Psalm 147: ¹ Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. 

The Moravian Daily Texts is the reading plan I use to read through the bible. As we come to the end of the calendar year we’re reading the last few psalms. Today we begin Psalm 147 out of 150 psalms total. Some of the psalms express lament, pain, grief, loss. But this is a psalm of praise, which is particularly appropriate on Christmas Eve.

“How good it is to sing praises to our God…”

I’m not gonna lie, 2021 has been a difficult year after an extremely difficult 2020. There have been challenges in every area of life for sure. But there have also been many blessings. As I write this blog post I’m grateful that our son Nick is here from Charlotte, NC. Tonight our girls who live in the DFW area will join us for Christmas Eve worship. We will have dinner together with the families of other staff members who, like me, will be at church all evening long. I am enormously grateful for my co-workers at Rejoice Lutheran in Coppell, TX.

But mostly I am grateful this morning that, on the first Christmas morning over 2,000 years ago, God our Father loved the world enough to send his Son into the world – to reveal God’s love for us, to die on a cross for our sins, and to be raised on the third day. If you have no worship plans for this evening let me invite you to worship at Rejoice at 6pm (family service) or 8pm (candlelight service).

Lord Jesus, you were born in a messy, smelly stable many years ago. We thank you for your life, your death, your resurrection, and your promise of eternal life that is ours by your grace. We pray in your most holy name. Amen.