Last night I watched a little bit of the little league World Series.  It is fun to see these young kids play a sport so enthusiastically.  I particularly love their celebrations when a good play is made.  One team even high fives the other team after a kid hit a home run that might still be going.  The first baseman, shortstop and third baseman all went over and congratulated the kid on his massive home run.  My favorite celebration was when an outfielder, who looked more like he should be playing tee ball, made a spectacular diving catch.  It was the third out and ended the other teams rally and the players went crazy!  It got me thinking a lot about celebration and what are the things that we celebrate?  The Psalms are filled with celebrations of God, who is certainly deserving of celebration.  Let’s look at Psalm 149 together today.

Praise the Lord.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.

Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
    let the people of Zion be glad in their King.

Let them praise his name with dancing
    and make music to him with timbrel and harp.

For the Lord takes delight in his people;
    he crowns the humble with victory.

Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
    and sing for joy on their beds.

May the praise of God be in their mouths
    and a double-edged sword in their hands,

to inflict vengeance on the nations
    and punishment on the peoples,

to bind their kings with fetters,
    their nobles with shackles of iron, 

to carry out the sentence written against them—
    this is the glory of all his faithful people.

Praise the Lord.

The little league world series team was jumping and dancing and shouting and piling on each other.  Maybe that’s not what we should do to celebrate God but we should certainly celebrate Him.  Celebrate what He has done and continues to do in our lives. Take time today to celebrate God with some enthusiasm.  Just give someone a warning before you jump on them!

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave