Thursday, April 7, 2011

Psalm 119 Qoph (145-152)

In continuing from two days' ago reflection on salvation, the Qoph section of Psalm 119 depends heavily and the word Qara, or "call upon." And this phrase, call upon, is one that I would like to focus on for a moment. "Call upon the name of the LORD" is the earliest description of repentance and trust in God in the Bible. Adam's grandson Enosh is born around the time humanity starts calling on the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:26). Calling on the name of the LORD is also prayer/worship language, as demonstrated by the prophets and the psalms. Acts 2:21 continues this language into the New Testament- all who call upon the name of the LORD are to be saved (Romans 10:13 quotes this as well, a quote from the book of Joel).

How incredibly important is our prayer and our worship! Worship, with our prayers, our confession, our praise, our lament, the reading of the Word, the Lord's Table, is an avenue of God's grace. Worship looks differently in different times and places, but the core of calling on the name of the LORD remains from age to age. So let's find time to call upon God's name in our lives and in our life together as the Church.

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