Bible.com.au: Reading Plan - Passing on the Faith

Reflection: Faith comes by hearing

The secular world has caught on to the importance of gratitude, a practice found in Scripture and practised by the people of God for thousands of years. As you give thanks for all that God has done for you and others, why not stop and reflect on how you are joining with God’s people across the ages in an ancient spiritual practice? What a pleasure to add to their words and songs of praise as you thank God for his many blessings.

I encourage you this day to offer your words of gratitude to God out loud at least some of the time, so that the children in your life can hear what you are saying and how you are saying it (with joy and gladness). You are also modelling this ancient practice to them so that they have the opportunity to praise God also.

Sometimes the act of participating in praise lifts our spirits, enabling us to praise from our hearts.

Let’s also consider how we help the children in our midst to learn how to praise and honour God as part of daily life, as well as give them opportunities to do so, thereby aiding their own spiritual development.

What a way to teach the children in our life that our trust in God is not reliant on our feelings and that our actions can change the way that we feel.

Is giving thanks to God part of your regular activity?

What are the children in your life praising God for? Have you invited this recently?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of being able to praise you through the prayers and psalms of others, or in our own words. Thank you for who you are and for all that you have done for us. I especially give you thanks now for _____. Amen.

Psalms 9:1-20

Psalm 9

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.

1I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

3My enemies turn back;

they stumble and perish before you.

4For you have upheld my right and my cause,

sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.

5You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

6Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,

you have uprooted their cities;

even the memory of them has perished.

7The Lord reigns forever;

he has established his throne for judgment.

8He rules the world in righteousness

and judges the peoples with equity.

9The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

10Those who know your name trust in you,

for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

11Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;

proclaim among the nations what he has done.

12For he who avenges blood remembers;

he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.

13Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!

Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

14that I may declare your praises

in the gates of Daughter Zion,

and there rejoice in your salvation.

15The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;

their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

16The Lord is known by his acts of justice;

the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

17The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,

all the nations that forget God.

18But God will never forget the needy;

the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

19Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;

let the nations be judged in your presence.

20Strike them with terror, Lord;

let the nations know they are only mortal.

Passing on the Faith

Day 6 of 14

NIV

Psalms 9:1-2

Days

Psalms 9:1-20