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This morning’s reading was taken from Psalms 95, 97–99. The words from chapter 95 had me singing nostalgic songs from earlier years.

“Come let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture And the sheep of His hand.”

Those verses were such a joyful invitation to reflect back on ground covered in my journey with God. The psalm opens with this call to praise, urging God’s people to sing, to shout, to bow down, to kneel before the One who made us and shepherds us. It brought back memories of worship services, reminded me how naturally praise flows when we truly grasp who God is.

But here’s the thing: the psalm doesn't end there.

As you keep reading Psalm 95, the tone shifts pretty dramatically. God starts talking about that generation He rescued from Egypt. Think about it—these were people who saw His power firsthand, who experienced His provision day after day, and yet they hardened their hearts out there in the wilderness. Their persistent unbelief and disobedience led God to declare:

“Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

So, the psalm moves from celebration to this sobering warning. Even people who’ve experienced God’s goodness can drift toward hardness of heart if they start taking Him for granted. That’s a little unsettling.

Now, we live on this side of the cross—what many call the Age of Grace—where the fullness of God’s grace has been revealed through Christ. Through Christ, through the Holy Spirit living in us, God has written His law on our hearts. What an incredible gift that is. But you know what? God doesn’t change. His character is immutable. The same God who rescued Israel still desires hearts that respond to Him with trust and obedience.

Which leads me to a simple daily prayer that sounds something like this:

“Lord, keep me focused on You today. Help me lean into Your Spirit in every moment and guard my heart from ever taking You for granted.”

Psalm 97 gave me encourgement through one verse that jumped off the page: 

“Hate evil, you who love the Lord.”

That’s a self-diagnostic question if I’ve ever heard one. Do I actually hate evil?

Not people—I’m talking about evil itself. The sin that wrecks lives, the injustice that harms others, the very sin Christ died to rescue me from. If we genuinely love the Lord, we shouldn’t be comfortable with the things that grieve Him. And I am not.

And the answer to that question brought me back to where I began singing and praising Him. The psalm encourages us here to:

“Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, And give thanks to His holy name.”

And then Psalm 98 takes us there. The whole earth is called to praise the Lord with joyful noise, with instruments, with song. I love the progression here: remember what God has done, reject evil, then respond with praise. It’s beautiful.

For me, Psalm 99 got even better as it reminded me of something important about how God deals with His people.” There’s an honest moment as Moses, Aaron, and Samuel are referred to. These were great servants of God, but they weren't perfect men. Not even close. Yet when the psalmist reflects on how God dealt with them, he says:

“You were a forgiving God to them, And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.”

God is both holy and merciful. He forgives, yes—but He also deals justly with sin. Both things are true.

And that brings everything full circle for me.

Because God forgives. Because He’s rescued us from our evil deeds. Because He remains both holy and just. We have every reason to do what these psalms keep calling us to do:

“Exalt the Lord our God And worship at His holy hill, For holy is the Lord our God.”

What began this morning as a memory of an old worship song ended as a fresh reason to sing it all over again. Praise God!