the first great and primary business

"The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous..."

(Psalm 118:14-15 ESV)

I read Psalm 118 this morning in my QT. I was running later than I wanted, and at times like that you are tempted to cut short your time in prayer and meditation on the Word to "get on with the day's business" (or ministry, as the case may be). I came upon verses 14 & 15 and realized that time spent in God's presence is not superfluous, but necessary.

This truth reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from George Mueller...

"I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished... I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it." (George Mueller of Bristol)

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