Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
6/19 Reading Portions: Deuteronomy 24; Psalms 114-115; Isaiah 51; Revelation 21
Psalm 115:17
The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence.
PRAISE
We are saved by grace. We are alive in Christ. Physical expiration for the saint in Christ is not death, but instead, a doorway. Jesus told Martha,
“I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live.” John 11:25
Our ability and capacity to praise continues in eternal joy once we have shuffled off this mortal coil. We praise YHVH God for the Lord Jesus, in whom we have eternal life. Not temporary life. We understand that the heavens belong to the Lord, yet He has made us stewards of His earth (Psa 115:16); thus, we praise Him. We praise Him for His creation (Psa 115:15). We praise Him for our children (Psa 115:14). We praise Him because He remembers us (Psa 115:12) and teaches us godly fear (Psa 115:13). This is not so for the reprobate and rejecter of Christ; for such a one is dead in sins and trespasses. Any attempt at praise on his or her part is profane in the ears of God. His ears are too upright to receive their Christ-less utterances. When they pass away in godless, Christ-rejecting finality, theirs is silence to the grave because theirs was futility and emptiness upon the earth. Christ is worthy of praise because He is very God. That He is not praised for His atoning sacrifice demonstrates the most insidious depths of man’s depravity. We evangelize, therefore, that by God’s grace and in His mercy, He may bring another soul to Himself to praise His glorious name. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
We are not dead, but are alive,
Because our Lord does save;
So may our voices grow and thrive
To bring our Jesus praise!
