Praise Ye The Lord

"Praise is not thanking God for the blessings. It is honoring God for who he is, what he is, and why he is. We are not to praise just when the sun is shining and all is right with the world but also when hell is knocking on our door and we can't move for fear of being consumed. Praise isn't about you and your blessings. It is about God and his sovereignty and holiness." Rendered Praise

Rendered Praise is written by a dear friend of mine. I thoroughly enjoy her conversations with our Lord, and this one with a ten-day challenge moved me to return to blogging. I don’t know if it was “hell” knocking on our door this summer, but we’ve had to face a number of physical, emotional and spiritual mountains that needed moved. Prayers of our friends and family provided comfort when we thought there was none. And that’s all about God’s sovereignty.

Nothing we’ve faced comes close to what Jesus faced – temptations, distrust, betrayal, rejection and death. God is capable of providing what we need during it all:

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

I know what we’ve been through –  I have no idea at all what you’ve been through, nor do I know how it affects your relationship with God. I also know quite a bit about what King David went through, and still he sang:

A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. (Psalms 138:1)

Psalms 111, 112 and 113 each begin: Praise ye the LORD. Just in the Psalms, “praise” is found in 132 verses. Psalms 150 describes how to praise, and who should:

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalms 150:1-6)

I can see time problems with my keeping the ten day commitment – if I don’t, that’s my failure, not His. It’s my job to praise Him for what He is, not for what He’s done for me. Those before His throne know this:

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11)