Coasting on Praise

 

 

READ Psalm 135–140

For these days of reading Psalms, I feel as if I am coasting on praise. The world keeps throwing bad news at my ears. My friends send despairing prayer requests my way. The unsaved people that I pray for seem to continue in their rejection of Jesus Christ, yet in all this the glory of God has been on my mind and my heart is at rest. I know that I must keep praying, but I also know “that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.” (Psalm 135:5–6)

From the beginning of being a Christian, I’ve said words like this along with many others who belong to God’s kingdom, yet did I really believe them? If so, why the uncertainties and worries of life? Why the fretting over unanswered prayer? Why the angst over all the bad news from the world? Yet now, as I read the Psalms and praise God along with the music of the psalter, my heart is not troubled as it used to be. I can say these things with great assurance, not so much based on a few years of experience (which helps) but based on a deeper understanding of who God is and what He is doing. My heart echoes these words of praise:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever . . . . It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever . . . . Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1; 23; 26)

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. (Psalm 138:1–3)

During the years of believing, many times have I asked the Lord to show me what I needed to know and what needed change in my life and He is faithful: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” (Psalm 139:1) For that I can say:

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. (Psalm 139:17–18)

And I can also repeat the following prayer, not in fear of what He will reveal — a fear that once was there — but knowing that His way is for my good and whatever He uncovers will set me free from sinful selfishness. Praying this prayer again and again happens now with greater trust and eagerness. I want to be clean and clear with Him so often ask:

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23–24)

Along with the psalmist, I know this: “Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence.” (Psalm 140:13) My gratitude overflows back to the Lord who loves me and who keeps on blessing my life beyond my feeble ability to give Him the honor and praise that He deserves!

 

God is Enough

 

READ Genesis 19-23

In the NT, Abraham is called the father of faith. Others before him believed, yet the Bible says of Abraham that his faith was counted to him as righteousness. That is, because he believed God, he was seen by God as a righteous man. His faith didn’t start out strong, but grew as God led him.

The first leading was when God told him to leave everything and go to a place he did not know. He went. As his life progressed, the challenges became more intense.

At this thought, I remember a young man saying to me, “It must be easier to be a Christian as you get older.” I nearly laughed in his face because my experience did not match that notion. Time brought increasingly difficult tests. Abraham is great proof of that.

He was tested concerning God’s promise of a son — and didn’t do well by going along with Sarah’s idea to have a child by Hagar. He was tested regarding the destruction of Sodom and prayed for his nephew Lot who lived there. “So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.” (Genesis 19:29) Abraham passed that test.

Then Abraham was tested when he feared a pagan king, Abimelech, would kill him and take his wife. This also was a test regarding the promised son; it could not happen if he died, but instead of trusting God’s protection, Abraham had Sarah tell this king she was his sister, putting her in danger. Yet God protected her.

Then God said to (Abimelech) in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” (Genesis 20:6–7)

Note that God did not condone Abraham’s actions. However, He had this man pray for the king who had taken his wife . . .

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. (Genesis 20:17–18)

Being willing to pray for this king who could have killed him was another test. Abraham passed it, but the tests continued. The ultimate one came when God told him to, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2)

This was the son of God’s promise. By this time, Abraham knew that God would keep His promise to make a great nation through Isaac. He didn’t know how, but the son would either be replaced or resurrected. He obeyed without question and took the boy up the mountain and tied him to an altar.

OBEDIENCE. Although I would prefer an easier life as I get older, it seems that testing is a normal part of a growing faith. I suppose this means if I started failing the tests, life could have a different outcome. Certainly any growth in grace would slow down or be thwarted. Whatever happens, obedience will not become easier unless my trust in God is consistent. From Abraham’s example, I can see that even the flub ups were part of the process of building his faith as God kept all His promises to this man. I can rely on Him to keep His promises to me too. Whether I fail or pass any tests, the faith He grants is sufficient because God Himself is enough.