Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord
O give thanks to the Lord
For He is good
For His mercy endures forever
Psalm 118:1
SEASON’S greetings! It is already half past January, and I hope that you have had a great start to the year and have set your course for 2017 with a determination to go forward. But even if you haven’t and you find yourself among those who have yet to get on board and chart your journey, don’t fret. God has no intention of leaving you behind. Rest your heart on this promise; For I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
The first song ever recorded in scripture can be found in Exodus 15, when God delivered Israel from Pharaoh and his army after they had miraculously crossed the Red Sea. It was a song of praise and thanksgiving to God for deliverance from 400 years of bondage in Egypt. So this act of worship goes far back in the history of the people of Israel.
It is rather unfortunate to see how we have today relegated praise and thanksgiving to a mere formality and have robbed ourselves of the power that is resident here when we engage God in this place.
For the people of Israel, praise and thanksgiving had become an integral part of their lives because they had seen many times God demonstrate His power in battle. 2 Chronicles 20 records King Jehoshaphat’s astounding victory over the nations who came against him in an unprovoked attack. After he had sought God for help in subduing their enemies he used this strategy that is recorded in verse 21,”when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever,” and the Bible says “No one had escape.” Everything He does, He does it well. Paul and Silas also witnessed this great power when they sang praises to God in prison and the doors of the prison supernaturally opened and God brought salvation that day to the prison guard and His family.
When ten lepers came to Jesus to be healed of their leprosy, He said to them to go and show themselves to the priests and while they were on their way, they were cleansed of their leprosy. But only one returned to give glory to God and worshiped Jesus, giving Him thanks.
Jesus asked, “Were there not ten cleansed. But where are the nine?” Luke 17:17.
This is our present condition. We may not go out to battle like the kings of old did and we may not be confined to a prison cell as Paul and Silas was but there are battles that we face often enough and there are many fears that keep us bolted to the wall. God has provided for us a way of escape. When we praise and thank God consciously and intentionally, not just when we feel like doing it, then we must have the same victories our Bible heroes have!
What a wonderful way to start the year – to give praise and thanks to God for His goodness; to acknowledge Him as Sovereign Lord. Let us come back to these ancient paths and let our praise be deliberate and our thanks be done on purpose. Speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:19/20. Let your life resound in praise.
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