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In this episode of The Dwelling Place Podcast, Stephanie Hickox explores 1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 8, and the closing praise Psalms 147–150.
As Solomon receives a second appearance from the Lord after completing the Temple and his own palace, we're reminded that God's blessings are accompanied by a call to continued faithfulness and obedience. Stephanie examines the warning God gave Solomon, the subtle signs of Solomon’s future divided heart, and why obedience still matters for believers today.
The episode then turns to the final psalms of praise, where the focus shifts from human achievement to the greatness of God. From the God who "heals the brokenhearted" to the Creator who names every star, these psalms invite us to worship a God who is both infinitely powerful and intimately near.
If you are a Christian mom seeking encouragement, peace, and a greater vision of God's majesty, these passages offer a beautiful reminder that our hope is not in our own strength but in the steadfast love of the Lord.
In This Episode:
- Solomon's second encounter with God
- Obedience and God's covenant promises
- The danger of a divided heart
- Why boundaries and biblical instruction matter
- Psalm 147: God heals the brokenhearted
- Psalm 148: Creation praises the Lord
- Psalm 149: The Lord delights in His people
- Psalm 150: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord
- God's transcendence and nearness
- Teaching children to worship and fear the Lord
Key Takeaways:
- God’s blessings never remove our responsibility to walk in obedience.
- Solomon’s life reminds us that spiritual success today does not guarantee faithfulness tomorrow.
- The Lord delights in those who fear Him and place their hope in His steadfast love.
- God is both transcendent over creation and intimately near to the brokenhearted.
- Worship helps us maintain humility and a right view of ourselves.
- Every generation has the opportunity to teach children to praise the Lord.
For Christian Moms
Motherhood can often leave us feeling weak, overwhelmed, or inadequate. Psalm 147 reminds us that God is not impressed by human strength but delights in those who hope in Him. Whether you're discipling your children, navigating difficult seasons, or simply trying to remain faithful in everyday life, the Lord sees you, strengthens you, and invites you to worship Him.
These closing psalms encourage us to lift our eyes from our circumstances to the God who created the stars, heals the brokenhearted, and is worthy of endless praise.
Resources Mentioned
- Five Habits of the Tech-Ready Family: Raising Wise Kids in a Wild Digital World
- Louie Giglio’s science devotionals for children
- Creation Praising God Video!
- Entrusted With a Child’s Heart
Connect with Entrusted Ministries
Learn more about Bible studies for moms, biblical parenting resources, and Scripture-rich discipleship tools at Entrusted Ministries
Join us as we help moms study the Bible, grow in their faith, and build homes centered on the truth of God’s Word.
Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary, Spurgeon's Treasury of David
Transcripts
This is The Dwelling Place
from Entrusted Ministries.
2
:I'm Stephanie Hickox, and we believe that
the most important thing that you can do
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:as a mom is dwell and abide with the Lord.
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:and when you and I do that, it
transforms us, which transforms
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:our dwelling places, too.
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:Speaker 35: Have you
heard about our giveaway?
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:Protect Young Eyes CEO Chris McKenna
came on the Again podcast to talk about
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:his brand-new book that launches today,
Five Habits of the Tech-Ready Family:
9
:Raising Wise Kids in a Wild Digital World.
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:To help you get your hands on this
book, we're having that giveaway.
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:You can find all the details in
our show notes, and we're throwing
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:in some Entrusted goodies too.
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:Best of luck
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:Today, we're looking at 1 Kings 9, 2
Chronicles 8, and Psalms 147 through 150
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:First Kings nine records the same
event that we read from Chronicles, so
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:we won't focus on that too much, even
though I deeply love this passage.
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:But I appreciated that it started
out a little bit differently
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:than the Chronicler's account.
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:It says, "As soon as Solomon had
finished building the house of the
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:Lord and the king's house and all that
Solomon desired to build, the Lord
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:appeared to Solomon a second time."
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:God waited till Solomon was done
with everything he needed to do and
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:then immediately appeared to him.
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:As I mentioned previously, it would
have been twelve or thirteen years
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:after that initial temple dedication
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:but still I like that phrase, as soon as.
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:God was waiting for that
perfect moment to give Solomon
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:A reminder of the covenant I'm
fascinated that it took Solomon
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:about seven years to build the temple
and 13 years to build his own home
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:Is this foreshadowing his divided heart?
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:We'll keep thinking about that as we read.
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:The Lord issued some amazing
promises that his heart and his
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:eyes would always be on the temple
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:This might be restated as his constant
attention and his deep affection.
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:Even though this temple would be
destroyed in 586 Jerusalem is still
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:a city set apart for the Lord Listen
to this prophecy from Isaiah 2.
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:" " And many people shall come and say,
Come, let us go to the mountain of
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:the Lord, to the house of the God of
Jacob, that he may teach us his ways
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:and that we may walk in his paths.'
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:For out of Zion shall go forth the law
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
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:He shall judge between the nations
and shall decide disputes for
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:many peoples, and they shall beat
their swords into plowshares and
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:their spears into pruning hooks.
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:Nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither
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:shall they learn war anymore."
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:Did you hear the reference
to Zion and to Jerusalem?
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:This will be a time of peace.
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:So we need to ask, what
could that be referring to?
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:And if you guessed it's Jesus's coming
millennial kingdom, you're right.
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:Remember, Jesus was always plan A.
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:And even at this moment, God knows
that Solomon will not stay steadfast,
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:but God was faithful to warn him.
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:" But if you turn aside from following
me, you or your children, and do not
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:keep my commandments and my statutes
that I have set before you, but go
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:and serve other gods and worship
them, then I will cut off Israel
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:from the land that I have given them."
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:I've said it over and over, but
obedience matters to the Lord.
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:Scripture tells us we can show God
we love Him by obeying His commands.
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:Let's be careful to not embrace
any parenting philosophies
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:that steer us away from setting
boundaries or rules for our kids
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:Or that take away the blessing of
obedience that God gives us if we neglect
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:to train our kids to honor and obey
authority, then we're really allowing
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:them to be self-serving and self-focused
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:We can offer so much blessing and joy
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:When our kids do obey, and certainly
the Lord bestowed blessing upon blessing
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:on Solomon while he was honoring him
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:Let's skip over to 2 Chronicles 8
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:To learn what Solomon did after the
Lord appeared to him a second time.
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:Solomon continued to store
up his supply of chariots and
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:horsemen, and whatever he desired.
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:He fortified his cities and
protected them from attack.
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:He even began sea navigation to pursue
gold and other resources from afar.
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:We've already read that Solomon
married Pharaoh's daughter,
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:and he brought her to the city.
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:And in what must be an acknowledgement
that she is a pagan wife that does not
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:serve the God of Israel, he says, " My
wife shall not live in the house of David,
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:king of Israel, for the places to which
the ark of the Lord has come are holy."
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:It seems Solomon is aware that it's
just not right for her to be near
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:the holy places of the Lord, and
we're left to wonder why it wasn't
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:more of a caution to him against
marrying her in the first place.
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:But here's something to admire.
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:In eight-twelve, Then Solomon offered
up burnt offerings to the Lord on the
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:altar of the Lord that he had built
before the vestibule, as the duty of each
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:day required, offering according to the
commandment of Moses for the Sabbaths,
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:the new moons, and the three annual
feasts, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the
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:Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths
According to the ruling of David his
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:father, he appointed the divisions of the
priests for their service and the Levites
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:for their offices of praise and ministry
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:Solomon is ensuring that God's
ceremonial law is faithfully attended to
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:Steph: Now we'll be turning
to the end of Psalms
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:this doesn't mean we've completed the
entire Book of Psalms because we're
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:going through scripture chronologically
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:And there will be others that
were written later than these.
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:But these concluding psalms
do just what you would expect.
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:They tell us to praise
the Lord over and over.
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:in Psalm one hundred forty-seven, which
I'll read in its entirety, I delight
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:in reading about a God who draws near
and cares for the lowly and humble, and
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:is also the creator of the universe.
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:We talked about this in our first episode,
that God is imminent and near to us, but
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:He's also transcendent and overall, and
more glorious and holy than we can fathom.
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:As I read, listen for how the psalmist
wove those aspects of God together
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:Praise the Lord, for it is good to sing
praises to our God, for it is pleasant
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:and a song of praise is fitting.
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:The Lord builds up Jerusalem.
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:He gathers the outcasts of Israel.
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:He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
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:He determines the number of the stars.
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:He gives to all of them their names.
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:Great is our Lord and abundant in power.
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:His understanding is beyond measure.
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:The Lord lifts up the humble.
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:He casts the wicked to the ground.
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:Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving.
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:Make melody to our God on the lyre.
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:He covers the heavens with clouds.
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:He prepares rain for the earth.
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:He makes grass grow on the hills.
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:He gives to the beasts their food
and to the young ravens that cry.
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:His delight is not in the strength
of the horse, nor his pleasure in
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:the legs of a man But the Lord takes
pleasure in those who fear Him, in
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:those who hope in His steadfast love.
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:Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem
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:Praise your God, O Zion, for he
strengthens the bars of your gates.
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:He blesses your children within you.
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:He makes peace in your borders.
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:He fills you with the finest of wheat.
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:He sends out his commandment to the earth.
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:His word runs swiftly.
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:He gives snow like wool.
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:He scatters frost like ashes.
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:He hurls down his crystals
of ice like crumbs.
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:Who can stand before his cold?
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:He sends out his word and melts them.
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:He makes his wind blow and the waters
flow He declares his word to Jacob,
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:his statutes and rules to Israel.
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:He has not dealt thus
with any other nation.
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:They do not know his rules.
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:Praise the Lord
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:the psalmist is led to praise Because he
understands the goodness of God's rules.
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:And this God that is a strong fortress
for Zion is also the one that heals
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:the brokenhearted and binds up
their wounds Have you ever imagined
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:Jesus tending to you just as someone
might wrap a leg if it were broken?
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:Not only is our God powerful enough
to heal the places where the sin of
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:this world has deeply hurt us, He
delights to make us whole Verses
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:10 and 11 are some of our Entrusted
With a Child's Heart memory verses.
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:So I'll read it again.
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:" His delight is not in the
strength of the horse, nor his
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:pleasure in the legs of a man.
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:But the Lord takes pleasure in
those who fear Him and those
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:who hope in His steadfast love."
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:we shouldn't find our trust in anything
but the Lord, including our own strength.
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:And if you and I forget that our
work is unto the Lord we miss an
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:opportunity for God to be our helper
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:But instead of this verse just
giving us a warning, it's also
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:presenting us with an opportunity.
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:God takes pleasure in us when
we hope in Him and fear Him.
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:There's that idea we
keep seeing over and over
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:Psalm 148
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:Speaker 34: tells creation to praise
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:Steph: there are echoes
of the creation account
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:as all of the land animals and the
sea creatures and the sun and the moon
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:and the stars are called to praise Him
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:I'm going to link an incredible clip
from Louie Giglio, If you haven't
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:seen his science devotionals for
kids, I would highly recommend those
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:He does a wonderful job pointing
to the brilliance of our
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:creator in a way that kids love.
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:But this video I'll share with you
has actually captured sound waves from
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:stars, and he layers it upon whales
and other elements of creation, and
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:you'll be amazed at the chorus that
creation is singing to the Lord.
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:Psalm 149 is another continual call
to praise, and there is another
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:opportunity for us to please the Lord.
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:" For the Lord takes pleasure in His people.
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:He adorns the humble with salvation."
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:And really What can maintain
our humility more than praise?
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:When we hold an accurate view of the
Lord and His majesty, it helps us to
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:have a right view of ourselves, not
elevated in pride and not self-deprecating
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:It's at this point that we'll know we're
treasured by Him, but also that we'll
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:know we were created to glorify Him
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:and Psalm 150 is the perfect
capstone to this book.
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:13 times the psalter tells
us to praise the Lord.
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:Praise the Lord.
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:Praise God in His sanctuary.
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:Praise Him in His mighty heavens.
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:Praise Him for His mighty deeds.
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:Praise Him according to
His excellent greatness.
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:Praise Him with trumpet sound.
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:Praise Him with lute and harp.
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:Praise Him with tambourine and dance.
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:Praise Him with strings and pipe.
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:Praise Him with sounding cymbals.
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:Praise Him with loud clashing cymbals.
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:Let everything that has
breath Praise the Lord.
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:Praise the Lord
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:We worship God both for His perfect
character and for His mighty deeds.
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:As Psalm 33:1 told us,
"Praise befits the upright."
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:And since that's what you and I are
longing to become more and more, let's
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:go before the Lord and exalt Him now.
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:Heavenly Father, we praise You for Your
faithfulness to us and to our families
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:We're abundantly grateful that you
are slow to anger and abounding
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:in steadfast love You show mercy
to thousands of generations, but
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:you are also holy and righteous
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:Thank you for your faithfulness
to transform us into the
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:likeness of your Son.
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:We praise you for the beautiful
world around us that you've
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:created, from the shades of blue
in the sky to the way the trees and
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:bushes flower, and even the beauty
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:of the leaves in the fall when they
die Thank you that you are a God
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:that instills beauty in every intricacy
of creation, from the tiniest snowflake
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:to our DNA but also to the galaxies
that are yet to be discovered.
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:You are a God that is overall and supreme,
and yet you long to dwell with us.
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:Thank you that Jesus is seated at
your right hand interceding for
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:us now Keep us reliant upon you.
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:We love you and long for our children to
understand how worthy of adoration you are
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:In the name of the one who was present
at creation, Jesus Christ, we pray.
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:Amen
