Daily D – Psalm 50:23

by | Apr 23, 2020 | Daily D | 0 comments

But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God. PSALM 50:23 (NLT)

_____________________________________________________________________________

My regular haircut is now a month overdue. With enough styling gel, it doesn’t look that bad. I haven’t had this much hair since I was in college. Soon it will look like it did in high school. Hopefully, mercifully, by then I can go somewhere to get it trimmed a bit. 

The last month has been an interesting exercise, hasn’t it? It has interrupted our rhythms. It has refocused our energy and attention. What do you find yourself giving more energy to these days? What do you give more attention?

I ran across the same quote in different places over the last couple of days. The first time I thought, “That’s nice.” The second time I thought, “I better capture that.” This is a saying worth pondering. It comes to us from Frederick Buechner (beek-ner):

We learn to praise God not by paying compliments but by paying attention.

The psalms are full of praise and thanksgiving. Praise and thanksgiving are prominent throughout the Bible. People who know and experience God cannot help but praise him for who he is and thank him for what he does. 

A passage in a novel describes a man of another religion fingering his prayer beads and reciting the prayer snippet associated with each. At the same time, he was remembering how he became an assassin and pondered who he was going to kill next. That seems like a bit of a disconnect, doesn’t it?

Sometimes I feel the same kind of thing when I sing the same song without thinking or repeat the same prayer. I promise, I have never thought about killing anyone while singing or praying. I have, however, wondered what was for lunch. I have thought about the sporting event I was anticipating. I have thought, “I would have said that differently.”

While my mouth was saying one thing, my mind was considering something else. 

We learn to praise God not by paying compliments but by paying attention.

One of the things made possible over the last month is more attention to what God is saying. Rhythms and routines I had been cultivating for several years have reached new depths. I have given God more attention. The more attention I give him, the more thankful I am, the more I find myself praising him not by rote, but by immersion. This involves setting aside other people’s words and finding my own combinations of syllable and sound. 

Pick up a language learning guide. Simple phrases used repeatedly in other cultures are found that can be memorized quickly and used to exercise both mind and tongue. Some pride in accomplishment comes from perfectly executing wee bits of conversation. How much more satisfaction arises when we are able to combine nouns, verbs, articles, and descriptors in unique combinations that communicate with clarity.

How do we get to the place where we can communicate clearly in another language? We pay attention. We focus our attention. We listen carefully and observe attentively. 

We learn to praise God not by paying compliments but by paying attention.

In these days of enforced stillness and silence, pay attention to God. “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Ps. 46:10). Give God the sacrifice of your positive, focused attention. 

We recently delighted in observing our granddaughter laugh, dance, repeat Da-da, Da-da, Da-da, and push around one of her toys. I could watch her for hours. How could I not praise and thank God for her? What would be different in my life if I gave God the uninterrupted attention accorded my granddaughter via FaceTime? What if I had an evening time alone with God like I do in the morning? What if I stopped using other people’s words for my best thinking about him and started writing my own?

Giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors God. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

I will give God the sacrifice of my positive, focused attention.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Our Father, morning light and evensong will lead me into positive, focused attention of you, your nature, your character, and your presence. Moment by moment through the day, I will seek you, I will find you, I will know you, I will experience you. What begins as sacrifice transforms into joy. How have I missed this truth for so long? Amen. 

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

CONNECT WITH ME!

Interested in learning more about Church Unique or Life Younique? Send a note through the Get In Touch box or Message me through the Facebook link above.

          Church Unique Logo          Auxano Logo

GET IN TOUCH!

READ MY BLOG!

Daily D – Numbers 16:1-3

Numbers 16:1-3 One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben. They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly. They united against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the Lord’s people?”

Daily D – Numbers 14:24

Numbers 14:24 “But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.”

Daily D – Psalm 57:7-8

Psalm 57:7, 8
“My heart is confident in you, O God;
my heart is confident.
No wonder I can sing your praises!
Wake up, my heart! Wake up, O lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn with my song.”

Daily D – Numbers 9:17-18

Numbers 9:17, 18 Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp. In this way, they traveled and camped at the Lord’s command wherever he told them to go. Then they remained in their camp as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle.

Daily D – Psalm 56:3

Psalm 56:3
“But when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.”