Praise

How are you doing in the praise department?  One thing I try to do is praise the Lord every single day regardless of what I feel like or what I am going through.  First of all, I know that the Lord is worthy and that He loves it when we praise Him from a pure heart.  How can we praise Him from a pure heart?  By being covered with the blood of Christ through true repentance and asking for His forgiveness for our sins and receiving Him as our Lord and Savior.  One thing about praising the Lord is you can do it anywhere and as often as you want to.  

I would like to caution everyone to be very careful of the words we sing and the attitude we have while singing praises, because we can just be going through the motions and we could be lying as we are singing and praising.  I have had to change words in songs that I am singing because what may be true for some and possibly many, may not be true for me.  For instance, if I am singing this song, “You are all I want,” I will change the word want to need.  I will sing, “You are all I need” because I know there are other things I want, but the Lord is truly all I need, or that we need.  Sometimes we can get caught up in praise in the congregations we attend and just sing the words we see on the screen and not even be aware of the words we are singing.  Remember worship and praising should not be just lip service, no, it needs to come from the heart!!

Let me put a little scripture here that relates to this subject, please read Mark 7:6-7, “He answered and said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” 

Now please read Isaiah 29:13, “Therefore the Lord said: ‘Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.’”

When worship flows from the heart I think the Lord delights in it.  Please read Psalms 136:1-3, “Praise Adonai, for He is good, for His lovingkindness endures forever. Praise the God of gods, for His lovingkindness endures forever. Praise the Lord of lords, for His lovingkindness endures forever.”

Let me encourage all who read this to take some time and start writing some praise songs yourself, then you can sing your own songs while praising the Lord and you can bless the Lord in the process.  Singing and dancing are ways to praise the Lord, along with lifting holy hands unto the Lord.  You can also praise the Lord with your actions and the words that come out of your mouth by keeping His commandments, also your work habits and by your attitude.  

I think the Lord loves it while we are going through trials and tribulations and things that we don’t understand, and we are struggling to pray or read the Word or anything that has to do with Christianity when we just feel miserable, then we decide to praise the Lord anyway.  I call that a sacrifice of praise, like Job when he went through his testing times, it wasn’t like he wasn’t struggling, we all struggle at times, some of us more than others, but Job loved the Lord and he knew that the Lord was worthy!!

Let’s read what his response was after losing almost everything he had, please read Job 1:20-22, “Then Job got up, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground and worshiped. Then he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. Adonai gave and Adonai has taken away; blessed be the Name of Adonai.’ Through all this, Job did not sin nor did he cast reproach on God.”

And after losing most of what he owned, Job experienced another test and the outcome was losing his health, read his response in the second chapter of Job verses 4-10, “The satan replied to Adonai saying, ‘Skin for skin! A man will give up all he has for his own life. But now, stretch out Your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will certainly curse You to Your face!’ Adonai said to the satan, ‘Very well, he is in your hand—only spare his life!’ So the satan departed from the presence of Adonai, and afflicted Job with painful boils, from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. He took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, ‘Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ He said to her, ‘You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Should we accept the good from God and not accept the bad?’ Through all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

As far as I am concerned Job was a man who was dedicated and committed and faithful to the Lord, his God, and one who loved Him very much.  I asked this question when starting this Tidbit, how are you doing in the praise department?  I pray that this will encourage all those who read, or hear, this Tidbit to praise the Lord regardless of their situation or circumstances.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may all of you have a super day!!