Give thanks to GOD
“Give thanks to the LORD,
for he is good; his love endures forever.
Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."
Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."
Psalm 118:1-4.
If you are a true believer in God. If you are a true believer in Christ Jesus the above quote from Psalms 118 is something your should do every day.
Are you?
Please think about it.
Do you take time?
The apostle Paul wrote,
“With one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:6.
Do you glorify God in word and deed?
Francis of Assisi wrote,
"The deeds you do
may be the only sermon
some persons will hear today"
Francis of Assisi.
When people look at your life do they see you honouring God without you saying a thing?
Do you take time each day to pray and praise God rather than always asking Him for something?
Does the Church you attend and the Christian friends you have join together and praise God?
Can you take a few minutes right now to say with the Psalmist,
“Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.”
Psalm 150
Please think
The LORD gives and The LORD takes away
In the book of Job we read,
“Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return . The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:20,21.
Job in rapid succession had faced massive personal loss including his family. Yet Job while grieving did not place the blame on God. Rather he blessed the name of the Lord.
We all have problems. We all have times of grief. It’s just a part of life. Still it’s not easy going through troubled times.
In those times it is easy to turn to God and say “why me?”.
Job here however gives us an example to follow. Despite losing everything he still worships God. Knowing that all he has comes from God. Knowing that even in times of trouble God is there for us.
Job knew that he came into the world with nothing and will leave with nothing.
He also knew that by being faithful to God in good and bad times he will ultimately receive his reward.
How about you?
Do you worship God in the good times and in the bad times.
Please think about it.
Let's rejoice!
The Psalmist writes,
"Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
For the LORD takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with salvation.
Let the saints rejoice in this honour
and sing for joy on their beds."
Psalm 149:2-5.
What the psalmist is saying here is clear. We are to rejoice in our maker, be glad in our KING.
We are to praise God with dancing, music, with the tambourine and harp and with dancing.
The psalmist reminds us that The LORD delights in His people.
Telling us to rejoice in Gods honour and sing for joy in our beds.
Question,... If you consider yourself a Christian a true follower of Christ Jesus do you take time during the day to praise God openly?
Please think about it.
Sing to the Lord a new Song
The Psalmist writes,
"Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD,
praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
His marvellous deeds among all peoples."
Psalm 96:1-3.
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Christians need to praise the LORD. To proclaim His salvation day after day.
Just how do we do it?
Francis of Assisi said,
“Preach the Gospel at all times
and
when necessary use words.”
Francis of Assisi.
Francis of Assisi also warned,
"The deeds you do
may be the only sermon some persons will hear today"
Francis of Assisi.
Please think about it.
Praise God before the gods
The Psalmist writes,
“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise. Psalm 138:1.
At first glance this verse seems to be an unnecessary statement in the twenty-first century. After all there are no “gods” in this century.
Quite the contrary there are as probably as many gods in 2024AD as there were in 2024BC.
The thing is while the gods that were in 2024BC have faded into history. There has arisen new gods in 2024AD. Things that we may not realize we hold to be gods. A god by my way of thinking is anything we put our trust in blindly or otherwise. One of the most obvious ones being money and our material possessions. Other things might be religious or political leaders. Again people we follow blindly or otherwise.
Such gods can easily trick us into following them. By the promise of wealth or health or even prestige and social standing.
As believers in the One True God it is important for us to keep our eyes on Him. Not only that but openly praise the LORD with our whole heart publicly, in word and in deed.
We need to in a loving manner tell the world around us that we serve the LORD God Almighty.
If you consider yourself a Christian. Do you praise God publicly in word and deed?
Please think about it.
Every knee will bow
The Psalmist wrote,
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well." Psalm 139:14.
If for nothing else we as believers in Christ Jesus need to praise God because we are “fearfully and wonderfully” made.
Martin Luther King jr. once said,
“We thank thee, O God, for the spiritual nature of man.
We are in nature but we live above nature.... help us to realize that man was created to shine like stars and live on through all eternity.” Martin Luther King jr.
We are created to live on through eternity. And I know this. In the book of Philippians we read,
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11.
On that day when every knee will bow to Jesus, where will you be?
Please think about it.
I will Praise You
The Psalmist writes,
"I will praise you forever for what you have done;
in your name I will hope,
for your name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of your saints."
Psalm 52:9.
As Christians, as believers in Christ Jesus we quite often forget to praise God in our daily lives. By that I mean outside of a church service.
Quite often we get wrapped up in asking God to do things for us. That could include praying for everything from a healing, to putting food on our table, to wisdom and much more. All of which are good things to ask for.
Still I believe we should spend some time just praising God.
The Psalmist says he will praise God for what He has done. That he will hope in God and that he will praise Gods in the presence of the saints.
All of this should be done on a daily basis.
Do you praise God each day?
Please think about it.
Do you Praise The Lord?
“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High."
Psalm 9:1,2
A simple question to believers.
Do you do what Psalm 9:1,2 is saying?
If not, why not?
Please think about it.
Things to do
In the book of Chronicles we read,
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.
Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.
Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced,...” 1 Chronicles 16:8-12.
Do you do this?
Do you sing praises to The Lord?
Do you tell those around you what God has done?
Do you rejoice in knowing The Lord and all He has done for you?
Do you remember wonders, miracles and judgements He has pronounced?
Please think about it.
Something we should be doing.
The Psalmist writes,
"I will praise you forever for what you have done;
in your name I will hope,
for your name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of your saints."
Psalm 52:9.
If you claim to be a Christian a true follower of Christ Jesus, this is something we should be doing.
Yes there will be days when things are tough. When it seems hard to praise God. Never the less we should be praising God. With the full knowledge that if we trust Him we will eventually overcome the problems we are going through.
Please think about it.
Words from Colossians.
In the book or Colossians we read this,
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:16,17.
As Christians we are called to study the Scriptures, the word of God and put them in practice in our lives. We should not see the Bible as a text book telling us what we should and should not do.
We need to daily put what God is saying to us in the scriptures in to actions. We need to help one another as brothers and sisters in Christ to live good lives based on scripture.
We need to sing praises, hymns and spiritual songs to God. And we need to do it all with gratitude for all God has done for us.
Furthermore when we do good deeds we need to do them in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Giving thanks to God the Father.
Question?
Do you do this in your daily life?
Please think about it.
God is my Salvation
Isaiah the Prophet states,
"Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation."
with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And will say in that day:
Give thanks to the Lord call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."
Isaiah 12:2-6.
Can you say God is your salvation?
Do you believe the words of the apostle Peter who speaking about Jesus said,
"He is " ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.'
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:11,12.
If so will you take some time right now to praise God for all He as done for you and brought you through?
Please don’t just think about it. Do it!
I will praise God forever
The Psalmist writes,
"I will praise you forever for what you have done;
in your name I will hope,
for your name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of your saints."
Psalm 52:9.
Question: If you consider yourself a Christian can you honestly say what the Psalmist is saying here?
Please think about it.
Extolling God
The Psalmist writes,
"I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together."
Psalm 34:1-3.
If nothing else the New Testament shows Jesus and his apostles experienced all that it is to be human. They attended weddings. The followed the rules set down in the Torah. They interacted with people of all walks of life.
They were also beaten, thrown in prison all but one dying for their faith. Yet through all of this they praised God. They praised him not only in the good times, but after they’d been beaten and while they were in prison.
They praised God because they knew that even in their darkest hour God was with them.
How about you; do you praise God in the good times and in the bad?
Please think about it.
Where, why and how
The Psalmist writes,
Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.
Psalm 150.
The above Psalm tells believers where and why we must praise God.
Where do we praise Him?
In His sanctuary.
In the heavens.
Why do we Praise God?
For his acts of power.
For his surpassing greatness.
How do we praise God?
With trumpet, harp, lyre, tambourine, dancing.
With stringed instruments, flute, cymbals.
With every breath we have.
Are you doing this?
Please think about it.
Tell God you love Him.
The Psalmist writes,
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High."
Psalm 9:1,2.
Part of being a Christian a true follower of Christ Jesus is praising God. Sadly many Christians don’t do this outside of Church. They may listen to worship music but they don’t worship. They simply listen.
Why not take some time right now to worship God? Why not tell God you love Him?
Please think about it.
Some questions
The Psalmist writes,
“Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim His salvation day after day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
his marvellous deeds among all peoples.”
Psalm 96:1-3
If you are a Christian
1. Do you sing praises to the Lord?
2. Do you proclaim His salvation day after day?
3. Do you declare Gods glory to those around you in your nation?
4. Do you Gods marvellous deeds among the people you meet?
Please think about it.
Gods praise
The psalmist writes,
"I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
before the "gods" I will sing your praise.”
Psalm 138:1.
I firmly believe that we live in a society filled with demigods. Materialism perhaps being the most worshipped. Although there are more secular gods than that.
Because we in the twenty-first century are surrounded by so many gods. It is important that we worship the one true God publicly.
If you consider yourself a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus. Are you taking time to praise God. Does your life and lifestyle show that you are a follower and worshipper of the Lord God Almighty?
Please think about it.
In the presence of the saints
The psalmist writes,
"But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.
I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.” Psalm 52:8,9.
If you claim to be a Christian a true follower of Christ Jesus can you say what the Psalmist is saying her. Can you praise God forever for what he has done?
Please think about it.
