365 Days of Praise

King David was deceived….thinking he could hide his sin of adultery and murder and merrily continue with his life. But sin isn’t a kind bedfellow. Psalm 32:3-4 records how it affected David. “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.” But what happened when David acknowledged his sin and confessed it to the Lord? We find the answer in Psalm 32:5. “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.'”  What advice does David give us in Psalm 32:6?   “Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found.” David discovered that instead of hiding from God, it was better to make God His hiding place. “You are my HIDING PLACE; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.”  Psalm 32:7. On occasion, we might be like David and think we can hide our sin from God. But the truth is, we can’t. He sees us and even knows our thoughts. Yet, even while we are in our sin, He invites us to a place of forgiveness – Himself. Today, we can choose to stop trying to hide our sin. We can turn to God and humbly confess, “You are my HIDING PLACE; You preserve me from trouble.” We can experience “songs of deliverance.”

Lord, how sweet to know You as our HIDING PLACE who preserves us from trouble and surrounds us with songs of deliverance. Thank You. We praise You.

Do you ever read a verse and something about it “wows” you? That’s how I feel about Jeremiah 23:6. “In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’” Why am I wowed by this verse? It’s not that Judah will be saved, or even that the Israelites will one day live in peace. It’s not that the Lord is righteous. The word “our” wows me. It sends me to my knees – literally. It’s the reason I’m on my knees every morning, bowing before the Lord. I’m “wowed” because I’m included in the “our.” I’m not on the outside looking in, longing to be in right standing before God. I’m on the inside looking at His face…praising Him. I’m on my knees because I know I’m a sinner. But, that no longer defines my relationship with my Creator. Christ Jesus defines my relationship with the Heavenly Father. Because I am in Christ and Jehovah-Tsidkenu is in me, I am saved. Christ is in us…in all who call on Jesus for salvation. The LORD is OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS – JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU.

Lord Jesus Christ, our Righteousness, all honor and praise, and glory belong to You! Thank You for imparting Your righteousness to us when we repent and call on You for salvation!  

Do you ever feel like no one understands you – truly understands you?  Or, have you ever said of someone, “I don’t understand why you….”? Or, “I can’t understand how you could…”?  It’s true. As much as we may love or know someone, we can never completely, one hundred percent get inside another person’s head. But guess who can? God. Psalm 147:5 says, “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is INFINITE.” God’s understanding is limitless, endless, impossible to measure. And the most amazing thing is He loves us. How can we not run to Him in love and gratitude? Why would we not talk to Him about everything on our heart and mind. Then, wait quietly for His answer, help, guidance. (Tip: It helps to have our Bible close so when He stirs our heart we can look up a verse He brings to mind in response to our situation.)

Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ, You have INFINITE UNDERSTANDING of us and our situation. Thank You for guiding us in the way You know is best.

I need a keeper. Someone to watch out for me and over me. Why? Because sometimes I don’t know the right path to take. Sometimes I start to let my emotions crash like waves into a pit of nothingness. I need a keeper with a capital K. And, you know what? I have One and so do you if you’re a Christian. Psalm 121:5-7 states, “The Lord is your keeper… The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.” Isn’t it nice, no…more like wonderful, to think about our Heavenly Father being our Keeper? And, He isn’t snoozing on the clouds. Psalm 121:3-4 says, “He who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber or sleep.” In other words, our Soul Keeper is alert and watching out for us. So, of all the people in the world to whom we can entrust our soul, who more wonderful than our Heavenly Father? Here’s something else that’s wonderful to think about.  Isaiah wrote, “It is You who have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.” (Isaiah 38:17)  Isn’t that a marvelous visual? God casts all our sins behind Him and keeps our souls from the pit of nothingness.  I’m jumping up and down in my spirit over that one. The more time we spend with Christ and learning His ways, the more filled we are, and the more we experience the opposite of the pit of nothingness.  We experience heavenly joy and fulfillment that comes from intimacy with Christ.  Will bad things ever happen? Yes, because we live in a sinful world. But we aren’t destined for a pit of nothingness.  We’re destined for the throne.

Heavenly Father, Soul Keeper, we praise You for protecting us from evil and from the pit of nothingness. Thank You, Lord!

Peace. Everyone’s looking for it. Where? Drugs. Vacation. Pills.  A hookup. Success. In the meantime and while seeking peace, life goes on. Worriers worry. Whiners whine. Complainers complain. Wheat beaters beat wheat.  And, that’s where we find Gideon. Beating wheat in a winepress…to hide it, to save the wheat from enemy terrorists. It is here that Judges 6:24 records  Jehovah-Shalom, LORD of Peace, brings peace. “Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it The LORD is Peace.”  Jehovah-Shalom, LORD of Peace, came to a nation threatened by enemies and people who worshipped Baal. Jehovah-Shalom not only came to Gideon, but His Spirit of peace and power came upon Gideon. Isn’t that what we need?  What can we learn from Jehovah-Shalom and Gideon about personal and national peace?  1. Worship the Lord of Peace, Jehovah-Shalom.  2.  Be filled with the Lord’s Spirit of peace and power.  3. Fight valiantly for righteousness.

Jehovah-Shalom, LORD of PEACE, when we look and listen to You, we experience Your peace. By Your Spirit, we can overcome evil. Fill us, as You did Gideon, with Your peace and empowerment. 

Are you in a desperate spot? Sick of spirit, soul, or body? Are you frustrated because you’re not caring for yourself in the way you should? If so, I can relate. Our bodies, minds, and emotions are wonderfully made. But, if we don’t take care of them, and even when we do, they can break or get sick. Disease can strike…physically, spiritually, emotionally. But, let’s zoom in on a way our Heavenly Father chose to reveal Himself. Israel had just celebrated their crossing of the Red Sea and escape from the Egyptians. After three days in the wilderness and no water, they arrive at the waters of Marah, but the water was bitter. They couldn’t drink it. Picture the scene. You’re dying of thirst looking at water you can’t drink. And you can’t do a thing about it. You can’t fix it. Are you there now in your life? You have a problem you can’t fix?

Moses is desperate. He “cried out” to the Lord. And Jehovah-Rapha “showed him” what to do. Rapha means healer; to mend, cure, make whole. Jehovah-Rapha told Moses to throw a certain tree into the bitter water. Moses obeyed and the most miraculous thing occurred. The water became sweet. Exodus 15:25b-26 says, “There He made a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

Which brings us to a question. What have we cried out to Jehovah-Rapha about? What has He shown us to do? Are we doing it?  Jehovah-Rapha’s message is clear.

• “If”… that means there’s a choice we make with a correlating consequence.
• “we give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord our God” …. that means we pay attention when He shows us what to do.
• “and do what is right”…Moses had to do the work of cutting down the tree and throwing it in the water. We have to act on what Jehovah-Rapha shows us.
• “in His sight”…God watches to see if we’re doing what He shows us.
• “and give ear to His commandments”… God knows what works. Are we paying attention to how He tells us to live?

God is our spiritual, emotional, relational, mental, physical doctor. Have we cried out to Him? Are we doing what He shows us?

Jehovah-Rapha, Lord our Healer, we praise You for the complete healing we’ll experience in heaven. In the meantime, may we look to You for direction and then do what You show us.