Let There Be Praise

'Praise the Lord

Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens

Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness.

Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, Praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with timbrel and dancing, praise Him with the strings and pipe, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.' Psalm 150.

  

Is there any reason to praise God? 

Today, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine rage on. Countries such as Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, and Yemen are all currently experiencing some form of terrorist insurgency. Others like Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria are all currently experiencing civil wars and ethnic cleansing. In many places in the world there are racial and religious persecutions. 

In the Israel-Hamas war, Israeli tanks surround Gaza's hospitals with patients still inside and others seeking refuge. Israel claims that hospital and schools sit atop a labyrinth of underground tunnels housing the Hamas control centre, fighters and caches of weapons. They say that Hamas had contravened the Geneva Convention and use civilians and patients as human shields. Hamas denies this vehemently.

A seven-day humanitarian truce allowing for exchange of hostages and prisoners and the delivery of much needed disaster relief, food, fuel, etc ended. The fighting resumes. In the fog and wounds of war, many of us are left broken hearted at the untold human suffering. We question, What is there to be happy about? Where is God? Why would we sing praises?

There is a rather strange incident recorded in 2 Chronicles 20 during the time when Israel was at war with the surrounding nations. It was a time much like what is happening today in Israel's southern and northern borders. The armies of the Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites declared war on King Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was terrified by the news and begged the Lord for guidance. As they went out to face the enemies they were led to sing and praise the Lord.

'The king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising Him for His holy splendour. This is what they sang:

"Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!"

At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.' 2 Chronicles 20:21-22

The Israelites learnt that even in the times of war to give praise. By the time the army of Jehoshaphat arrived on the battlefield all they saw were the dead bodies of their enemies on the ground. The war was over.

It is strange that at hard times Christians are told to praise God. Eugene Petersen in his book Answering God admitted that this is not the easiest thing to do, "It is easy to be honest before God with our hallelujahs; it is somewhat more difficult to be honest in our hurts; it is nearly impossible to be honest before God in the dark emotions of our hate."

Yes the Bible tells us that in all circumstances, in good times and bad, the Lord God is to be praised. Timothy Keller gave a series of 7 short meditations entitled 'Trusting God in Difficult Times' (Ref 1) which are worth listening to, if you are in the predicament of asking God, Why the suffering? And there is no answer yet forthcoming.

Even so we need to continue praying. Prayer is the most honest way to face these difficult circumstances, these difficult times. By praying we come face to face with reality, dealing with our problems, viewing the world with honesty and with the very depths of our hearts. Yes, we travail and agonise.

But Eugene Petersen concluded, “No matter how much we suffer, no matter our doubts, no matter how angry we get, no matter how many times we have asked in desperation or doubt, ‘How long?’, prayer develops finally into praise. Everything finds its way to the doorsteps of praise. Praise is the consummating prayer. This is not to say that other prayers are inferior to praise, only that all prayer pursued far enough, becomes praise."

This brings us to the very last Psalm, Psalm 150. Timothy Keller emphatically explained this Psalm,

• Where should God be praise?     Everywhere
• Why should we praise God?  for Everything
• How should we praise Him?    in Everyway
• Who should praise Him?            Everyone    

Petersen wrote “Prayer is the language of the people who are in trouble and know it, and who believe or hope that God can get them out." That is why your prayer will end in praise. 

Christians are often told to praise God in every situation, even in deprivation, our vocation is to praise God. Let everything that has breath, praise God.

'I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise.' Isaiah 43:20b-21

'So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out to us who belong to His dear Son.' Ephesians 1:6 (NLT)

'The Spirit is God's guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.' Ephesians 11:14 (NLT) 

   'But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.' 1 Peter 2:9

That is why the Psalms, a book of prayer and worship ends finally with praise; 'Let There Be Praise'

Let there be praise

Let there be joy in our hearts

Sing to the Lord

Give Him the glory

Let there be praise, let there be joy in our hearts

Forevermore, let His love fill the air

And let there be praise, let there be praise

Let there, let there be praise

He inhabits the praise of His people

And dwells deep within

The peace that He gives none can equal

His love, it knows no end

So lift your voices

With gladness sing

Proclaim through all the earth

That Jesus Christ is King

When the Spirit of God is within us

We will overcome

In our weakness His strength will defend us

When His praise is on our tongue

So lift your voices

With gladness sing

Proclaim through all the earth

That Jesus Christ is King

Let there be praise

Let there be joy in our hearts

Sing to the Lord

Give Him the glory

Let there be praise

Let there be joy in our hearts

Forevermore, let His love fill the air

And let there be praise

And let there be praise

Let there be singing

Let there be music

Let there be honor

Let there be glory

Majesty worship and praise

Let there be praise

Lionel

Ref 1; Timothy Keller, Trusting God in Difficult Times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjQM7uZcbbM&list=PLqdAeLCMehGFJ0Q-8Ll1y0t5ml6qWYHiz

Day By Day

'When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord Your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.' Isaiah 43:2-3a

How many of us live as though we entirely depend on God, Day by Day? When you are a cancer patient or suffering from a severe illness, you will learn the meaning behind the phrase 'Living Day by Day in the Palm of God's Hand.' You live with uncertainty, the fluctuations of your blood counts, the up and downs of your energy levels, the vulnerability to infections, with fevers coming and going. You brace yourself for periods of recovery, remission and relapses

During these uncertain times, you will learn to rely on the grace of God, day by day; His mercy and protection. You are encouraged by friends and families praying for you daily; for that you are ever grateful.  

 

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.' Psalms 50:15

Living Day by Day dependent on the grace and mercy of God is experienced by the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt where they wandered for 40 years in the desert and wilderness. Throughout that period God provided them with manna from heaven but always just sufficient for the day. 

'Then the Lord said to Moses, "I'm going to make bread rain down from the sky for you. The people will go out each day and gather just enough for that day.' Exodus 16:4a  

God provides our Physical Needs day by day

Andrew Murray wrote, "Many a soul is disquieted with the thought as to how it will be able to gather and to keep the manna needed for all its years of travel through such a barren wilderness. It has never learnt what unspeakable comfort there is in the word: The day's portion for its day.  Manna, as your food and strength, is given only by the day; faithfully to fill the present is your only security for the future. Accept, and enjoy, and fulfil with your whole heart the part you have this day to perform. His presence and grace enjoyed today will remove all doubt whether you can entrust the morrow to Him too."

Christians who live hand to mouth eking their daily living understand God's provision for our physical needs on a daily basis. Similarly those who are ill and recovering understand how God sustain their bodies on a daily basis. 

God provides our Spiritual Needs day by day

When Jesus taught us to pray the Lord's prayer and one of the petitions is

'Give us today our daily bread.'  Matthew 6:9

Although this phrase can also be taken to mean our daily physical subsistence, it is most likely that Jesus meant spiritual nourishment; our daily sustenance of our soul and spirit. And this is usually provided by the daily inspiration of God's Word. Jesus said 

'It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.' Matthew 4:4

Andrew Murray wrote, "As the lesson of the value and the work of the single day is being taken to heart, the learner is all unconsciously being led on to get the secret of day by day continually."

Day by day, God fulfills our spiritual needs, the bread that satisfies our spiritual needs.

God provides us our Spiritual Blessings day by day

Andrew Murray wrote, "We are so easily led to look at life as a great whole, and to neglect the little to-day, to forget that the single days do indeed make up the whole, and that the value of each single day depends on its influence on the whole. Each day of faithfulness brings a blessing for the next; and so the Christian life grows: as we give our whole heart to the work of each day." 

We live day by day, one step at a time, exercising simple faith that God will provide just what we need, when we need it. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, 

'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes?' Matthew 6:25 

'And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was not dressed like one of these.' Matthew 6:28-29

Living 'Day by Day' in the palm of God's hand gives all living with cancer and illnesses daily blessings.

'So do not worry, saying,"What shall we eat?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after these things, and you heavenly Father knows that you need them.' Matthew 6:32

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,

I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.

He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,

Gives unto each day what He deems best,

Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,

With a special mercy for each hour;

All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,

He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.

The protection of His child and treasure

Is a charge that on Himself He laid;

“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”

This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,

So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,

That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,

Offered me within Thy holy Word.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

Jesus said,

'So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.' Matthew 6:34 (NLT)

Be assured that God has you in the palm of His hand. Timothy Keller, who this year succumbed to pancreatic cancer, wrote, “The central basis of Christian assurance is not how much our hearts are set on God, but how unshakably his heart is set on us.” 

Lionel 

Was It A Morning Like This?

 

The Three Marys At the Sepulcher by
Giovanni Francesco Romanelli. The National Gallery of Victoria

The sunrise on an Easter morning is not like any other morning sunrise. There is an air of anticipation, of excitement and exhilaration during an Easter sunrise. We declare, "Christ is risen" and all others will respond "He is risen indeed." 

Not so the first Easter morning in Jerusalem when Mary Magdalene went with some women, with some trepidation, to anoint some spices over what she expected to be a dead body.

'On the first day of the week, very early in the morning the women* took the spices and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" Luke 24:1-6a

Thus was declared the Easter message that has resonated for centuries, "He has risen." 

Perhaps the three women may not have recognised it but that morning was not like any other morning. The resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen furtively; there were several extraordinary events surrounding the resurrection according to Matthew 28:1-4

• There was a violent earthquake. 
• An angel whose appearance dazzled like lightning, came down from heaven.
• The stone covering the entrance to the tomb rolled away.
• The guards were paralysed.
• The tomb was empty.
• Jesus Christ rose from the grave!

This song  'Was It A  Morning Like This' presents Heaven and Nature declaring the Easter morning news 'He Is Risen!' 

Was it a morning like this

When the Son still hid from Jerusalem?

And Mary rose from her bed

To tend the Lord she thought was dead

Was it a morning like this

When Mary walked down from Jerusalem?

And two angels stood at the tomb

Bearers of news she would hear soon

Did the grass sing?

Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Was it a morning like this

When Peter and John ran from Jerusalem?

And as they raced toward the tomb

Beneath their feet was there a tune?

Did the grass sing?

Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

When my Lord looked out on Jerusalem?

He is risen!

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

What is the central message of Easter? It is certainly not about Easter eggs or Easter bunnies. 

Tim Keller tried to put the message across when he wrote, "If you believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and you put your hope in that, then death is now a gardener, meaning it plants us. It puts us into the ground like a tulip bulb, which becomes a lovely flower, or an acorn, which becomes a beautiful oak tree. All it can do now is make us better."

St Paul was even more emphatic and succinct when he wrote, 

'Where, O death, is your victory? Where O death, is your sting?' 1 Corinthians 15:55

That is what Easter means to me; a message to be declared for all generations since that first Easter morning.

Lionel

* According to Mark 16:1 Three women visited the tomb that morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus and Salome or Mary Salome the mother of James and John