Psalm 78
Tuesdays are important corporate days of Prayer and Fasting for the Kansas City Underground as we pray along with our family and friends throughout the world. In North America, as we step fully into the first full month of fall in 2023, we are looking at the Psalm on the first Tuesday of this month that invites brothers and sisters around the world to wonder.
As you are invited to be captivated by some of the wonders of God in Psalm 78 during this autumn season, listen to the questions below, wonder, pray, and sing again the song we were invited to sing during the first Prayer Guide for August...
“Have you ever seen the wonder in the glimmer of first sight as the eyes begin to open and the blindness meets the light? If you have so say: I see the world in light! I see the world in wonder! ...“
Theme: Remember the Wonders He Has Done, Look for the Wonders He Is Doing
Today’s scriptures:
Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 in the NIV, The Message (MSG)
Read Psalm 78:1-4:
NIV: My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old—things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, His power, and the wonders He has done.
MSG: Listen, dear friends, to God’s truth, bend your ears to what I tell you. I’m chewing on the morsel of a proverb; I’ll let you in on the sweet old truths, stories we heard from our fathers, counsel we learned at our mother’s knee. We’re not keeping this to ourselves, we’re passing it along to the next generation—GOD’s fame and fortune, the marvelous things He has done.
Reflect:
Which of Jesus’ parables are you thinking of now? What does it mean to you? Who might you tell?
Pray:
Ask for Jesus to give you a story to tell; ask for His power to witness and then invite wonder in another.
Pause & Wonder:
The more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild.
– G.K. Chesterton
Read Psalm 78:12-16:
NIV: He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. He divided the sea and led them through; He made the water stand up like a wall. He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night. He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas; He brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
MSG: He performed miracles in plain sight of their parents in Egypt, out on the fields of Zoan. He split the Sea and they walked right through it; He piled the waters to the right and the left. He led them by day with a cloud, led them all the night long with a fiery torch. He split rocks in the wilderness, gave them all they could drink from underground springs; He made creeks flow out from sheer rock, and water pour out like a river.
Reflect:
What miracles do you thank God for? What miracles do you pray to God for? How does He lead you?
Pray:
Ask for God to perform a miracle. Name it. Keep praying for it. Split the sea. Light the darkness. Overflow.
Sing:
“... Have you ever seen the wonder in the air of second life having come out of the waters with the old one left behind? If you have so say ... I see the world in grace! I see the world in Gospel! I see the world Your way and I’m walking in the light! I’m walking in the wonder! You’re the wonder in the wild turning wilderness to wonder! ...“
Wonder:
Consider these words and remind yourself to wonder in the days ahead:
Jesus’ faithfulness to me, my family and friends, my microchurch, and my neighbors continues to be a wonder. I wonder at His grace when I don’t deserve it. I wonder at His call for me to follow Him and His Way even when I don’t know where He is leading me next. And in my wonder, I hope and pray my faithfulness becomes more like His as I finish 2023 so that others may receive more of His love through me.