Day 179 Bible Readings – Psalm 98: 1-2 (ESV)

1 Kings 20 & 21, Acts 18: 9-28, Acts 19: 1-13, Psalm 98

Psalm 98: 1-2(ESV)

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.”

When I read through Psalm 98, I thought it would make a great song if it was set to music and sure enough I found many versions of this psalm on YouTube. Instead of a contemporary version, I liked the traditional choir version of this song the best.

Here’s Psalm 98 sung the Wakefield Cathedral Choir – enjoy!

Day 178 Bible Readings – Acts 17: 29 (ESV)

1 Kings 18-19, Acts 17: 22-34, Acts 18: 1-8, Psalm 97

Acts 17: 29 (ESV)

“Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.”

Verse 29 from Acts 17 is Paul’s advice to the people of Athens on how they should think of God. If we know that we are children of God, then God cannot be represented by how man can imagine him or view him in gold, silver, or stone. As children of God, we are responsible for how we view him. We must have “correct or right” ideas about God and know that God cannot represented by how an artist might view him. God made the world and was too big to dwell in temples. Since God made everything including his offspring, it would be impossible for us for represent him in any art that we may make.   

I think that what Paul is saying to the people of Athens is that their view of who God is so small compared to the God followed by the people who believed in Christ. Why would they want to worship such a “small god”, when they could worship a God who is greater and more powerful and who sees them as “offspring” and offers the forgiveness of sin and could resurrect the dead. Paul’s argument may sound strange to our modern ears, but he was speaking to a Greek audience who worshipped many gods. I like this verse because it gives us an illustration of the beginnings of the Christian church and how they worked to establish the church of Christ.  

Day 177 Bible Readings – Psalm 96: 1-2 (ESV)

1 Kings 16 & 17, Acts 17: 1-21, Psalm 96

Psalm 96: 1-2 (ESV)

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.”

Verses 1 and 2 from Psalm 96 sound like another song to me, so I did an internet search for songs that were built around Psalm 96 and found this delightful version by Wendell Kimbrough called “Sing, Sing, Sing Psalm 96.” It’s a country blue grassy rendition of a psalm which is very cool to me because I rarely hear bible songs written as country / bluegrass songs.

For your listening pleasure – Enjoy!

Day 176 Bible Readings – Psalm 95: 1-2 (ESV)

1 Kings 14: 21-31, 1 Kings 15, Acts 16: 16-40, Psalm 95

Psalm 95: 1-2 (ESV)

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”

When I read verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 95 I thought it sounded like the lyrics of a song. When I did an online search, I didn’t find any well-known songs based on Psalm 95 but I found a band called “Sons of Korah” who create music based on the Psalms. This group is from Australia and their music is amazing. Here’s their website where you can listen to short tracks of all of psalms they set to music – Sons of Korah music

Here's the YouTube video of the Sons of Korah with their musical version of Psalm 95 –  

Enjoy!