The Power of Praise

 I will bless the LORD at all times:

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make her boast in the LORD:

the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

O 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.

The way of the Kingdom is not the way of the world. Jesus said "My Kingdom is not of this world". The focus of the believer is not on this world, the things of this world or its cares. The Kingdom way transcends all of this. The way of the world is avoiding suffering and pursuing pleasure. The Kingdom way is enduring suffering knowing that the character formed while here on earth will result in great reward in Heaven. 

Here David is on the run from Saul. He has sunk so low he had to pretend he was crazy to get away from the enemy. If he were a normal man, one would expect him to write something complaining about how God had abandoned him. But this is not what we see here. No, David says he will bless the LORD at ALL times, and that His praise will continually be in his mouth! His soul boasts in the LORD, and his testimony goes out. He invites others to "Magnify the LORD with me, and exalt His Name together". How is this possible, saints?

In a word, Revelation. Jesus tells us that we will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. If you will, you could compare this to a foreign language. If you do not know the language that is spoken, the message will mean nothing to you. If, on the other hand, you know the language, you will be able to understand. God's language, brothers and sisters, is the Cross. The message of the Cross is foolishness to the unredeemed mind. How can death be, in reality, a victory? The religious crowd thinks, "No, you have to do something to be saved". The secular folks just ask, "Why does anyone need to be saved"? "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness", I Corinthians 1:23. 

So praising God in the midst of the storm, as David is doing, makes no sense to the unsanctified mind. Why give thanks to God when you find yourself in a horrible situation? Well, this is where revelation comes in, saints. First of all, guess what? This old world, it aint our home! Phillipians 3:20 tells us that our citizenship is in Heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is this important when we are going through a trial? Well, duh, no matter WHAT is happening here on earth, it is only TEMPORARY! Yes, this world is full of tribulation. Jesus promised that it would be thus, but He promises us that we can be of good cheer, for He has overcome this world. There indeed will come that great and glorious Day when Jesus returns with his saints, for His saints, and we shall ever be with Him in glory. We might be busted up today, but the Hope of His return can carry us through. So we can forget today's trauma. In light of Eternity, it is nothing. Paul writes in Romans 8:18, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time and not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Today there is sorrow, but tomorrow there is glory. We can rest in this promise, saints. 

Second, the trials of our life have PURPOSE. Many years ago, I was listening to a sermon on Romans 8. For some reason, the pastor stopped at verse 28. I suppose this verse is familiar to many of you. 

    "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose". 

I do not recall what the pastor was saying about this verse, but what I will never forget is the nudge of the Holy Spirit. He told me, "He might be done, but I am NOT, read the next verse". 

    "For those whom He foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be firstborn among many brothers". 

How many things is all things? Does all things include things that might not seem so pleasant at the time? "Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or sword, separate us from the love of Christ?". 8:35. Yes, indeed, all things means all things. Why? Because in faith, praising the Lord through our life's trials, we are becoming more and more like Jesus! Can someone say amen? This is the glory that is to be revealed in us. This is our testimony. This is how we are defeating our enemy, who is making all sorts of accusations against us, implying that God does NOT love us, and that this trial is proof of this. No, devil, we do NOT agree. The stronghold is broken. We won't be listening to you anymore. ALLELUJAH. 

Saints, one of my all time favorite scripture passages is found in the fourth chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians, verses 16 to 18. 

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary, affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond al comparison, as we look NOT to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal"

Really Paul? Light, momentary affliction? Weren't you shipwrecked, weren't you beaten with rods, weren't you so burdened with the care for the saints that you could hardly breathe? Saints, it just doesn't matter what the trial is. Jesus Christ, in us, has already overcome it. I am not suggesting that the trial of our faith is a bowl of cherries. Far from it. No trial is a lot of fun, but the eyes of faith show us that whatever our testing, it's all worth it. Therein is our rest. Therein is the key to our praise. 

Third, in God's economy, everything that He does, or does not do, must be understood in light of our eternal souls. Does God care when we are sick, or burdened by a relationship, or a dead end job? Of course He does. But often times, we might wonder, if God cares so much, why He doesn't appear to answer our call for help? Well, of course, no one can know for sure, but we must keep in mind that His primary objective is not temporary relief from an unpleasant trial, but permanent character formation. This is the gold, the precious jewels, the eternal values that He is using to prepare us for Eternity. We do not do well to complain. That is an indication of unbelief. Rather, when we see the Cross, our response is Acceptance with Joy, as the disciple Much Afraid found out in the beautiful story "Hind's Feet in High Places" by Hannah Hurnard. 

Friend, you may not yet see this. You may not yet understand how indeed ALL things work together for good. How then can you get this? Well, let me tell you about a man I will call Nick. Now Nick was a great religious teacher, who came to visit Jesus one night. He had observed that Jesus was doing many miracles, and that He must have come from God, for no one could do them if not from God. So what is your question, Nick? Well, Jesus you must be who you say you are, but you just don't fit with our expectations. Why do you work on the Sabbath? Why don't you try to observe Torah? Why can't I get this? You must be who you say you are, but well, you just can't be. Help me out Jesus. 

"Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". Huh? What to you mean? Can a man enter again into his mothers womb a second time? No, Nick, "Verily verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Sprit is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, 'ye must be born again', for the wind blows where it will, and you can hear the sound, but you don't know where it's coming from or where it is going - so it is with everyone that is born of the Spirit." 

Um, Jesus, I still don't get it. Look, Nick, aren't you a great religious teacher? How is it that you don't understand? I told you about the wind, which is something from earth you should understand, but you don't. How then will you understand if I tell you about heavenly things? But Jesus doesn't leave Nick hanging. He refers him to a story in the 21'st chapter of Numbers, which was very familiar. In this story, the people were getting discouraged. No bread. No water. All we have is this strange food falling out of the sky. What, you want us to eat baManna bread the rest of our lives? To make matters worse, the LORD sent fiery serpents among them, and many were dying from the bites. Well, they repented, and the LORD asked Moses to set up an image of a snake on a pole. If any man looked at the image, he would be healed. 

So how can this help our friend Nick? Jesus said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever should believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". John 3:16 is of course a very well known verse. I sometimes tease my fellow Gideons that if they can't cite this verse by memory, they should lose their Gideon cards! But just what is Jesus telling Nick here? What is the essential thing he must do so that he can understand? Look, Nick, Look. Look upon me hanging there on the cross, an image of shame. But look again, my friend. See that I am dying for you. See that what is keeping me on that cross is not the Roman nails, but my love for you. Turn to me, Nick. See that the cross is not my shame, but my glory. Then you can understand. But you must first turn by faith. 

There is a great hymn which asks, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?". Of course, we weren't physically there, but by faith we can place ourselves there. As I said last month, the gospel really is as simple as ABC. 

A. Admit. I suppose this is the hardest step. We are so used to trying to live as good of a life as we can, hoping that somehow God would accept us. Cain, the brother of Abel, tried this. It did not work for him, and it will not work for us. Living a good life is just not possible. God is Holy, and only perfection is good enough. 

B. Believe. This is what Jesus is inviting us to do. Once we have admitted we can not possibly be holy, He is asking us to believe. This is no mental assent to a fact, though it must begin there. Rather, believing is a radical casting of ourselves upon that cross, and trusting only in the finished work that Jesus has done there. His last words were, "It is finished", and by faith, we must completely trust that everything that ever needed to be done, was done by our Lord and Saviour on that cross. Nothing can be added. This is what CS Lewis called "Mere Christianity", this is the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ, this is all that we need, all that we will ever need. On no other basis than the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus will we be presented holy before God. 

C. Confess. Belief must of course come first, but our words matter. In Romans chapter 10, verse 9, Paul writes, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved". This is our confession. Has Jesus Christ been crucified? Yea, and I with Him. Has Jesus Christ been buried? Yea, and so am I buried in baptism. But O the glory, saints, Has Jesus Christ been raised from the dead? Yea, and so are all who believe. As Paul writes to the Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but CHRIST LIVES IN ME!". The life I live in this body, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself up for me". Herein is our Rock. Herein is our place of rest. Troubles will come, but they don't matter. We will rest in His finished work on the cross. Let us pray.