
after wandering
a little bit
in the wilderness
they came to
Mount Sinai
this was after
they had left
Egypt
and it
was there
that God
revealed
himself
to Moses
and to
the people
and Moses
was up on
the mountain
and he
asked God
he said
Lord
show me
your ways
show me
your glory
and in
response
it says
that God
made his
glory
to pass
by
Moses
and as
he did
he declared
his own
name
to Moses
and
verse
eight
the second
half
of what
you see
on the
screen
there
is
what
God
said
that's
the words
that he
declared
to Moses
as he
passed
by
the Lord
is
compassionate
and
gracious
slow
to
anger
abounding
in love
this is
just a
little
trivial
detail
from the
grammar
guy
in me
but I
love the
way
that the
parallelism
works
here
these
things
that God
declared
about
himself
to
Moses
they
weren't
just
words
these
things
about
the
Lord
also
describe
his
deeds
to the
people
of
Israel
it's
both
he
made
known
his
ways
to
Moses
his
deeds
to
the
people
of
Israel
the
Lord
is
compassionate
and
gracious
slow
to
anger
abounding
in
love
in
other
words
David
is
saying
yes
God
spoke
of
his
goodness
to
Moses
but
he
proved
it
by
how
he
treated
Israel
time
and
time
again
this
is
like
a
precious
bit
of
inspired
commentary
from
David
what
David
is
saying
is
that
you
can
go
back
you
can
read
the
whole
story
of
Israel
and
all
of
it
shows
again
and
again
just
how
compassionate
God
is
how
gracious
how
slow
to
anger
how
abounding
in love
for those
of you
who are
working
your way
through the
Bible
again
this year
this is
what we
should be
looking for
as we
read through
the Old
Testament
it's all
over the
place
the story
of God's
compassion
in fact
the whole
Bible
not just
the Old
Testament
it's a story
of God's
compassion
how
he
is
gracious
slow
to
anger
abounding
in
love
David
will
go
on
merciful
forgiving
I
mean
each
one
of
these
qualities
of
God
we
could
probably
do
a
whole
sermon
series
on
them
but
from
verse
8
let's
look
at
just
one
the
Lord
is
slow
to
anger
let's
meditate
on
this
do
you
know
anyone
who
is
quick
to
get
angry
do
you
know
anyone
how
does
it
feel
to
be
around
a
person
that
is
quick
to
get
angry
maybe
like
treading
on
ice
in
the
presence
of
a
ticking
time
bomb
God
is
not
like
that
he
is
slow
to
anger
and
his
anger
is
a
righteous
anger
which
means
that
he
loves
what
is
good
and
right
so
much
that
he
only
ever
gets
angry
when
he
sees
evil
sin
corruption
injustice
it's
an
anger
that's
fully
100%
justified
and
think
about
this
if
God
is
slow
to
anger
that
means
that
he's
what
patient
with
sinners
like
you
and
like
me
sometimes
we
might
get
this
wonky
idea
that
God
is
something
like
the
rage
monster
from
Dude
Perfect
that
he's
just
got
this
alternate
side
of
him
that
just
comes
out
of
nowhere
and
gets
mad
at
the
most
trivial
things
or
maybe
we
see
it
more
like
the
Hulk
from
the
comics
once
he
gets
going
he's
just
so
angry
that
he
just
wants
to
smash
everything
in sight
and
lose
control
completely
and
if
and
he
he's
not
always
green
like
that
he
usually
just
looks
like
an
ordinary
human
but
when
he
gets
angry
he
gets
all
big
and
green
and
starts
smashing
everything
but
in
his
calmer
moments
when
he
looks
like
an
ordinary
human
being
in
one
of
the
movies
somebody
asked
him
so
something
about
how he
feels
or
something
and
he
says
you
know
to
tell
you
the
truth
I'm
always
angry
but
no
God
is
not
like
this
at
all
he
is
slow
to
anger
which
means
that
he's
not
always
angry
anger
is
not
the
default
he's
not
prone
to
just
burst
out
in
a
rage
now
maybe
at
this
point
some
of
you
might
be
thinking
of
those
few
moments
when
God's
anger
does
seem
to
flare
up
quickly
in
the
Bible
but
if
you
think
about
those
cases
usually
it's
a
very
serious
sin
usually
it's
done
publicly
and
usually
it's
done
by
a
person
in
leadership
or
someone
usurping
trying to
steal
into
a person
a role
of
leadership
God
seems
to hold
leaders
to a
higher
standard
because
all
the
people
are
watching
them
they're
following
their
example
but
think
for a
moment
of
the
story
of
Israel
from
this
time
that
David
is
speaking
of
at
Mount
Sinai
where
he
warns
them
about
turning
away
from
him
and
living
wicked
lives
until
the
time
when
he
finally
gives
them
over
to
being
conquered
and
sends
them
away
into
exile
how
many
years
did
God
bear
with
them
not
quite
but
almost
a
thousand
how
many
prophets
had
he
sent
to
warn
them
and
to
call
them
to
turn
back
to
repent
to
be
restored
to
be
forgiven
so
many
it's
difficult
to
even
count
them
all
they
don't
even
all
have
their
own
book
of
the
Bible
God's
patience
is
awesome
when
you're
reading
through
your
Bible
and
you
feel
like
the
Old
Testament
man
this
is
a
long
thing
when
are
we
going
to
get
to
the
New
Testament
think
it's
long
because
God's
patience
is
awesome
I
read a
book
a while
back
where a
guy just
encouraged
us to
really
stop
and
think
about
how
God
is
slow
to
anger
and
he
compared
this
aspect
of
God
with
some
of
his
other
attributes
like
his
love
is
there
anywhere
in the Bible
where it says
that God
is slow
to love
in fact
it's the
opposite
it says
that God
is
love
nowhere that I
know of in the Bible
does it say that
God's love
is provoked
his love is like a
light that is
always on
but his
anger
must be
kindled
it must
be
stirred
up
provoked
and even
there
it's a
slow
thing
God
is
patient
he has
such
great
compassion
and mercy
towards
sinners
he is
patient
he would
far
rather
see
us
repent
turn
to him
and be
forgiven
than give
us the
punishment
that we
deserve
verse 9
he will not
always accuse
nor will he
harbor his
anger
forever
I love
this
just glance
down
now to
verse 17
this is
quite the
contrast
in verse 17
he says
from everlasting
to everlasting
the Lord's
love
is with
those
who fear
him
so his
anger
temporary
he does
get angry
at times
but it
doesn't
last
it goes
away
but his
love
never
ending
everlasting
towards
those who
fear him
what a
contrast
verse 10
he does
not treat
us
as our
sins
deserve
or repay
us
according
to our
iniquities
for as
high as
the heavens
are above
the earth
so great
is his
love
for those
who fear
him
so David
praises
God for
his
mercy
we've all
done
things
we've all
sinned
we've all
we all
have
iniquities
and we
deserve a
certain
punishment
from God
for those
sins
but because
God is
merciful
he doesn't
want to
give us
what our
sins
deserve
and David
goes on to
describe
just
how great
God's
love is
verse 11
he says
as high
as the
heavens are
above the
earth
so great
is his
love
for those
who fear
him
now I
don't know
that David
really knew
how true
his words
were
how high
did he
think they
were up
there
in his
day
but as I
said last
week
scientists
still haven't
found the
edges
of the
heavens
of the
universe
the number
the distance
between here
and the
farthest
out there
that we
even know
of is
such a
big number
we can't
even comprehend
it
it's so
many miles
times ten
to the
power of
a really
big number
if you
remember
back to
math
we can't
even
comprehend
that
we can't
even
fathom
it
and I
think
that's
the
point
the
greatness
of God's
love for
you
is
immeasurable
it's
incomprehensible
we can't
even begin
to
understand
it
now I
know
that I'm
only
halfway
through
the
psalm
here
and my
time's
almost
up
so we're
going to
save
the rest
of this
psalm
for you
to meditate
on this
week
there is
so much
more in
here
and with
the last
couple
minutes
I just
want to
take some
time to
help us
see how
this psalm
points us
to
Jesus
where is
Jesus
in this
psalm
that might
be the
wrong
question
to ask
perhaps a
better
question
for us
to reflect
on is
this
where is
this
psalm
seen
in
Jesus
my
answer
is that
when we
read the
gospels
in the
New
Testament
the story
of Jesus
we see
this same
glorious
God
here among
us in
human
flesh
we see
him
granting
forgiveness
of sins
to a
paralytic
healing
all
Israel's
diseases
we see
him
standing
up
to
the
oppressors
the
religious
leaders
for
justice
and
righteousness
on behalf
of the
oppressed
people
we see
his
compassion
his
grace
John
said
he's
full of
grace
and truth
we see
Jesus
slow to
anger
he lived
with us
sinners
for 30
years
close
proximity
and yet
he was
so
patient
so
patient
with
his
disciples
and when
Jesus
did get
angry
he was
angry
about
the
right
things
Jesus
showed
us
just how
immeasurable
God's
love
really
is
when
he came
down
from
that
highest
of
heavens
to
this
earth
to live
among
us
to
become
one
of
us
to
look
us
in
the
eye
and
tell
us
how
much
he
loves
us
he
showed
us
how
merciful
God
is
how
willing
God
is
not
to
treat
us
as
our
sins
deserve
but
to
forgive
us
by
going
to
the
cross
suffering
and
dying
for
us
all
to
remove
our
transgressions
from
us
so
how
does
Jesus
fulfill
Psalm
103
well
one
of
the
ways
was
by
being
this
very
God
here
among
us
in
everything
he
did
and
in
the
love
he
showed
showing
us
the
truth
of
who
God
is
but
then
there's
this
other
thing
that
we
might
be
wondering
about
several
times
David
states
that
the
benefits
here
the
love
of
God
is
for
those
who
fear
him
verse
11
for
those
who
fear
him
on
those
who
fear
him
verse
13
for
those
who
fear
him
verse
17
his
love
is
with
those
who
keep
his
covenant
and
remember
to
obey
his
precepts
now
I don't
know
about
you
but
as
soon
as
I
hear
those
words
I
start
wondering
do
I
fear
God
enough
to
qualify
to
claim
that
promise
have
I
been
good
enough
have
I
been
obedient
enough
here
too
Jesus
makes
all
the
difference
he's
the
only
one
who
kept
this
old
covenant
and
obeyed
God
perfectly
in the
New
Testament
in the
book of
Hebrews
we're
told that
he is
our
great
high
priest
who
brokers
a new
covenant
with
God
a new
deal
a new
arrangement
an even
better
one
and what
makes it
so good
is this
this is
in a
nutshell
we get
all that
was
promised
we
get
this
love
this
everlasting
love
mercy
forgiveness
this
stuff
that's
for
those
who
fear
him
and
keep
the
covenant
we
get
it
all
not
because
we
kept
the
covenant
or
obeyed
but
because
he
did
and
all
we
have
to
do
the
good
news
of
the
new
covenant
is
believe
admit
that
we've
sinned
acknowledge
that
to
God
and
believe
in
his
son
Jesus
the
one
that
he
sent
and
we
get
it
all
we
get
this
everlasting
love
we
get
to
be
loved
today
tomorrow
and
every
day
forward
until
the
day
that
we
die
and
we
get
to
be
loved
every
day
after
that
every
moment
in
the
presence
of
Jesus
until
he
returns
at
the
last
trumpet
and
raises
us
to
new
life
and
we
get
to
be
loved
every
day
after
that
and
on
into
eternity
forever
we
enjoy
that
measureless
infinite
love
so
that's
the
second
way
that
this
psalm
points
to
Christ
it
holds
out a
love
that
we
fell
short
of
and it
teaches
us to
long for
it
and hope
for it
and believe
that it
can be
ours
in anticipation
of Jesus
coming and
showing us
that yes
it is
for you
I'm making
it
happen
for you
so if you
believe in
Jesus from the
bottom of your
heart don't ever
doubt that
verse 17
is to you
is for you
and if you
ever have
doubts
about this
and we're
going to
end with
this
just flip
the pages
forward
to Romans
chapter 8
and I'm
just going to
close by
reading this
if God
is for us
who can be
against us
he who did
not spare
his own
son
but gave
him up
for us
all
how will
he not
also along
with him
graciously
give us
all things
who will
bring any
charge
against
those
whom
God
has
chosen
it is
God
who
justifies
who
then is
the one
who
condemns
no one
Christ
Jesus
who died
more than
that
who was
raised to
life
is at
the right
hand
of God
and is
also
interceding
for us
who
shall
separate
us
from
the
love
of
Christ
shall
trouble
or
hardship
or
persecution
or
famine
or
nakedness
or
danger
or
sword
no
in
all
these
things
we are
more
than
conquerors
through
him
who
loved
us
for
I am
convinced
that
neither
death
nor
life
neither
angels
nor
demons
neither
the
present
nor
the
future
nor
any
powers
neither
height
nor
depth
nor
anything
else
in
all
creation
will
be
able
to
separate
us
from
the
love
of
God
that
is
in
Christ
Jesus
our
Lord
this
is the
gospel
this
is the
good
news
and
it
brings
us
right
back
to
praise
the
Lord
my
soul
all
my
inmost
being
praise
his
holy
name
let's
pray
father
in
heaven
thank
you
for
the
reminder
that
you
give
us
through
these
words
how
easily
we
forget
we
lose
sight
but
I
pray
that
you
would
press
this
truth
so
deeply
into
every
one
of
our
hearts
that
for
all
of
us
who
believe
in
you
and
belong
to
you
we
are
loved
with
an
everlasting
love
may
we
live
there
this
week
may
we
rest
in
that
this
week
put
the
joy
in
our
hearts
and
let
it
overflow
out
of
us
this
week
we
give
ourselves
to
you
in
Jesus
name
amen