Bringing praise

Isn't it amazing how when we seek the Lord and are open to His plan in our lives, He pours out encouragement and scripture to sustain us???

This is a portion of our scripture in Health today:

"Then I thought, 'to this I will appeal:

the years of the right hand of the Most High.'

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;

yes I will remember your miracle of long ago.

I will meditate on all your works,

and consider all your mighty deeds.

Your ways, O God, are holy.

What god is so great as our God?

You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

The waters saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

The clouds poured down water,

the skies resounded with thunder;

your arrows flashed back and forth.

Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

your lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron."

~Psalm 77:10-20

It may not seem like anything significant at first glance, but there is so much wisdom poured into this one small passage of Scripture. It must be understood that before this passage, the author (Asaph--David's right hand man, and in charge of worship for the whole nation of Israel) is struggling with thoughts of "Where is God in all of this?" He feels as though God is not present in his circumstances. But just as it seems that there is no hope, he directs his thoughts to praise.

So often, we, as humans overlook the need to come to a place of worship in the midst of hardship. Our natural tendency is to throw ourselves a pity party and wallow in our sorrow. Though my body--in so many ways--wants to do just that, I absolutely refuse to fall victim to it.

Worship is the force by which the problems of life slowly lose momentum.

Asaph comes to a place where he remembers the deeds that God has done. He holds on to God's innumerable acts of faithfulness in the past. He even goes so far to worship God for nature--thunder, rain, lightning--all the things that we overlook each and every day. If we really stopped to worship God for His majesty, how much greater would God be in our own minds and how much smaller would we be? It's incredible to ponder.

The funny thing about the whole passage is how at the end of the passage, after worshipping God for his mighty strength and awesome power, Asaph throws in "...though your footprints were not even seen." Isn't that absolutely incredible??? God has the power, might and majesty to make HUGE things happen, like earthquakes, and thunderstorms, and lightning bolts, and floods, and tsunamis....and He can do it all without even leaving a trace of Himself.

This is the choice we have--to worship-even when we don't see the footprints.

So, here I stand, before a most holy and awesome God, with nothing but worship to give. He has bought me with a price, He has redeemed me from the onslaught of sin, He has set me apart for Himself, He has prepared a place for me, He has blessed me with a family of believers, He has allowed me the capacity to serve others. He has called me to a holy calling, He has saved me to the body of Christ, He has put me here at APU.

And for that...if nothing else, God deserves my wholehearted worship.

I will bring praise.