Pastor Jesse’s Weekly Reflection
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Psalm 113
1 Praise the Lord! Yes, give praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord!
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord now and forever.
3 Everywhere—from east to west—praise the name of the Lord.
4 For the Lord is high above the nations; his glory is higher than the heavens.
5 Who can be compared with the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high?
6 He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth.
7 He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.
8 He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people!
9 He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 114
1 When the Israelites escaped from Egypt—when the family of Jacob left that foreign land—2 the land of Judah became God’s sanctuary, and Israel became his kingdom.
3 The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! The water of the Jordan River turned away.
4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs!
5 What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way? What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?
6 Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned the rock into a pool of water; yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.
Psalm 115
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.
2 Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes.
4 Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.
5 They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see.
6 They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell.
7 They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound.
8 And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.
9 O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield.
10 O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield.
11 All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord! He is your helper and your shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us. He will bless the people of Israel and bless the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and lowly.
14 May the Lord richly bless both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to all humanity.
17 The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave.
18 But we can praise the Lord both now and forever!
Praise the Lord!
From sunrise to sunset, let your focus return to Him.
What’s the first thing you give your attention to when you wake up, and the last thing before you go to sleep?
We’re all giving our focus to something: our goals, relationships, worries, or the endless scroll. But in the middle of it all, Psalm 113:3 gives us a quiet but powerful call: "From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised."
This isn’t about forcing worship into every second of your day; it’s about living with awareness that God is present and worthy, no matter what’s on your schedule. Whether you’re rushing to class, sitting in traffic on your way to work, or winding down after a long week, there’s always space to pause and recognize Him.
It’s not about perfection, but direction.
Where can you find time today to praise Him for all He is doing?