Remembering to Praise

Hello there, welcome to today's encouragement from your friends at Our Daily Bread. The devotional for today titled Remembering to Praise was written by James Banks. When our congregation built our first building, people wrote thankful reminders on the wall studs and concrete floors before the interior of the building was finished.

Pull back the drywall from the studs and you'll find them there. Verse after verse from scripture, written beside prayers of praise like, you are so good God. We left them there as a witness to future generations that regardless of our challenges, God had been kind and taken care of us. We need to remember what God has done for us and tell others about it. Isaiah exemplified this when he wrote in Isaiah 63, I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us. Later, the prophet also recounts God's compassion for his people throughout history, even telling how in all their distress, he too was distressed. But if you keep reading the chapter, you'll notice Israel is again in a time of trouble and the prophet longs for God's intervention. Remembering God's past kindnesses helps when times are hard.

Challenging seasons come and go, but his faithful character never changes. As we turn to him with grateful heart and remembrance of all he's done, we discover afresh that he's always worthy of our praise. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Isaiah chapter 63 verses 7 through 9. I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us. Yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. He said, Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me. And so he became their savior. In all their distress, he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy, he redeemed them.

He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your faithfulness throughout the generations and even right now. When we're feeling unsure of the future, would you remind us of your goodness in the past and your promise to care for us in the future? And thank you, Lord, for always being with us. And it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Thanks so much for listening today. My name is Wes Ward, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.