Thoughts
Start Here – Bless & Praise the Lord
Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
Psalm 34: 1-8 (NKJV)
A thought of truth, from our past experiences with God, of who God is.
God was, is, and remains over all. God cares for us and is always at work in our lives for our good.
Leading then to a question.
When we approach God in prayer, do we usually approach Him with a request for something or help with something; or do we ever approach Him with a desire to praise Him simply for who He is?
Clearly God is open to our asking Him for things and help.
For example—
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, ESV)
“… let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6b, ESV)
But I wonder how often our prayers which we send up to Him are usually all about requests to meet our needs.
I wonder how often our prayers are focused on us, rather than on Him.
Asking Him for something—focused on us and our needs.
Rather than on praising Him, on thanksgiving—focused on Him, and who He is, all He does, and how great He is.
Written at a time when David felt threatened, Psalm 34 is a psalm of thanksgiving and praise to God.
Knowing God was always there, and despite needing a path of escape from the trouble he felt before him, David begins the Psalm not with a request for a quick and safe exit, but instead with praise—
“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.”
(Psalm 34: 1-3 (NKJV)
I wonder what our days would be like if we spent more time with Him, blessing and praising Him.
I wonder what would happen to our stress levels if we stopped whatever we were doing, wherever we were, and simply began to magnify and glorify Him and lift His name before us, declaring the truth that the Lord is good.
I suspect the smiles in our lives would begin to return.
I suspect we would begin to sense His hand of blessing even more.
So, here’s another thought for us to consider—bless and praise the Lord.
In His Name–Scott
Be lifted and encouraged by this beautiful anthem— “Psalm 34”—sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.
Recent Thoughts
Just Stay Calm
I wonder if any of you find yourself standing on the shore of a Rea Sea with the rest of the world, and all its concerns, closing in from behind and seemingly all around you. I wonder if you find yourself facing some seemingly insurmountable obstacle and challenge, and – realizing you have come to the end of your own wisdom, ability and expertise – you find that you can’t deal with it alone.
The Road – To the Final Hope
Millions of people this week are watching with anticipation as college basketball makes its annual pilgrimage to the Final Four. In the midst of all the excitement of the NCAA tournament, you almost forget that another road to something more “final” than any basketball game is looming before us. The world tends to do that to us.
We Can Persevere
What’s next when you’ve fallen and failed again at something at which you thought you would be good?
What do you do when you look into tomorrow, and it seems all hope is gone?
“Geez, Scott,” you might be thinking as we begin, “nice questions to start out the week!”