Giving God Praise in the Trials

Remember the story in the book of Acts when Paul and his buddy, Silas, were thrown into prison and an earthquake caused the prison doors to open? That Bible story has always fascinated me, especially after I heard a song based on this story. [Here's a link to the song if you're interested: "Jailhouse Rock" by Farrell and Farrell.]

These guys were dedicated to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, but life wasn't going so well at the moment. People got really mad at Paul and Silas and they were tossed into prison. I think the thing that always fascinated me was the fact that the prisoners didn't run when they could have! If I were in that situation I certainly would have tried to escape.

Here's the scene:

Paul and Silas Acts 16: 25-30
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”


Another thing that is really fascinating about this story that I never picked up on until a few years ago was the fact that they were singing praise songs in their time of trouble! What an example these two missionaries are for me.

Paul and Silas had absolutely no sane reason to be singing praise songs in their situation. They did it anyway. God moved mightily on their behalf. Their response? They didn't try to escape from their current problem. Their decision to stay was a witness to others and allowed them to lead the jailer to Christ.

Giving God praise and thanks in those hard times is something He's been teaching me. When I feel like grumbling or escaping, I've been reminded to sing His praises. It's not easy to do and it's definitely not the first thing I think of. But, I trying to...

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. (The Doxology)

Worship Music: Who Are We Really Worshiping?

  

Worship Music: How much of what we hear and sing is truly directed toward God?

I was in my car running some errands and turned on a talk radio program. I'm not even sure what program it was. The program was more than half over and the host introduced a young woman. She said something that struck a chord (no pun intended) with me. She said something to the effect that most of the Christian "worship" music we hear on the radio is all about what God can do for me.

Ouch! Sadly, that is true. Also sadly, I've been such a needy child of God for the past year that I really have been guilty of spending more time focused on my needs and neglecting to send back that thanksgiving and praise to Whom it belongs.

Heal me. Make me feel better. Take away these hurts. Show me what You want me to do. Help me understand. Protect me. And the list of needs goes on and on...

Don't get me wrong. All of these are legitimate needs and sincere requests to be made of God. But, they can definitely get us "out of balance" if it's always one-sided. (FYI: I'm not condemning modern Christian music.)

Someone once pointed out that very few songs are written with the singer giving direct praise to God. Most are written with a "let's all praise God together" focus. Even the Doxology, "Praise God to Whom all blessings flow," is all about us telling each other how great He is. Corporate worship is great, needed, and Biblical. I also need intimate worship where I am directly telling God how much He means to me. This also put God back in the throne where He belongs. Singing "How Great is Our God" together is fabulous. But sometimes I need to turn that into "How Great are YOU, God!" By the way, I can do this corporately or alone in the car!

If you begin reading through all the Psalms, you'll notice that most of them will include a good balance of all these things (Psalm 109). And some are strictly all praise focused toward God (Psalm 104).

I realized today that I need to be more intentional about worshiping God directly, praising His name, and exalting Him because... "It's all about you, Jesus." This means in song and in prayer, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14.

The speaker on the radio said something else that was very interesting. She sometimes likes to listen to Christian rap music. Why? Because with that type of music she is unable to sing along with it. It forces her to listen to the words. Hmmm. Interesting.

That got me to thinking about my own life. I'm a singer and help lead music at my church. I've been doing it for a long time and truly love singing. However, last fall I sensed God was leading me to make a few changes. I simply did not feel like singing any longer, so it was time to step down from my leadership position and take a sabbatical.

I did just that and an amazing thing happened: I listened. I tried to sing, but could not bring myself to do so most of the time. So I really listened. However, I did sing inside my heart and mind. I paid close attention to the words and I still worshiped. I particpated even though my mouth wasn't moving.

This listening was not limited to church services. The same thing happened to me when I was in my car. Instead of singing along with songs on the radio (which I always do), I listened. All of this listening was part of the long process that God was taking me through to give me rest, but it was also a time when He wanted to teach me. In the process I was being spiritually renewed. (I'm slowly going back to singing and serving again.)

Well, just wanted to share these things that I'm pondering in my own life. What do you think about all of this? Or have you ever thought through any of these things?

Wordy Wednesday

Psalm 43:3-4

Send out your light and your truth;

let them guide me.

Let them lead me to your holy mountain,

to the place where you live.

There I will go to the altar of God,

to God—the source of all my joy.

I will praise you with my harp,

O God, my God!

Blessed Assurance

Listen to the song

This song was on my mind this morning. I grew up hearing it regularly in church. There's just something comforting and familiar about the song. It's a reminder of my rich heritage of believing family members. It's also a fond reminder of all the years sitting on a pew and hearing these great hymns of faith being sung by people I have called my church family. I know my parents thought I wasn't listening half the time, but I was. Kids hear more than adults think they hear.

Besides all of those memories, the words to this song are just so rich in meaning. In this world I have so very little assurance of anything or anyone. Nothing lasts. It's not easy to count on anyone or anything. But I do have a blessed assurance in Jesus Christ is as my Savior. I can praise Him even when things are not going quite right. I can be at rest in the midst of unrest. And one day I will see these wonderful visions of rapture unfolding before my eyes and angels descending from above. One day I will stand before my Savior and hope to hear, "Well done my faithful servant."

For now, I am watching and waiting, looking above. I am filled with His goodness and lost in His love. Yes, this is my story, this is my song!   

The 2nd Thanksgiving

Most are familiar with the story of the 1st Thanksgiving of the Pilgrims celebrating the harvest in a new land. Their 2nd Thanksgiving was more interesting.

The summer before that 2nd Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims planted their crops and were met with drought. All seemed lost. But the Pilgrims chose to take their case to God. They set aside one full day for prayer and worship. As the Pilgrims left their meeting, the skies were overcast and soon rains began to fall. Gentle rains came for two weeks straight. The Indians observed this miracle and celebrated the 2nd Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims.

How amazing is God! His timing is perfect. He sometimes brings His people to a place where we cannot lean on own strength and must turn to Him. When we do, the blessings will rain down on us--not because we deserve it. God wants to show His glory through us to others. It's all about Him.

Be thankful. Be in prayer. Be worshipful on this Thanksgiving day.

May God's blessings rain down on you and your family.



Story source: The One Year Book of Psalms by Tyndale House Publishers.

Wordy Wednesday

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
 

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.
 

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
 

For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Wordy Wednesday

A psalm of praise of David.

I will exalt you, my God and King,
    and praise your name forever and ever.
I will praise you every day;
    yes, I will praise you forever. 

Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
    No one can measure his greatness.

 ^{--Psalm 145:1-3}
 

Thankfulness and Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has long been one of my favorite holidays. Until recent years, Thanksgiving had remained relatively untouched by commercialism. However, with the additions of Black Friday and Cyber Monday it's simply become the day before bargain shopping begins.

I love how a viral thankfulness challenge has taken hold on Facebook and the blogosphere. There is a 30-Day Thankfulness Challenge during the month of November. Each day participants post a reason to be thankful. If you haven't started yet, I highly recommend participating in some way. Even if you don't wish to participate publicly on Facebook, start a journal or jot down a few words on your daily calendar. Looking for ways to be thankful is good for the soul. It's also a good way to direct our thanks to the Lord.

I'd like to challenge everyone to be mindful of God's provision and blessings on our lives and offer thankfulness back to Him during this season.

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD 

and to sing praises to Your name, 

O Most High; to declare Your 

lovingkindness in the morning 

and Your faithfulness by night.”
Psalm 92:1-2

 

“‘Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. 

Make known His deeds among the peoples; 

make them remember that His name is exalted.’ 

Praise the LORD in song, 

for He has done excellent things; 

let this be known throughout the earth.”
Isaiah 12:4-5

“Whatever you do in word or deed, 

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”
Colossians 3:17

Wordy Wednesday

The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has given me victory.
This is my God, and I will praise him—
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him!

Exodus 15:2 (This is a portion of Moses and the Israelites' Song of Deliverance.) 

Wordy Wednesday

On this Wordy Wednesday I wanted to share this wonderful public prayer by David.

David Praises God

There in front of the whole assembly King David praised the Lord. 

He said, “Lord God of our ancestor Jacob, may you be praised forever and ever!  

You are great and powerful, glorious, splendid, and majestic. 

Everything in heaven and earth is yours, and you are king, supreme ruler over all. 

 All riches and wealth come from you; 

you rule everything by your strength and power; 

and you are able to make anyone great and strong.  

Now, our God, we give you thanks, and we praise your glorious name.

“Yet my people and I cannot really give you anything, 

because everything is a gift from you, 

and we have only given back what is yours already. 

You know, O Lord, that we pass through life 

like exiles and strangers, as our ancestors did. 

Our days are like a passing shadow, and we cannot escape death. 

 O Lord, our God, we have brought together all this wealth

 to build a temple to honor your holy name, 

but it all came from you and all belongs to you. 

 I know that you test everyone's heart and are pleased with people of integrity.

 In honesty and sincerity I have willingly given all this to you, 

and I have seen how your people who are gathered here 

have been happy to bring offerings to you. 

 Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 

keep such devotion forever strong in your people's hearts 

and keep them always faithful to you.  

Give my son Solomon a wholehearted desire to obey everything 

that you command and to build the Temple 

for which I have made these preparations.” 

 ~ 1 Chronicles 29:10-19

From the Good News Translation via Biblegateway.com

Wordy Wednesday

One of the "things to do" in the blogging world is to do a Wordless Wednesday post. Those are posts where the blogger lets a picture speak for itself. I'm going to do a little twist on this and allow the Word to speak for itself.

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heaven!
² Praise him for his mighty works;
    praise his unequaled greatness!
³ Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;
    praise him with the lyre and harp!
⁴ Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
    praise him with strings and flutes!
⁵ Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
    praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
⁶ Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the Lord!