Advent Devotional - December 13
Psalm 150
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
REFLECTION
Advent is a time we like to decorate. We string lights from our homes, hang greenery from our cars’ grilles, and erect nativity scenes on our lawns. A well-lit tree may be seen from the street in our windows. In an age when colors and lights can be deemed “loud,” the visual noise of Advent can become deafening.
We do such things every year in order to bear witness to the coming of Christ our Lord. How sad that decorations now blend into the season like so much red and green background noise. All too often, our efforts to proclaim Christ’s coming are reduced to a dull roar of indistinct praise.
While scripture certainly includes examples of praising God with glitz and decoration, far more often it calls for us to praise Him with noise! With song, with cymbal, with harp, pipe, even dance! Psalm 150 is nothing but a call to praise the Lord with sound.
Carolers of yore may well have been onto something. It is easy to drive past another well-lit display without directing our hearts to the coming of our Lord. Voices and music, however, reach the hearts of others in ways no string of lights ever could. God is indeed great, deserving of praise for His mighty deeds and surpassing greatness.
PRAYER
Lord, help me feel empowered to praise the Lord with such zeal that everything that breathes cannot ignore my joy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edward Lewis is currently finishing his final year at Princeton Theological Seminary and is pursuing ordination in the PC(USA). He was confirmed at PHPC in 2003, later serving as Youth Elder and a Young Adult Volunteer in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He and his wife Caite currently live in Pennsylvania where she is completing her residency in General Surgery.
today's act of kindness
Subtract one thing from your day today- and use the extra quiet time to pray for refugees and migrants all over the world.
