Psalms – Prayers of Honesty and Praise
They (who are on social media) say social media shows only the good parts of our lives. We only show what is best so that it looks like our lives are perfectly in balance. I don’t think that is true. If you read behind the lines the honesty seeps through the cracks and in between the words of praise, asking for prayers for what is going on in their lives. Then, again, maybe that’s the crowd I hang with on social media. It’s a good thing to praise God for all He has done, is doing while praising Him expectantly for what You know He will do in our lives. We might not know HOW He will do it, in fact, most of the time we do not know, but we praise God because we know He will be there for us. This is not wishful thinking. This is not “pie-in-the-sky” positive thinking. We just know, without doubt, that when we call on God, He is already at work in our behalf.
It’s a beautiful thing to praise God. Praising God daily and thanking Him specifically for caring for us needs to be expressed so we won’t fall into Satan’s trap of doubt and despair in current, passing circumstances. Praising God with all He has done pulls us away from walking into a depressive tract, spiraling down into a rut or ditch that blocks our view of God and all that He still wants to do in our lives. We can’t see anything or any way but down. Praise, then, is fitting and good for our health spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically. Praise keeps our heads looking up, our eyes focused on God.
The Psalmist says, “Those who fear God get God’s attention, they can depend on His strength.” Why do we praise God from the roof tops, on social media, to those at work, in our small groups and to our families? Because HE is God and we are not. We know that full well. Look how many times the writer uses HE to begin each act of God.Psalm 147, The Message
Hallelujah!
It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God;
praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.
2-6 God’s the one who rebuilds Jerusalem,
who regathers Israel’s scattered exiles.
He heals the heartbroken
and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
we’ll never comprehend what he knows and does.
God puts the fallen on their feet again
and pushes the wicked into the ditch.
7-11 Sing to God a thanksgiving hymn,
play music on your instruments to God,
Who fills the sky with clouds,
preparing rain for the earth,
Then turning the mountains green with grass,
feeding both cattle and crows.
He’s not impressed with horsepower;
the size of our muscles means little to him.
Those who fear God get God’s attention;
they can depend on his strength.
12-18 Jerusalem, worship God!
Zion, praise your God!
He made your city secure,
he blessed your children among you.
He keeps the peace at your borders,
he puts the best bread on your tables.
He launches his promises earthward—
how swift and sure they come!
He spreads snow like a white fleece,
he scatters frost like ashes,
He broadcasts hail like birdseed—
who can survive his winter?
Then he gives the command and it all melts;
he breathes on winter—suddenly it’s spring!
19-20 He speaks the same way to Jacob,
speaks words that work to Israel.
He never did this to the other nations;
they never heard such commands.
Hallelujah!
FROM THE HEART…
If you are down and feel you don’t have value, maybe You don’t know God as well as you need to know God. HE saves us. HE protects and provides for all our needs. HE keeps the peace of our hearts balanced with our concern for humanity. HE helps us to realize every day how much we are loved by Him. HE blesses us. He blesses our children and grandchildren. We pray. HE listens! HE forgets our sin after we repent it, never to visit it again! HE redeems us forevermore! THAT alone is worthy of praise!
Yes, “Hallelujah! It’s a good thing to sing praise to God; praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.” Praise is medicinal gratitude that keeps us spiritually fit for service in His Kingdom.
Heavenly Father,I can do nothing of significance or value without You. You love us so much that mere words cannot describe. But we try each day to thank you specifically for all you do for that is fitting for us in praise to You. I love you, Lord with all that is in me. I thank you for protection yesterday and look forward to watching you provide, teach, protect and love us today. Thank you for saving us. Thank for listening to us. Thank you for bringing us to Santa Cruz, Bolivia to learn and grow in your love. Thank you for allowing us to join You in Your work here. Continue to transform us into all you intended for us to be, then do, in your Name.
In Jesus Name, Amen
DO IT AGAIN! is the song in my heart as we read God’s Word today…
Walking around these walls
I thought by now they’d fall
But You have never failed me yet
Waiting for change to come
Knowing the battle’s won
For You have never failed me yet
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You’ve never failed me yet
I know the night won’t last
Your Word will come to pass
My heart will sing Your praise again
Jesus, You’re still enough
Keep me within Your love
My heart will sing Your praise again
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed me yet
I’ve seen You move, come move the mountains
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
You made a way, where there was no way
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
I’ve seen You move, come move the mountains
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
You made a way, where there was no way
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
I’ve seen You move, come move the mountains
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
You made a way, where there was no way
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
I’ll see You do it again
Oh-oh
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed me yet
And You never failed me yet
I never will forget
You never failed me yet
And I never will forget
Songwriters: George Veikoso / Michael Stevenson / Nicholas Matthew Balding / Christopher Maurice Brown / Mark Kragen / Marc Randolph Griffin / Pia Mia Perez / Jerry Afemata
Listen in the background of your own mind for songs of praise that fill your soul as you read…You will have more than “10,000 Reasons to Praise the Lord!” (By Matt Redman)
The sun comes up
1-2 Hallelujah!
Instead, get help from the God of Jacob,
God made sky and soil,
he gives sight to the blind,
Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
“Everything God does is right–
I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King!
7 The fame of your goodness spreads across the country;
12 Letting the world know of your power for good,
14 God gives a hand to those down on their luck,
And I’m singing praise to God…(By All Sons and Daughters)
144 1-2 Blessed be God, my mountain,
3-4 I wonder why you care, God—
9-10 O God, let me sing a new song to you,
12-14 Make our sons in their prime
I’m Overwhelmed
Servants of a king or ruler keep their eyes focused on the One they serve, ready to leap into action when the king’s eyes look to them. What he asks or merely motions, they do it readily out of respect with fear of losing their position. As servants of the living God, we focus on our Savior, Lord and King of kings and Lord of lords, ready to serve with the whisper of His voice or the nod of His head from a place of love and devotion for the One who saved us from death. We look to Jesus and listen for His Holy Spirit with anticipated joy and awe of the One who suffered and died on a cross for us. We serve from a place of intimate love. We serve from a place of intimacy in our relationship with Jesus.
O Lord, you have given life to me in so many ways as you continue to transform me into all you intended for me to be and do. Thank you, Lord. I woke to a beautiful morning that did indeed remind me of your wonderful love and care for me. My desire is to hear you say, well done my faithful servant, on the day I see you face to face. But in the meantime, my eyes are focused on what you have for me right now. I am your servant. I wait with expectancy and joy for the wave of your hand, your voice of direction or the look in your eyes for what you want me to do next.
Depression. Even the word is, well, depressing. It sounds like you are being pressed and push further into a pit of despair. It sounds pretty flat, doesn’t it? Everything in life that you care about and are passionate about begin to overwhelm you. Like David, you feel like you are trapped in a cave with no way out, no way to be found out that you are there.
David knows who to call to help him through this seemingly defeating moment in his life. He calls on God, His Maker, the One who knows his predicament before David knows and is planning his rescue before he prays for help. David is an interesting man to God, a man “after God’s heart”, a child of God who God has picked to become the king to God’s people. But right now, he’s stuck in a cave of despair.
You are my strength when I am weak
Rely on God, know that He is there with you. He is planning better days for you. Allow Him to pluck you out of your cave of depression, your lows and set backs. There are better days coming! In the meantime, thank God for all He has done, is doing and will do. Dream about what God will do next in you and how He will work. That is the first step to leaving the cave. You will discover that God will do far more than you ask or imagine! He will always go far above our own thinking…for He is God and we are not. And that’s not all! His showers of blessings will wash off all the dirt from the cave experience and open up those weak eyes from being in the dark!
1-2 I cry out loudly to God,
I cry out, God, call out:
There is an old song, “I Only Have Eyes For You”, by the Flamingos, that is rattling around in my weird brain this morning as I read our next psalm. It goes like this with a lot of Sha bop sha bop’s in between the lyrics which is the precursor to the sound of the Pentatonix! (Maybe.)
The moon may be high
1-2 God, come close. Come quickly!
May the Just One set me straight,
FROM THE HEART…
When evil has a hay day all around us and fights break out when we least expect it, what do we do first? Who do we run to for help…first? So many times our independent selves try to fix it ourselves. But we soon learn that we cannot, that we are not in control and that we don’t have what it takes to solve the hate and violence that is going on around us in the imperfect world. 
1-5 God, get me out of here, away from this evil;
9-11 These troublemakers all around me—
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
FROM THE HEART…
There are times in our lives when God works out problems with solutions before we recognize that we have a problem. He knows before we know what we will go through, how we will respond, and provides exactly what we will need for this part of the journey. God is sovereign!
1-3 Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!”
