DAILY TEXT, Today Wednesday August 23, 2023, May my prayer be before you as prepared incense (Ps. 141:2).

DAILY TEXT, Today's  Wednesday August 23, 2023,  my God, may my prayer be before you as prepared incense (Ps. 141:2).

Let's Examine the Scriptures Every Day 2023

Wednesday August 23

May my prayer be before you as prepared incense (Ps. 141:2).

Jehovah will accept our worship as long as we give it to him according to his purpose and with love and respect. Because we know he deserves our worship, we want to give him the best possible worship. One way to worship Jehovah is by praying to him. The Scriptures compare the prayers to incense that was carefully prepared and offered in the tabernacle, and later in the temple. That incense was very pleasing to God. Similarly, our heartfelt prayers are “a pleasure to him” even though we use very simple words (Prov. 15:8; Deut. 33:10). Jehovah loves when we express our love and gratitude to him. And he wants us to talk to him about our wishes, worries and hopes. So, before you say a prayer to him, how about he think carefully about what he is going to say? In that way, he will offer his heavenly Father “incense” of the best quality. w22.03 20 par. 2; 21 para. 7.

What excellent opportunity do we have to praise God?

We worship Jehovah when we praise him (Ps. 34:1). And how do we praise Jehovah? Speaking appreciatively of his wonderful qualities and his works. Praise is born from a heart full of gratitude. If we take time to meditate on Jehovah's goodness—on all the good things he has done for us—we will never run out of reasons to praise him. Preaching gives us an excellent opportunity to offer God "a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips" (Heb. 13:15). Just as we should think carefully about what we are going to say before praying to Jehovah, we do well to think carefully about what we will say to people when we go to preach to them. We want our “praise sacrifice” to be of the highest quality. As we bring the truth to others, we speak from the heart.

How do Jehovah's people benefit from attending the meetings, and how have they helped you?

We worship Jehovah when we attend meetings. The ancient Israelites were told: “Three times a year all your males must appear before Jehovah your God in the place he chooses” (Deut. 16:16). They had to leave their home and fields unguarded. But Jehovah promised them: “No one will want to take your land when you go up to see the face of Jehovah your God” (Ex. 34:24). The Israelites attended the annual festivals with full faith in Jehovah. Thus they derived great benefits: they deepened their understanding of God's Law, meditated on his goodness, and enjoyed the encouraging fellowship of other servants of Jehovah.—Deut. 16:15. We too benefit when we make sacrifices to attend meetings. And how happy Jehovah must be when we come prepared to give brief, thoughtful comments.

Why is singing to Jehovah an important part of our worship?

We worship Jehovah when we sing to him with our brothers (Ps. 28:7). For the Israelites, singing was an important part of their worship. For example, King David arranged for 288 Levites to be temple singers (1 Chron. 25:1, 6-8). Today, we have the opportunity to express our love to God by singing songs of praise. The quality of our voice is not the most important thing. Consider this example: when we speak, “we all stumble many times,” but that doesn't stop us from speaking up in the congregation and in the ministry (James 3:2). In the same way, we should not allow the defects in our voice to prevent us from singing praises to Jehovah.

As Psalm 48:13 shows, why should we set aside time for family Bible study?

We worship Jehovah when we study his Word and tell our children about him. Each Sabbath, the Israelites had the opportunity to put aside their daily routine and strengthen their friendship with Jehovah (Ex. 31:16, 17). Faithful Israelites taught their children about Jehovah and his goodness. In our case, we must set aside time in our schedule to read and study the Word of God. That is part of our worship of Jehovah and helps us draw closer to him (Ps. 73:28). Also, when we study together as a family, we can help a new generation—our children—cultivate a loving personal relationship with our loving heavenly Father (see Psalm 48:13).

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