The joy of praising the Lord.

"O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion, praise your God!" (Psalm 147

Friday 10 January 2020 in the Season of Christmas. Two more days to the end of the beautiful Christmas Season. The word of God to live by today comes from the Responsorial Psalm. The Psalms have been forever the Prayer Book of the Church. Its treasures are inexhaustible. Today, we are urged to praise the Lord; to praise our God.

To suck out the marrow in this Psalm, we must ask: Why should I praise the Lord? Now the answer:

"He has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed the children within you." (Psalm 147: 13).
What does the bars of your gates mean? This is a military defense language. We can look at our life as  7 War Zones:
Family, health, job, finances, tools and possessions, food and future. Each of these war zone has a gate for protection against intruders. Each gate is made of hardened steel.
"He has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed the children within you." God offers impregnable protection to His children who acknowledge and praise Him.

That is not all. God promises further:
"He established peace on your borders, he feeds you with finest wheat." (Psalm 147: 14).

He promises to feed us with the finest wheat. Which wheat could possibly be finer than the Eucharist? For all this, it is fitting and right to "praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Zion, praise your God!"

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com