Nehemiah 12:22-30
The priests that would lead worship and the people in celebrating the Lord were from the tribes of Levi, the Levites. The people were seeking the Levites to begin their celebration and festivities unto the Lord. As they were brought out to Jerusalem, they were to celebrate joyfully the songs dedicated to the Lord with great thanksgiving with all the instruments the people had. After, the priests and the Levites would lead the purification ceremony.
Our God wants us to celebrate when victories come and we ought to celebrate them with great joy within the depths of our heart. During our Korea Missions Trip, we were helping a local church host their Vacation Bible School and it was intense for 3 days in the hot, humid weather of South Korea. However when it was all done and settled, we ordered food for the entire Korean and American team to enjoy. While the food was coming that final night, the Korean team wanted to go inside the chapel and sing, inviting our missions team to join. Man we were having a blast that night. We were jumping up and down, singing and shouting from the depths of our hearts, and it was pure joy. I loved every single moment of it during that missions trip and it is certainly a major highlight this past summer. We were celebrating the completion of a successful Vacation Bible School and it was so fun to sing praises unto the Lord. Everyone that was there knows exactly what I am talking about.
Yet one thing I absolutely do not enjoy is the coming home part. It is where the celebration and the celebratory spirit starts to die down. I wish that was never the case but the reality is that we are human and we have sinful hearts. We often forget to celebrate again after. This is where we must constantly remind ourselves of the great joyous victories God has provided for us. We need to remember them, write them down, and reflect upon them with great joy and praise within our heart.
This is why I love praise at our church. I believe we have a musically talented church but we also have a humble church that loves to praise God! Every Sunday morning when I hear the congregation sing and fill the room with praise, it brings me great joy. Let us continue to celebrate who God is every single day!
Proverbs 26
Don’t respond to a foolish person the same way they are treating you for you will become just like them. It says in verse 4, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.”
Don’t meddle or stick your nose into other people’s business when it is unnecessary or does not involve you. It says in verse 17, “Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.” Grabbing a stray dog by the ear will result in consequences one may not want to experience for it will be painful. This is the same with this analogy, the only one that will get hurt is the one meddling into others’ affairs.