Let’s forget about ourselves,
And magnify the Lord and worship Him
Let’s forget about ourselves
And magnify the Lord and worship Him
Let’s forget about ourselves
And magnify the Lord and worship Him
Oh, worship Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord

This old chorus I grew up with says it all!  Take five!  On your feet!  Or on your knees!  No matter what posture you take, applaud God and thank Him.  Come into His Presence right where you are with thanksgiving to Him.  Let me get you started.  We are alive this morning!  We are breathing!  We have been given another day to be a difference in this world by asking God what HE wants from us and for us.  With that prayer, God will guide us.  Pray expectantly and He will answer this prayer.  Be ready to do what He will do in us and all around us.  May Your Kingdom come!  May Your will be done!

The psalm is a fitting climax to the collection of “royal psalms” (93, 95–100) and sums up their emphasis on God’s sovereign rule, His goodness to His people, the responsibility of all nations to acknowledge Him, and the importance of God’s people exalting and worshipping Him.

We are urged in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit of God, and the evidence of this fullness is that we are joyful (5:19), thankful (5:20), and submissive (5:21–6:9). In Colossians 3:16-25, we are instructed to be filled with the Word of God, and when we are, we will be joyful (3:16), thankful (3:17), and submissive (3:20-25). These three characteristics of the believer controlled by God’s Spirit and God’s Word–and they go together–are presented in this wonderful psalm of thanksgiving.

SO…Forget about ALL that is going on around you for it is distracting us to the point of insanity.  We are tense and fearful.  We are throwing around our opinions in order to hurt someone, not find resolution or unity of thought.  We are fighting against ourselves.  We are duped into thinking the worst not the best.  And most of all we are assuming what others are thinking and only come up with more deception of thought.  STOP this train of thought and derail it!  Praise and thank God as the new train to ride!

Let’s forget about ourselves
And magnify the Lord and worship Him
Oh, worship Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord

Do we think God doesn’t know what is going on in this world?  Do we think He doesn’t care?  Do we think we know what God is thinking about it all?  Do we think we can solve all the world’s problems of selfishness and sinful ways without Him?  Look to God the One and Only who can bring peace in trouble with His extreme, unconditional love.

Better question:  Do we really believe that what we believe about God is really real?  Our behavior will always reflect our true belief.

So, we pray.  We turn our worldly worries into worship.  We center our whole being on who God is and who we are not.  We are not God, we are the sheep of HIS pasture, His domain.  He shepherds us, not the other way around.  Believe me, we don’t really want God’s job. 

Let’s forget about ourselves
And magnify the Lord and worship Him
Oh, worship Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord

Turn off all the noise and magnify the Lord.  That means to shrink ourselves before Him and realize how great and magnificent our God is.  Forget the world.  Think God.  Thank God.  Be joyful, submissive and thankful.  That’s what God wants from us.  Let’s do this!

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 100, The Message

^1-2 On your feet now—applaud God!
    Bring a gift of laughter,
    sing yourselves into his presence.

³ Know this: God is God, and God, God.
    He made us; we didn’t make him.
    We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.

⁴ Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
    Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
    Thank him. Worship him.

⁵ For God is sheer beauty,
    all-generous in love,
    loyal always and ever.

TRUTH:  “Know this:  God is God…”  Enter His courts with “thank you”!  Make yourselves at home with worship, thanksgiving and praise to God and God alone!

Let’s forget about ourselves,
And magnify the Lord and praise His name;
Let’s forget about ourselves,
And magnify the Lord and praise His name;
Let’s forget about ourselves,
And magnify the Lord and praise His name;
Oh, praise His name, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Proverb 29:8, The Message

“A gang of cynics can upset a whole city; a group of sages can calm everyone down.”

WISDOM:  Remain calm.  Abide in God.

Abba Father,

I thank you for all you have done, are doing and will do in our lives.  I thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  I thank you for growing my character to be more and more like you.  I’m not there yet, but I know you are growing me.  Thank you for protecting me from things that would destroy me.  Thank you for helping me through troubles that might have disabled me but it didn’t because of you.  Thank you for giving me more chances to come back than I deserve.  Thank you for provisions enough to share.  Thank you for family and friends that love you, too.  Thank you for bringing lost loved ones back to you.  Thank you for working still on the ones who have not yet found you.  Thank you for fighting all my battles and delivering me from the evil one.  Thank you for life everlasting.  Only You, God.  Only You.

In Jesus Name, Amen