A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 98

A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 98
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, For He is coming to judge the earth (Psalm 98:1, 8-9).
 
God has given us so much to rejoice and sing about. What a blessing music is in the heart of the redeemed! The Lord’s victory over sin, and His coming again to establish His kingdom on earth is certainly something to sing about! It’s one of the biggest, most important events recorded in Scripture. What a celebration the coming of the Lord will be! Our salvation in Jesus means we who love Him will enter into all God has prepared for us. 
 
As a new believer, at the age of 19, I became aware of Christian music for the first time. Most of the songs I heard and sang were hymns. To this day I continue to love the depth of the lyrics in classic hymns. Many hymns include the theme of the second coming of Christ. The hymn Christ is Coming From on High by Henry Ostrom is one example. (Perhaps this hymn was inspired by Psalm 98?)
 
Heirs of vic­to­ry are we
Through the Christ of Cal­va­ry;
Storms may beat and foes as­sail;
But His king­dom can­not fail.
Christ is com­ing, shout your praise;
Lo! the dawn of bet­ter days;
Christ is com­ing from on high,
Victory is ve­ry nigh;
Christ is com­ing from on high,
Victory is ve­ry nigh.
He who came will come again;
Raise your hopes, O sons of men!
We His king­dom’s dawn have seen;
What though clouds may in­ter­vene?
His ap­pear­ing draw­eth nigh;
Cease your doubt­ing, hush the sigh,
Our in­her­it­ance is sure;
Christ hath made His Word se­cure.
Lo! He com­eth, and shall reign;
We have not be­lieved in vain;
In our hearts who speaks re­lease
Brings from Heav’n His reign of peace.
 
In the early 70s I started listening to the contemporary Christian music coming out of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. The songs of that era impacted a generation! Songs about the victory of Jesus and His second coming were an important part of the Jesus People movement. Two of those songs were I Wish We’d All Been Ready by Larry Norman, and Maranatha by Chuck Girard and Love Song.

Here are the Lyrics to Maranatha…
Maranatha, Maranatha, the Master's comin' home
We must prepare our hearts so we can meet Him,
Maranatha, Maranatha, the Lord is comin' back
We must be filled with love to truly greet Him.
The Master went away from us two thousand years ago. He left us with His promise to return.
How our hearts do long for Him, we miss the Master so. We must keep the faith and let the fire burn.
He left this world in tragedy, He let them take His life, He sacrificed His blood by His own choice.
When He returns in glory, He'll come to claim His flock, The Master loves the ones who know His voice.
 
The Bible is alive with the promises of Jesus’ second coming. These promises far out number the promises of His first coming. There are over 300 promises in Scripture that speak about the Lord’s return. It’s something God wants us to know about, to care about, to talk about, and to rejoice about. It is the hope of all hopes. It is the greatest ending to the greatest story ever told! It will be the one event that actually fulfills the popular saying, “It can’t get any better than that!”
 
Insight: Here are a few things we can BE as we await His return:
BE alert,
BE unafraid,
BE standing firm,
BE watchful,
BE ready,
BE faithful,
BE wise,
BE expectant.

#psalms #devotional #devotion #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow
©2026 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.
 
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A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 97

 A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 97
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

You who love the Lord, hate evil!
He preserves the souls of His saints;
He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name (Psalm 97:10-12).
 
Our focus in Psalm 96 was upon the beauty of God’s holiness. In Psalm 97 we are reminded that the beauty of holiness has an enemy—it is the ugliness of evil. Both the love of the Lord and the fear of the Lord (Psalm 97:10 & Proverbs 8:13) will place within our hearts a hatred for evil. Evil is not a friend, it is an enemy of that which is good, righteous, holy and true.
 
Hating evil is not being negative, it’s being righteous; it’s not being unkind, it’s being loving, it’s not being mean to someone, it’s wanting the best for someone. Hating evil is not an Old Testament worldview, it’s a Bible worldview. Included in the prayer Jesus taught us is the request, “Deliver us from evil (and the Evil One).”
 
Nowhere in God’s kingdom is evil celebrated, admired, applauded, approved or desired. The Kingdom work God is doing in us and the Kingdom work Jesus did for us on the cross is to bring us out of darkness into God’s light, to cleanse us and free us from sin, and to bring us from spiritual death into spiritual life.
 
God’s will is to save, guard, nurture and protect our souls from anything that would attempt to steal, kill or destroy us. God preserves the souls of His children. He delivers us out of the hand of wickedness and bathes us in the splendor of His light.
 
Insight: The results of God’s work in us through the cross brings to us a priceless treasure, gladness of heart!
 
Insight: If the enemy has taken hold of us in any area of our lives, the Lord knows how to pry the enemy’s fingers loose and set us free from any stronghold.

#psalms #devotional #devotion #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow
©2026 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Shannon Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.
 
Restore, Renew and Refresh in the Psalms
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A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 96

A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 96
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! (Psalm 96:9)
 
Beauty is one of those special "welcoming" words. It's a word we like to invite into our thoughts and set a table for in our hearts. We were made to identify, enjoy, and celebrate beauty.
 
Beauty is something we want to bring into the light so we can look upon it, something we want to bring into our conversation so we can talk about it, and something we want to give to others so they can be blessed by it.
 
We were made to love beautiful things—beautiful art brings us to museums; beautiful flowers draw us to gardens; beautiful sunsets draw us to the western sky; beautiful music draws us to the symphony hall.

We were made to delight in beauty, and it is the beauty of the Lord that fills us with the greatest of all joys. The Lord invites us to draw close to Him, to look upon His beautiful character, and to examine His ways. The closer we come, the more beauty we see.
 
In Isaiah 6:3 we read, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." God the Father is holy, Jesus Christ is holy, and the Holy Spirit is holy.
 
Another way of understanding the word "holy" is "beauty." Each person of the Godhead is beautiful because each person is holy. Their character is beautiful, their nature is beautiful, their ways are beautiful, their attitudes are beautiful, their glory is beautiful, and their presence in our hearts is beautiful.
 
Every aspect of beauty is found in its fullness, in God alone. God has no stains, no impurities, and no defilement. His holiness allows us to delight in Him, enjoy Him, and behold Him in deep adoration.
 
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan once said, "The Holy Spirit is the Creator of beauty."
 
This is what the Bible says about the beauty of God's holiness:
HOLINESS is glorious (Exodus 15:11).
HOLINESS is the true identity of the True God (Exodus 15:11).
HOLINESS guarantees that God's promises are true (Psalm 89:35).
HOLINESS brings the memories that produce thankfulness (Psalm 97:12).
HOLINESS is the garment a warrior wears into victory (Psalm 110:3).
HOLINESS will always lead us in the right direction (Isaiah 35:8).
 
All the beautiful things of God are brought to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our beauty maker. Beauty is found wherever there is truth, wherever there is goodness, wherever there is righteousness, wherever there is love. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to pour out the beauty of the Lord upon our lives.
 
In that day the LORD of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people (Isaiah 28:5 NKJV).
 
The Holy Spirit's beautiful work means He purifies us, sanctifies us, cleanses us, and washes us clean. How beautiful are His ways with us; how beautiful is His work within us as He conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ.
 
We don't need to have a big bank account to be rich. The beauty of a Godly character is that it enriches every aspect of our lives. It makes even the poorest person a wealthy person.

The wonderful thing about the beauty of the Lord is that it doesn't diminish within us through the passing years, but rather increases instead. His beauty doesn't bring less to our lives; it brings more. The magnificence of His beauty takes us to higher ground and greater depths of joy. It is the Lord's beauty that deepens our walk with Him and our love for Him.
 
 
Insight: In his book, Abba Cry, Don Lessin shares this observation about the beautiful atmosphere his wife brought to their home, “Often, when my wife is working in the house, I hear a soft and tender sound coming from her inmost being. In the midst of doing dishes, ironing clothes, or when she is hurrying about to get something done, I hear the word, “Jesus” being spoken.”

#psalms #devotional #devotion #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow

©2026 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.
 
Restore, Renew and Refresh in the Psalms
Green Pastures. Quiet Waters. Righteous Paths.
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A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 95

A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 95
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways. ‘So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’ ” (Psalm 95:1-11).
 
Praying Psalm 95
 
Lord, how wonderful You are, how gracious, how caring. You are my song. You and You alone are my Rock of salvation. I find my strength, my foundation, and my hope in You. Your mighty hand upholds me, Your ways direct me, Your presence sustains me. You are my limitless, unending source and supply.

Because You are my Rock, I am secure.
 
Lord, I build my life upon You. I am so thankful there are no flaws in You, no imperfections, no inconsistencies, no sinking sand, and that there will never be a time when I will need to move to safer ground.
 
I worship You, Lord, and bow before Your majesty. Because of You I have a song to sing, praise to bring, and a heart full of gratefulness for every good thing that comes from You. Thank you for revealing Your heart to mine, for teaching me Your ways, and for making it possible for me to enter into Your rest.
 
How blessed I am knowing You look after me in such caring ways. Your eye is upon me as a watchful Shepherd. You bring me into quiet resting places, into green pastures, and into the places that bring refreshment and joy. There is no god like You!

Nowhere!
 
Thank You for placing your hand upon me, and for sheltering me under the shadow of your wings.

Father, keep my heart tender. I desire to please You in my attitudes and actions. Help me to represent You well, in way that Honors Your wonderful name.
 
Amen!
 
Insight:  God is our Saviour, and the author of our blessedness. He is here called the rock of our salvation (v. 1), not only the founder, but the very foundation, of that work of wonder, on whom it is built. That rock is Christ; to him therefore we must sing our songs of praises, to him that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb. -Matthew Henry

#psalms #devotional #devotion #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow

©2026 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.
 
Restore, Renew and Refresh in the Psalms
Green Pastures. Quiet Waters. Righteous Paths.
meetinginthemeadow.com
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A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 94

A Devotional Journey Through the Psalms: Psalm 94
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow

He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
Unless the Lord had been my help,
My soul would soon have settled in silence.

If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul (Psalm 94:17-19).
 
When God created Adam and Eve He made them with the ability to perfectly relate to each other, to the world around them, and to God who created them. They were wonderfully made (body, soul, and spirit).
 
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (mind, will, and emotions) (Genesis 2:7).
 
Isn’t it wonderful that God speaks and we can hear His voice, God leads and we can see His footsteps, God instructs and we can know His ways.
 
Isn’t it wonderful that His Word is living and life-giving. We can eat it like bread. We can taste it like honey and be fully persuaded that the Lord is good.
 
Isn’t it wonderful that His Spirit is joined to our spirit, that we are one in the Spirit, and that His Spirit is our Helper and will lead us into all truth.
 
Isn’t it wonderful that our spiritual ears can hear what the Spirit is saying, that we can recognize His voice of peace, that we can be reassured we belong to the Lord, and that we are members of His family and joint-heirs with Christ.
 
Isn’t it wonderful that our spiritual eyes can see the beauty of the Lord, that we can see the light of His Word being a lamp unto our feet, that we can see what is unseen, and that we can see the mighty hand of God moving in miraculous ways in signs and wonders as He touches the lives of others.
 
Isn’t it wonderful that we have the mind of Christ, that His thoughts can be our thoughts, that His wisdom can be known in our everyday decisions, and that His plans can be revealed as we seek to know Him and do His will.
 
Insight: Your soul is made to be delighted in God.

Insight: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You".  - St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD)

#psalms #devotional #devotion #roylessin #meetinginthemeadow

©2026 Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Photo by Marina Bromley. Used with permission, all rights reserved.
 
Restore, Renew and Refresh in the Psalms
Green Pastures. Quiet Waters. Righteous Paths.
meetinginthemeadow.com
BlessedDayCards.com