Stretch out Your hand from above; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, From the hand of foreigners, – Psalm 144:7

Scripture reading: Psalm 144

Tomorrow is the Lord’s day. Do you have for yourself and your family a pattern of preparing on Saturday for the Lord’s day upcoming? It was once very common in historic, reformed churches that prior to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper there was a preparatory service. This was excellent! Maybe the sermon had a special emphasis on preparing – but what about preparing to worship Him every Lord’s Day? This verse can be of great help to us in preparing to worship God corporately tomorrow.

Okay, how? Well, this verse reminds us that had not God reached into this world to save us we would be utterly lost. Tomorrow would have been golf or shopping or overtime at work, but not worship. In thinking carefully about this verse it should occur to us that we never even raised our hand to say “help” until God had first given us spiritual life to know we needed to be rescued. Regeneration precedes conversion. God needed to give us eyes to see before we saw that we were naked and without any spiritual funds at all. When you wake tomorrow, thank Him. Praise Him that you get to worship Him because He entered to deliver us out of death. Remember, the battle is the Lord’s and He fought in Jesus Christ to save you, to give you life everlasting. Praise God! So, do you have a plan of how to prepare today to worship tomorrow?

Suggestions for prayer

Ask God to settle your heart, mind and hands by the end of this day that you might worship Him fully and freely in spirit and truth tomorrow.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Harold Miller is the pastor of the Covenant Reformed Church (URCNA) of Kansas City, Missouri.