Psalm 96 ¹Sing a new song to the Lord!  Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! ²Sing to the Lord; praise his name.  Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. ³Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.  Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. ⁴Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!  He is to be feared above all gods. ⁵The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens! ⁶Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.

⁷O nations of the world, recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. ⁸Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!  Bring your offering and come into his courts. ⁹Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.  Let all the earth tremble before him. ¹⁰Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”  The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.  He will judge all peoples fairly.

¹¹Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!  Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! ¹²Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!  Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise ¹³before the Lord, for he is coming!  He is coming to judge the earth.  He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth.

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How many times have you heard someone say they’re sorry, but their tone clearly revealed that they weren’t sorry at all?  How many times have you been the person doing just that?  It seems like people in our culture have a difficult time actually allowing themselves to regret a wrong action or feel sorrow for hurting someone else or even admit that they did anything wrong.  We always like to come up with excuses for our behavior.  It seems even more difficult for some people to actually forgive when they’ve been hurt.  So what do we do with all that emotion?  And does giving or receiving forgiveness actually do us any good?  What do you think?

This talk I gave last year was an emotional one for me.  I even felt choked up listening to it again.  But I sure am glad to have learned some things about dealing with this stuff in my own life.  What experiences have you had that you’ve learned from?

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