Praise Him, Praise Him

Joachim Neander (1650-1680)

Praise to the Lord the Almighty, the King of Creation

Oh, my soul, praise Him for He is our hope and salvation 

Oops - my memory hiccupped - I was singing "He is our hope and salvation" which is true, but the lyricist wrote: "He is our health and salvation." Memory does play back warped sometimes. I've sung from hymnals for over seventy years and there are wonderful praise songs in my memory. I firmly believe He told us to address Him as Father, 

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:7-13)

. . . and I find comfort in that. He would gather His children as chicks to be protected - but many would not. 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37)

He knows what we ask before we ask - and He knows what we need, which may be different from what we want: 

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

(Romans 8:26-28)

He also know exactly to the very moment of every day what we need, and it's not just bread on the table, it is every word from God. 

We try to describe our God within the limitations of language and personal knowledge. Seldom do we recall Him walking in the Garden with Adam, or the same picture Micah wrote as to what He requires. 

What does the Lord require of thee:

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8)

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!

Sing, O earth– His wonderful love proclaim!

Only in Psalms do we find the phrase "Praise Him," and we find it 22 times in 18 verses. I honestly don't know how many hymns are in hymn books in churches, but I do know our own church has some favorites - among mine are songs by Fanny Crosby:

• Praise Him! Praise Him!:  Features the repeated refrain, "Praise him, praise him, tell of his excellent greatness!"
• To God Be the Glory: Includes the famous line, "Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!"
• Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It: Contains the line, "I sing of my Savior, and praise him all day."
• Blessed Assurance: Features lines of internal praise like "Praising my Savior all the day long."

For me it's a toss up for favorite between "Redeemed" and "Blessed Assurance." These songs proclaim our Praise for what He has given us - adoption and eternal life. The price paid by God Himself, as planned before creation. 

Come, sing praise with us for and give: 

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15)

Looking At My Prayer List

"Gevouwen Handen" Jacob de Wit (1695-1754)

Back in 2008 I wrote about my prayer list, "Today's Prayer List." Ran across it recently and realized without the names, I could not remember which prayers went to specific people. I also have no idea how those eighteen year old prayers were answered. 

I do know some of my prayers have received a "No" answer. But a huge number I thought were "No" turned out to be "Later, my child. Be patient." Often my impatience showed through. 

I will tell you that my Beloved Husband is answered prayer. I remember praying one Saturday night in May, 1960, for someone who enjoyed my company, as I am, not adjusting to their likes/dislikes, no need to impress. I met him after Sunday dinner at our house. He was a friend to the young man dating my best friend. The rest of the week is a full chapter of life's story, but we married one year and five days later. 

We celebrated our 65th wedding anniversary this year and are looking forward to more. 

I wrote about answered prayer this month. King Hezekiah's prayer for more time is recorded in 2 Kings 20:2-3 and Isaiah 38:2-3. Read the following verses, too, for the answer.

Jesus prayed, too, but a portion of His prayer received a "No" answer:

Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. (Matthew 26:38-44)

As we know, His death was pre-ordained:

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)

According to John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

Jesus was God when the world was created. Thus He knew exactly, down to His last words, what would happen the next day. According to John, who was found to be sleeping, Jesus also prayed for me and millions of others who believe He is the Son of God:

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. (John 17:8-10)

I never have kept track of answered prayer. I have moved people off my prayer list for a variety of reasons - some I know the prayer was answered, though for it might have been "Yes," "No." or "Later," some simply left my circle of information and I don't know for certain.

There is one different list - one request with many names - my "Lost" list. People I know have specifically stated that they do not believe there is a God, or a small number who stated that their is a supreme being that we don't know but never would have died for our sins. Yes - some people are as outspoken as I am.

Those people stay on my list until I know they have made a profession of faith (and there is joy here and in heaven) or they have died without doing so. There is no need for me to be praying past the point a person is no longer in a position to make a profession of faith. Honestly? That doesn't include a coma. There was one young man who had my prayers for a couple of years after the accident that put him in a coma with brain activity. But he never regained consciousness. I won't knew until I get to heaven whether he is there or not. That is God's decision.

However, when I know someone who has been outspoken, they will stay on my Lost list. I will pray their hearts will be open to the gospel message, that they will accept the unspeakable gift God has offered, and Jesus has paid the day He died on the cross. They day He made a promise to the thief next to Him:

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:42-43)

Leaving It

Yesterday's post was interrupted by the loss of our electricity for an afternoon. I was about halfway through typing "Leave It!" with the explanation of leaving a person alone after they had made it clear they had no interest in hearing any more about Jesus, Christianity, churches, and their salvation was in their hands, not my words. For those of you who read yesterday's blog - it didn't turnout like that at all. Not one of the scriptures I had in mind - such as:

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. (Matthew 10:14)

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. (Mark 6:11)

And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. (Luke 9:5)

I have left online discussions by stating that we had obviously reached an impass, a point that neither one of us would change our mind. On my side, I had quoted scripture that the other person would not accept as an answer. Often it would be one of the above verses. 

When discussing religion, biblical scripture in context (and in conjunction with Scripture written later) is my reference. For some people, such scripture is not inspired by God. For some others, fulfillment of scripture is open to a wide variety of interpretation plus is required for salvation. Nope - not going into specific cases here. 

I did write "I believe we've both stated our cases and best we shake dust and end the discussion." I would venture to say that the person on the receiving did the same thing without writing it out. 

When Christians speak out their differences, some never walk away, wanting to be convincing in their interpretation. I do not see that as constructive or helpful in reaching those seeking information. I have had informative and helpful discussions with co-workers - atheist, Catholic, Confucianism, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Wiccan. I must admit, that last one seemed to be in a rebellion against a Christian upbringing rather than a firm believing Wiccan. 

On each of the above cases, even when my beliefs were deemed incorrect, I did not mention shaking dust because we never mentioned the question I so often use when ending my blog posts: What is your decision about where eternity is spent? 

I am very clear that scripture gives the requirement that we believe Jesus is the Son of God, we are to be faithful to Him in order to receive God's grace, with that grace through faith comes eternal life with Him. That's the bottom line.

When that happens, we'll want to share that joy that occurs in heaven right here and now, with anyone who will listen. We want to learn more, spend time with His word, learn from history and prophecy, and see it applied in our lives. There's also a desire to associate with other believers. We'll be with them through eternity. 

No shaking dust from sandals once we have a discussion that continues to state the gospel and it is heard.