As our experience of God’s grace and power increases, we are prompted to ask with the psalmist: “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Psalm 116:12, NKJV). The inevitable reply is to devote one’s life to being faithful to God. In the Psalms, Israel is not simply a nation but “the great assembly” (Psalm 22:22, 25, NKJV; Psalm 35:18). This reveals Israel’s primary calling to praise God and to bear witness about Him to other nations because the Lord wants all the world to join His people in worship. The Lord’s people are identified with the righteous, who worship the Lord and whose hope is in Him and in His love.
Praising the Lord in the congregation is perceived as ideal worship. This does not mean that the prayer and praise of the individual in Israel
assume a secondary meaning. By contrast, the individual’s worship of God feeds the communal worship with renewed praise (Psalm 22:22, 25)
while in turn individual worship develops its fullest potential in close relationship with the community. The worshiping community also is called the “assembly of the upright” (Psalm 111:1). The upright know God (Psalm 36:10) and are known by God (Psalm 37:18), and this experience
permeates every aspect of their existence.
Thought questions: How can we make conscious choices to avoid the things that push us away from God? What are some of those things, and how can we avoid doing them?