Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Yesterday the Lord flooded my thoughts with the emphasis of rest. There was…

• An Our Daily Bread video devotional titled ‘Even God Rested’
• An Elevation Church Sermon titled ‘Rethinking Rest’
• And another sermon title I saw, ‘An Invitation To Rest’

…Clearly the Father, Son and Holy Spirit affirmed that we should spend this week seeking the LORD’s rest.

Today’s scripture, Psalms 116:7-9 (NLT) says…
[7] Let my soul be at rest again, for the LORD has been good to me. [8] He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. [9] And so I walk in the LORD’s presence as I live here on earth!

Consider…
Today in the United States, is the federal holiday Labor Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of American workers and pays tribute to the labor movement that fought for workers’ rights, like the 40-hour work week and safer conditions.

On this day, all federal offices are closed, as well as schools and companies. Unlike some of the other U.S. holidays, Labor Day is one that sets aside a day to rest and remember.

Similarly, although written millennias earlier, we read in Genesis 2:2-3 (ERV)…
[2] God finished the work he was doing, so on the seventh day he rested from his work. [3] God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. He made it special because on that day he rested from all the work he did while creating the world.

While the U.S. sets aside one day of the year to pause and remember it’s work contributions to society, God sanctified one day of every week to rest and remember what He has done.

That hit play on today’s Wes Angeles choir singing…

SOP: He has done marvelous
He has done marvelous things
Praise the Lord

ALTO: Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous, marvelous things
Praise the Lord

TEN: He has done marvelous
He’s done marvelous
Praise the Lord

One of the cool things about this simple little diddy is although each part celebrates the marvelous things God has done uniquely, the come together in harmony on Praise the Lord!

That’s a great reminder that although God may do different marvelous things in each of our lives, we should come together in harmony and shout PRAISE THE LORD!

The Holy Spirit reminded me of one of the ten commandments in Exodus 20:8-11 (NLT)…
[8] “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. [9] You have six days each week for your ordinary work, [10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. [11] For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Notice, we’re supposed to set apart a day to rest and remember what God has done. Over time we’ve distorted that expectation by making it about us resting from our work rather than the LORD’s.

Today’s scripture is a wonderful reset of our thinking. Let’s look closer at what it says…

• First, we see the repetitiveness of rest, found in…Let my soul be at rest again
• Next we see the remembering in rest, found in…for the LORD has been good to me.
• Lastly we see the response of rest, found in…so I walk in the LORD’s presence as I live here on earth!

Thus the routine of rest in God is to Repetitively Remember what God has done for you and respond by remaining in His presence always.

Yesterday, the Holy Spirit challenged me to reorient my schedule making to include God, to instead follow the schedule He made for me.

• Everyday that God wakes me up, I must remember to walk with, and in Him
• Every night before I close my eyes to sleep, I must remember what He did for me throughout the day and thank Him
• And I must obediently set aside one day a week to rest and remember the marvelous things He’s done and PRAISE THE LORD!

Another thought the Holy Spirit gave me about the rest found in remembering what God’s done is it reminds of us of His protection and provision. Verse 8 from today’s scripture says…
He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.

I wonder if we truly realize and appreciate the…

• Many unseen dangers God has saved us from?
• Broken heart’s He’s spared us from?
• Paths of destruction that He’s redirected from.

The Holy Spirit reminded, that God has protected and provided for us way beyond what we’ve seen. Indeed, we can rest in the knowledge that we have His hedge of protection around us.

One of the most familiar verses we know is Psalms 23:1 (NLT)…
[1] The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

Yet we may not fully appreciate, sheep don’t worry about anything because the Shepherd provides everything they need, and protects them from dangers seen and unseen. The Holy Spirit also showed me, all a sheep has to do when in need or danger is cry, baa. Similarly, all we have to do when we’re in need or danger is cry, Abba, and our Heavenly Father is always near, will respond.

Accordingly, we can and should find rest in repetitively remembering…
The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

We can find rest for our weary souls by repetitively remembering God is the source of our sustenance and salvation.

Indeed, there’s rest in repetitively remembering with the Psalmist in Psalm 27:1 (KJV)…
[1] The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

As the Holy Spirit saturates my soul with remembering to rest in the LORD, He’s also showing me that conversely fatigue comes from forgetting what God’s done and doing in our lives. 🤯

As I wrote that, the Holy Spirit played a snipit of Brandon Lake singing…

So come on, my soul
Oh, don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song
‘Cause you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord

Today, let’s be intentional about routinely, repetitively remembering and responding to the marvelous things the LORD has done and is doing for us. And let’s regularly take time to rest and praise Him for it!

Today’s song is…
Marvelous Things

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)