Praise

A Time for Praise

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 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. James 5:13 ESV

The other day as we looked at the hymn, “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” I wrote about the times when we need to simply fall to our knees and watch with the Lord in our own Garden of Gethsemane. But there are also times when God delights in a tidal wave of praise and gratitude, such as James describes here. There are few places where such praise seems more out of place than a long-term care facility, but my friends there teach me that sometimes there is nothing better than good old-fashioned hand-clapping praise. Last week, they showed us just how that is done, when as my former pastor used to say, “If you can’t clap on that song, your arm must be broken!” I do hope that whatever situation you find yourself in this Thanksgiving, that you will find a way to praise, whether in health or sickness, surrounded by family or alone in your room, because God loves us and sent His only Son, to pray for us, heal us, wash away our sins and to die in our place. How can we not find times of joyful abandon to simply: “Call Him Up” – “Have a Little Talk With Jesus,” and tell Him that we are the ones who are “Standing in the Need of Prayer?”

A Little Talk With Jesus

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Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
John 13:37-38 ESV

While the other gospels just tell us that Jesus went from the Last Supper table to the Garden of Gethsemane; John allows us to listen in to His conversation. Jesus had just finished telling the disciples that He was going to be betrayed and that He was leaving them, and they were shocked. Peter then volunteered to die before he would let that happen. But, instead of saying, “Wow that’s great. I know I can always count on you! Jesus turned and told Peter that he was about to deny even knowing him! Try to imagine Peter’s thoughts. “What could possibly happen to make me deny knowing Jesus? Where in the world is He going? Why is He telling us this?” Just as most of us would be pretty discouraged if our best friend told us this, the disciples were both astonished and dismayed to hear Jesus’ words. But Jesus wasn’t telling them this to discourage them. Instead, in order to tell them the wonderful news of God’s plans, Jesus needed to begin by showing them that nothing would depend on them. And just like with those disciples, God knows about our personal failures, lack of faith and sins, and yet, He still loves us. His plan is in no way dependent on our success, ability, or reputation. Jesus specializes in saving lost people, and even those who sometimes deny faith. He not only loves us, but He has come to give us strength, and forgiveness, so that we can be saved, and that God will get all the glory!

God’s Gift of Song – Part 2

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Yesterday we looked at the blessings of worship songs that come directly from scripture and some ways that God promises to bless us as we grow in our understanding and practice of worship. But as we concluded yesterday, worship is not something we do alone in a corner, just us and Jesus. Today we are looking a little deeper into how God has designed us to sing and worship not only with His people, but also together with Him. We sing together because when we do so we support one another, both on a spiritual and a practical level. If one person forgets the words, the others help carry them along. Singing together unifies us because we are sharing a common experience of worship that is precious to God.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1 ESV

And when God’s heart is moved by His people, something even better happens: He comes and joins in!

But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Psalm 22:3 NKJV

Though it is hard for us to imagine, the Bible says that God comes down to join in with our songs. In fact, one of the last things that Jesus did before He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane was to sing along with His friends.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:30 NKJV

Imagine how special that moment must have been to those disciples later in their lives when they were suffering persecution, imprisonment or even facing death. Each of them could look back and say, “O, I remember when Jesus sang with us!” In the same way, God’s Word that has been planted in our hearts in worship can be our greatest treasure, when we are going through hard times. Those songs that are straight from His Word can be used by the Holy Spirit to refresh our minds, lift our spirits and give courage to our hearts. And in those rare moments when we are worshiping together in unity with our brothers and sisters, He promises to come alongside. If we sing the harmony part He has given us, we just might hear Him sing a melody that will carry us to the end! I hope you will be blessed as we close this study by this wonderful rendition of Psalm 23 from Keith Green and that it will help you think and pray about a deeper worship. This is the worship in both Spirit and truth that Jesus talked about and that we will have in Heaven as we sing not only for Jesus, but you also with Him to His honor and glory, forever and forever. Amen!