City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

¹ Praise the Lord, all you nations;
    extol him, all you peoples.
² For great is his love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord.^{[Hebrew Hallelu Yah]}

Psalm 117:1-2 (NIV)

Reflection

Psalm 117 is the shortest Psalm in the Bible, while Psalm 119 is the longest.  Interestingly, Psalm 118 is the middle of the Bible, with Psalm 118:8 being the middle verse of the whole Bible.  If you were to “randomly” open the Bible and read a chapter, there is a very good chance that you would land on one of these chapters.  If you saw Psalm 119, there’s a good chance that you would decide not to read it, given that it is 150 verses long.  However, if you looked at it closer, you might see that it is broken up into 22 sections, one for each letter in the Hebrew Alphabet.  So, you could read a letter a day and work your way through it, learning first what it is to be blessed.

If you were to land on Psalm 118, in this random search, you would see that it’s 29 verses, and that it starts with:

Even if you are in a rush, this first verse could set your thinking aright.

However, if your eyes were to settle on Psalm 117, there’s a good chance you would skip past it, thinking that it might be too light on content to help you. It is only two verses; what could they say? However, if you thought about it, it would make more sense to think, “wow, only 2 verses and they decided that it should be a whole chapter.  There must be something here.”  And you would be right, because there is.

The first verse is a call to praise the Lord, which is the right relationship to which all people should strive.  This is the natural state of man, seen in Adam and Eve while in the Garden, in Jesus while He walked with His disciples and it is the state of man when sins are forgiven and redemption is realized.  This verse is a great measuring rod for your heart.  Are you willing to give praise to the Lord?

But verse 2 provides a clear view of a thread that runs throughout the Bible.  “For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” This verse is a great measuring rod for your attitude under any circumstance. The Lord models love for us as something that is faithful and enduring, and so should our love be.

Application

Memorize this chapter.  It is not too long, and you can use it every day.  Trust me, it’s worth your time, and it will pay you a great return for what is probably not a big investment.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray that You teach me to listen to Your voice, humble my pride, and learn to enjoy Your presence every day. Amen.