Praise The Lord

I have been thinking about praising the Lord and how easy it is to praise the Lord when everything is going fine.  Question: Think about this, how easy is it for you to praise the Lord when things are not going so well, when everything seems to be falling apart?  Before I get out of bed in the morning I try to remember to praise the Lord regardless of how I feel at the time because I think it is very important and I truly believe that He is worthy.  I do it silently as a prayer, telling the Lord what I feel about Him and thanking Him for who He is and what He is and what He has done and for what He is going to do!!

I realize there are people that say or think there is only one way to praise the Lord and that is with music and singing and dancing and happiness.  I think all these things are fine and biblical, but you can do all these things and just be all emotionally stirred and miss the true purpose of why you are doing what you are doing because your heart may not be affected, and, in the end, it may not honor God at all because it was all emotion and not true worship.  I know that God inhabits the praise of His people and emotion is a part of it but if that is all it is, instead of making God happy you’ll end up making Him sad.  In different circumstances the Lord said this, I wonder if He thinks the same about us when we just go through the motions while worshipping, if it is not from the heart.

Please read Matthew 15:7-9, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Now please read Mark 7:6-8, “He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such things like ye do.”    

I know the context is not the same as what I am talking about, but I wonder if the Lord would say the same thing if He were here today, if a good part of our worship was just basically emotional?  I know God’s Word says that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people, but I think it would have to be heartfelt worship.  Do you worship the Lord when you’re not in your community, or what we call church?  Which doesn’t make sense to me seeing that the saints are the church, how do we go to church?  Think of this, if you don’t want to praise the Lord here then why would you want to go to heaven where you will be praising the Lord often.  These verses just came to mind, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind,” and also this one, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Think about this, why do you worship the Lord?  Is it from a duty that you think you need to perform or is it a performance to show everyone how spiritual you are, or do you go through the motions because everyone else is doing it and you don’t want to look out of place?  Or, is it from a deep-felt expression and gratitude to express your deep-felt love and appreciation for what the Lord has done in and through your life?  This is something to really think about.

The way I feel is that we can praise the Lord in many ways.  We can praise the Lord in the work that we do, in the way we witness, in the way that we show love, and not by just words but by our actions, by the way we bless others, and by the way we encourage and build others up in the faith, and I could go on and on but I think you got the message!!  If we are truly believers, we all have a testimony and can share that testimony and give the Lord all the glory and praise for setting us free and taking us out of the slimy pit that we were in, and forgiving us our sins and trespasses, and making us a new creation in Him and putting our feet on the solid rock which is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Praise the Lord!!

Enough said, I hope this has been a help and an encouragement and may the good Lord bless you and yours and may you all have a super day!!  PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!