Exalt His Name

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore!  From the rising of the sun to its going down, the Lord’s name is to be praised. 

(Psalm 113:2-3, NKJV)

Often times I have found my surroundings have a strong impact on how I feel and how I understand my day or life at that particular time.  What I listen to and what I see feeds the pictures and the thoughts that I carry in my mind which in turn grow into feelings deep within my heart.  It is said that what we allow to occupy our senses, create pictures in our minds whether true or imaginary, they raise feelings in our hearts.  Our minds do not differentiate between the truth or imaginations, it considers them both real and so they produce related emotions.  That is why when we watch a movie with difficult scenes, we get sad and some cry, forgetting this is  acting on screen and not the reality of their lives.  The power of feelings is what helps us to relate to others and to situations around us.  They also move us to take actions which we understand respond to the situation being communicated by our feelings.  When we operate only by our feelings, there will be instances when we fail to do what we need to do, and so the need to balance our feelings with reality and logic. 

Brethren, today let us look at praising God regardless of what our situations are the feelings that we are holding in our hearts.  Depending on what you are facing in your life, there are moments when praising God does not come naturally, but dear ones this should not be and so the need for us to overrule our feelings and praise God in spite of what we are naturally drawn to.  Our reference verse reminds us that the name of the Lord is to be praised all day, regardless of how the day turns out.  King David the psalmist was one individual who had tough times as he had many battles to fight and yes, there were times he felt quite down, yet he still had the revelation that the name of the Lord is to be praised.  It is not a matter or choice when we praise God, it is what is required of us and the right thing to do.

 Beloved, God is not ignoring the hard times and struggles we are facing, but He still wants us to praise Him for when we do, we lift up our eyes to Him removing them from our circumstances and we find His help (Psalm 121). Remember Paul and Silas in prison and in the night they chose to praise God with hymns, the result was a shaking of the prison and subsequent freedom by the hand of God alone (Acts 16:25-26).  God used their praise as an entry to show Himself powerful on their behalf.  Joshua and the children of Israel facing the wall of Jericho were asked to praise God led by Judah and the priests with trumpets, the outcome was the wall of Jericho falling down by a shout (Joshua 6:1-16).  The instruction was not to fight back but to revere God as they marched round the wall for seven days.  God showed up in their obedience and this caused fear in the hearts of other nations.  Power of obedience and praise.

 Prophet Habakkuk clearly understood the power of praising God even in tough times and he said that though there is no good around him, he will still praise the Lord for He is his strength (Habakkuk 3:17-19).  There must be something that he knew of the power of his praise and he was prepared to continually offer it to God.  Brethren, remember that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).  It is in our praises that He is enthroned in our lives and He chooses to dwell.  God almighty could choose anything and anywhere, but He lets us know that praises are His chosen habitation.  When we realize how much we need Him each moment of our lives, then we want to endear Hm to our spaces through our praises.  Beloved, even when you do not feel like doing anything, just lift up a praise to God and watch Him show up in your situation, starting with lifting the burden from your heart so that you can see clearly.  Let us with the psalmist declare that praise awaits our God who answers prayers and to whom all peoples come (Psalm 65:1-2).  May we find the desire to offer God our praises, giving His heart joy and we in turn receiving strength for the journey.

 Thoughts:

How freely do you offer God praise?

What has hindered your full praise to God?

What has been the result of your praises especially when in pain?

How will you increase your praises to God?