Read: Psalm 40:9-10
I have recently been enjoying watching matches from the 2014 FIFA World Cup with my family over breakfast each day. As I was watching it struck me how nearly all of the nations, even the players on the teams, put very little effort into singing their national anthem. At best you would see a few of the players mumbling the words to the anthem while the music plays in the background. One memorable exception to this rule was the Brazilian team. Once the introduction to the anthem had played both the crowd and the team sang with all their might, practically shouting their anthem. Even after the music had stopped all the Brazilian supporters and team continued to shout the whole second verse. The sound was incredible. Even through the TV you could get a sense of the passion that these thousands of people had for their country and for their team.
If this is how passionate these men and women are for their country how much more should we be passionate about proclaiming the goodness and grace of God and declaring the salvation that He has freely given us through Christ? Just think about it for a moment. Brazil may have given these people some measure of freedom, a place to call home and some level of law and order. How much more have we been given by God? We too ought to be passionate in praising and proclaiming Him.
We see here in Psalm 40 that this is how David responds to God’s salvation. He responds by publicly and passionately praising God and proclaiming God to others. Again we see the process we described on Monday at work:
God’s Salvation —> Praise to God —> Others Praising God
David’s praise to God is not merely private. He doesn’t just go into a back room to pray and give thanks to God or sing quietly to himself while God’s people are gathered. He insists twice that he won’t keep silent about what God has done and that he will not keep God’s goodness to himself. Instead David proclaims all that God has done in the “great assembly” of God’s people.
How should we give praise to God as a result of His incredible salvation given freely to us? Firstly, we ought to praise God privately. Spend time in our quiet times and our times of prayer with God to praise Him and thank Him for all that He has done for us. Spend time praising Him for who He is and what He is like. Praise Him for His grace and kindness to you.
Secondly, share what He has done with other believers. Just like David we too ought to share the goodness of God and the wonder of His salvation with God’s people. We ought to be frequently encouraging one another with all that God has done so that we might together be encouraged and praise God.
Finally, share what God has done with those who don’t know Him. With the same passion as the Brazilian soccer team we ought to share the good news of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us so that unbelievers might turn to Him in faith and praise Him for His salvation to them. Let us not keep silent, let us proclaim what God has done.
Prayer:
Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Pray that God would give you boldness to share with others about what Christ has done in your life. Pray that He would give you opportunities to share today.
¥ Pray that others in the congregation of your church would also be passionate about sharing Christ and would have opportunities today.
Imagine if believers had the same passion and fervour of the Brazilian Soccer Team and fans when they shared the good news of Christ with unbelievers. What do you think that sort of sharing would look like?
1. If you are able, share with the group about God’s goodness and kindness to you, maybe through a testimony or a story of answered prayer. Seek to encourage others as you share.
2. What are some other ways that you might you be able to proclaim God’s goodness and salvation to other believers?
Intro: We love to tell other people about exciting things that have happened to us or things that we have been given.
Share: Something exciting that happened to you or something exciting that you were given that you wanted to tell people about.
Read: Psalm 40:1-10. How do you think the David felt after God saved him? What did David do after God saved him? (hint, look in verses 9 and 10) God has saved us by sending Jesus to die for us. Who could you tell about what God has done?
Pray Together: Pray that God would help you to share about what God has done with others.
Intro: We love to tell other people about exciting things that have happened to us or things that we have been given.
Share: Something exciting that happened to you or something exciting that you were given that you wanted to tell people about.
Read: Psalm 40:1-10. How do you think the David felt after God saved him? What did David do after God saved him? (hint, look in verses 9 and 10) God has saved us by sending Jesus to die for us. Who could you tell about what God has done?
Pray Together: Pray that God would help you to share about what God has done with others.
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