You can’t quell the glory of God. In Luke 19 the people had begun joyfully to praise God in loud voices when the Pharisees ordered Jesus to rebuke them. Verse 40 says, “I tell you, He replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Rejoicing in the Lord can not be contained…it must burst forth in worship of our Heavenly Father and what He’s done for us. Just like Jesus couldn’t keep His presence secret in that house, our praise and worship of God can’t be silenced or suppressed either.
Tag: Praise the Lord
Psalm 113:2 ” Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forever more.”
Most of us have a very short attention span. So attempting to understand the concept of forever more can be mind-boggling. We can’t stay focused on something for 15 minutes, and this verse tells us to praise the Lord for an indefinite, limitless amount of time! But if we think about forever more in another way…someday we’ll find ourselves in the very Throne Room of God singing in the heavenly choir, “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13) …and time won’t matter anymore, for we’ll be in the presence of the Lord.
Psalm 108:3-4 ” I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of You among the peoples. For great is Your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”
Having a really bad day? Go outside then, take a deep breath, and look up into the sky. Now celebrate the fact that God’s majesty is on display just for you. Thank Him that He sought you out in your brokenness and worked a miracle in your life. Proclaim to Him again your trust in His son, Jesus Christ. Gaze up into the sky and recognize… that vast expanse above you can not start to contain God’s love for you.
John 1:38-39 ” They said, ‘Rabbi (which means teacher), where are You staying?’ ‘Come,’ He replied, ‘and you will see.’ “
“Come and see”…the Lord’s invitation still stands true for you today. He beckons you to draw near and discover who He really is. He challenges you to put aside self and begin a quest for all things holy. “Come and see” is His call to the depths of your soul to scrutinize, probe, and delve deeply into what it means to be a Believer…for in the end, old beliefs, falsehoods, and biases will be turned upside down in the light of His truth. “Come and see.”
Acts 16: 25-26 ” About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.”
Earlier in the day, Paul and Silas had been stripped, severely flogged and then thrown into prison. So we now find them hours later holding their own praise and worship service to a rather captive audience of fellow prisoners and guards. They could have wallowed in their sorrow and pain, but instead chose to worship God. When we praise God in the midst of impossible situations, the atmosphere changes and with it, our attitude. Our eyes are taken off the incurable, the grief-stricken, the hopeless dilemma…and allows God to work in miraculous ways. It says here that the earthquake caused all the prison doors to open…not just the one to Paul and Silas’s cell, and that everybody’s chains came off…not just theirs. When our focus is on praise rather than on self-pity, everyone around us will be blessed.
Psalm 150:1 “Praise the Lord.”
Hallelujah…this well known Hebrew imperative calls for giving glory to God. But maybe you feel like you have nothing to thank God for today. Well to start off, if you’re reading this, you could thank Him for life…for breath, a beating heart and good vision to boot! The other day I saw a very thought-provoking sign. It said, “What if you woke up this morning with only the things you had thanked God for yesterday.” Wow!
Isaiah 12:4 ” Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted.”
We tend to thank God when good things happen…when prayers are answered or people are healed. But what about when things aren’t so good? Can we still find gratitude within pain and sorrow? Can we be like Job, who after losing everything near and dear to him, exclaimed,” The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, may the name of the Lord be praised.” Expressing gratitude to God within the storm moves our eyes off the chaos around us and focuses it on above.
II Chronicles 20:15 “He said: ‘Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.’ “
In so many struggles we can find ourselves totally defenseless…outmanned and outmaneuvered. And as the fighting escalates, we are worn down and demoralized by the toll it takes on us…mentally, physically, and spiritually. For when you are ill-equipped for battle…you have no chance. Why then do we think we have to do all the fighting, when God tells us He’s got our back? Spiritual warfare is His specialty, not ours. All He asks of us is to stand and watch Him work. For in Psalm 91:7-8 says, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes…”
I Chronicles 17:20 ” There is no one like You, O Lord, and there is no God but You, as we have heard with our ears.”
Maybe it’s hearing someone’s answer to pray…maybe it’s a praise report…or maybe it’s hearing that someone you’ve been praying for has finally come to know the Lord. Whatever it is, joy and thanksgiving almost explodes from us as we listen to others praising and thanking our Heavenly Father. Sharing God’s miraculous works is so important to all of us. For when we share…we all become encouraged and uplifted!
Psalm 107:21 ” Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men.”
The Lord loves to bless you in small gestures that only you would recognize. Little blessings are a way that God shows you just how special you are to Him, and that He too cares about ever aspect of your life. These unexpected little blessings should come as no surprise though…for God’s kindness and mercy is unending towards you…His love for you is unmeasurable…His desire to give you good gifts is part of His being.
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