Consider Jesus–In the Exercise of Praise

Octavius Winslow

"I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." –Hebrews 2:12

These are the words of Jesus quoted by the apostle from a prophetical psalm concerning Him. We have considered Him as teaching us by His example to pray; it may promote our personal holiness by considering Him as teaching us to PRAISE. Praise is an element of the gospel. It entered essentially, if not prominently, into our Lord's personal life. "A man of sorrow," though He was--oftener seen to weep than to smile--yet there were moments when gleams of joy shone upon His soul, and strains of praise breathed from His lips.

Our Lord was of a THANKFUL spirit, and a thankful spirit is a praiseful spirit. How often the words were on His lips, "I thank You, O Father." He thanked God for the sovereignty of His grace for manifesting Himself to His disciples, for the food He was about to distribute, and over the grave of the friend He was about to raise from the dead. In all things Jesus was of a thankful, and therefore of a praiseful spirit.

And so, my soul, should you be! You have everything to praise God for. For the GLORIOUS GOSPEL of the blessed God; which, in the blessed announcements it makes of full pardon, of free justification, of gracious adoption, of present grace and future glory--is praise, all praise, eternal praise. There is not one announcement in the gospel to dishearten or repel a poor, penitent sinner. To such it is a 'joyful sound' without one jarring note, a salvation without a condition, a righteousness without a work, a pardon without money, a heaven without human merit or purchase--all the free gift of God's most free and unmerited grace. Is not this sufficient to awaken the deepest gratitude and the loudest praise in your soul?

And, O my soul! what shall be said of the praise due from you for the GIFT OF JESUS? Can you think of Him for a moment, and not feel your whole soul thrilling with thanksgiving and tremulous with praise? Oh, praise God for Jesus--for such a divine yet such a human Savior--for such a life, for such a death, for such a righteousness, and for such an Atonement as His. Is there no deep response of your heart to the thankful, praiseful words of the apostle--"Thanks be unto God, for His unspeakable gift?" Oh, praise Him for such a lovely and loving, for such a gracious and precious Savior, but for whom, you had been lost forever!

And have you not reason to praise God for YOUR CONVERSION? Oh, what a wonder of sovereign grace that ever you were brought out of nature's darkness into God's marvelous light! That, ever divine power drew you, and divine love chose you, and divine blood cleansed you, and a divine righteousness was imputed to you! That, ever you did hear the voice of Jesus, when lying in your blood, cast out to the loathing of yourself, saying to you, "Live!" And that then He washed you, and clothed you, and decked you with ornaments, and put a fair chain on your neck, a crown and a mitre on your head, and you became lovely through His loveliness put upon you--a king and a priest unto God! Praise, oh, praise Him loudly for that happy day when, having betrothed you in eternity, He savingly drew you to Himself, and you became His. Can you recall the memory of that blissful hour, and not make the desert ring with your loudest, sweetest praise?

"Oh! to grace, how great a debtor!"

My soul! seek from God the spirit of thankfulness, and cultivate habitually the grace of praise. It is a soul-purifying and a God-glorifying grace. It keeps the heart in perpetual bloom, and converts the life into a daily psalm! Praise God for all--praise Him for the blessings--of His providence, for the barrel of meal and for the cruse of oil that have not failed, for the providence that brightens, for the sorrow that shades, for the mercy that smiles, and for the judgment that frowns--for God's love breathing through all. Thus shall you be learning to sing the 'new song,' and to unite in the never ending music of heaven, where–
"Praise shall employ our noblest powers,
While immortality endures."

Walking With God

Walking with God leads to receiving his intimate counsel, and counseling leads to deep restoration. As we learn to walk with God and hear his voice, he is able to bring up issues in our hearts that need speaking to. Some of those wounds were enough to break our hearts, create a rift in the soul, and so we need his healing as well. This is something Jesus walks us into- sometimes through the help of another person who can listen and pray with us, sometimes with God alone. As David said in Psalm 23, He leads us away, to a quiet place, to restore the soul. Our first choice is to go with him there-to slow down, unplug, accept the invitation to come aside. You won't find healing in the midst of the Matrix. We need time in the presence of God. This often comes on the heels of God's raising some issue in our hearts or after we've just relived an event that takes us straight to that broken place, or waking as I did to a raw emotion.

Teach me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever. (Ps. 86:11-12)

When we are in the presence of God, removed from distractions, we are able to hear him more clearly, and a secure environment has been established for the young and broken places in our hearts to surface.

Courtesy of : the Ransomed Heart Minitries  http://ransomedheart.com/

When Nothing Makes Sense To Us, Praise Him!

John 9: 1-3 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Nobody will ever outgrow Scriptures. I have read John 9 countless times. Yet today was different. First of all, the whole chapter gave me goose bumps and teary eyes. But the things that struck me was the fact that this man or his parents have done nothing wrong. (This does not mean they were sinless)  It was decided since he was in the womb to be born blind because God had a plan that He shared with no one. His plan was to use this man years down the road to open his eyes and redeem his soul. He also wanted to share with those willing to believe, that He was indeed the son of God.  He also wanted to share with his disciples, use it as a stumbling block to the Jews who were dead set against His teachings and also share with us today so that we might be comforted and learn to trust His plans for us. Without knowing what God was doing in the background, this man was called to live out a lifelong blindness as a beggar, with no hope.

But, imagine being this man’s parents to find out your beautiful baby boy is born blind. The pain this must have caused them and all the unanswered questions they must have had. There is no doubt since the Jews regarded this as the effect of sin, that they had no compassion for the man and perhaps people were pointing fingers at the parents too. This man’s life has been affected completely since he grew up with his blindness well through adulthood.  

I guess the reason I had teary eyes and goose bumps was the display of God’s sovereignty, the way He design things for us, through us and in spite of us. We are wrong to think God NEEDS us to receive glory because if we do not do it because of our love for Him and gratefulness for who He is, then the stones will cry out. (Luke 19:40)

Sometimes we cannot explain why life is what it is. Our endless trials and grievous calamities have purposes we have no way of knowing the impact and the depth unless we keep going on, in faith and steadfastness. We can find strength to go because we know He is Sovereign, He is a just God,  His goodness is beyond measure and His compassion limitless. In His appointed time, He will bring it all together for us.

 So, would you please find the strength in Him to hang in there even when nothing makes sense to you? In Him there is healing and there is hope.

Prayer:

Holy, Lord God Almighty, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. We praise you and worship you. We give you thanks for who you are. You are worthy to receive Glory and honor. Great are the works of your hands, Hosanah in the highest. Lord I pray that you would bring relief to the heart of those who are in pain. I pray that you would put your healing touch on them, and give them the patience needed to go through it all. Please give them such confidence in you that they would not be able to deny your presence. May your grace fall upon them. May you guide their actions, protect them from the evil one who is able to use their sorrow against them and against you. Through the darkness that surrounds them right now, may you become their light and allow them to see you through their despair. Most of all my Lord may their sorrow be used for your glory. To you be the glory my redeemer and I love you with all that I am, so please hear my plea.