pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: praise


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Praise His Holy Name!

There are many ways to worship God.  It can be in song, lifting our voices in praise and adoration.  It can be found in reading and meditating on His Word.  It can be found in our prayers to our God.  It can be found in dance or a movement offered to God.

There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to worship our creator.  Music, for example, can vary widely.  It can be a pure and simple as a group of monks chanting a psalm.  It can be a wonderful hymn sung only with voices.  It can be a talented choir accompanied by a powerful organ.  It can be a praise team with guitars, drums, keyboards, and vocals.  It can be a single person walking along the beach humming a tune.

All of our worship is pleasing to the Almighty.  In tune or out of tune, in rhythm or not – when we connect with God and offer Him our praise and adoration, He is pleased.

Worship also lifts us up.  There are physical and emotional benefits to singing.  We are made stronger physically, mentally, and spiritually when we worship our heavenly Father.  So, today sing a song.  Hum a tune.  Draw close to our Lord and He will draw close to you.

Scripture reference: Psalm 29: 1-2 and 11


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Praise

Psalm 148 is joyous and makes me smile as I read it.  It is about how all of nature praises God and about how we too praise God and extol His holy name.  Sometimes it is good to just step back and catch a full glimpse of His glory.

In the early winter of this post-Christmas time it can be hard to praise God.  The joy of the holidays are past and sometimes we just feel like we are done celebrating for a bit.

It is precisely this situation which calls us to sit down and spend some time with a good psalm.  It refreshes the spirit and renews the soul.  It connects us to a larger faith as we join nature and other souls in praising God.  In our praise we are never alone.

Praise be to God today!!  Praise be to God.

Scripture reference: Psalm 148


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Lost in Him

If one were to pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV or surf the internet, one would maybe think that Christmas is just around the corner.  It may be that there is more on sale after Christmas than there was before Christmas.  Even for those who had a blessed and wonderful Christmas and thought they were satisfied on December 25, all of the advertising draws one to ponder what else one might need.

I wrote ‘need’ but really should have used ‘want’ instead.  When we are stuck on focusing on what we want too much then contentment becomes elusive.  Yes, it is difficult to be still and quiet amidst all the noise, yet God is still very present and is still seeking our presence.

The psalmist reminds us to sing out to God our thanksgiving, to see Him at work in the rising of the sun and the falling of the rain.  God delights in those whose hope is in Him.  Today may we get so lost in singing our praises to God that we become lost in Him, so that the noise of this world fades away and He is all we have left.

Psalm 147: 7-14


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Witness and Example

In Revelation 7, John writes about the great crowd in white robes gathered around Jesus.  The multitude is too great to count.  They sing to jesus and acknowledge Him as the root of their salvation. Despite the massiveness of the crowd, the focus is on only one – the Lamb of God.

Today is All Saints Day and tomorrow in many of our churches we will remember the saints, those who have ‘gone before’.  Imagine the crowd in heaven!  Surely there is Mary, John the Baptist, David, Elijah, Moses, and so on.  And there are people like Calvin, Luther, dozens of popes, Martin Luther King Jr, and such.  And there are other faces there too – less famous for sure – but ones you certainly recognize.  Ones that are surely saints indeed!

This day, remember your loved ones and friends who have found their place of rest in that heavenly multitude.  Thank God for their witness in your life.  Thank God for the example they set and for the ways they have helped to mold you into the person you are today.  Thank God for their lives.

Scripture reference: Revelation 7: 9-17


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Good, Love, Mercies – Praise!

God is good.  His love endures forever.  Praise be to God for His unfailing compassion and mercy.

We sin.  Our faithfulness is prone to wander, to ebb and flow.  We weve in and out of our relationship with God.  We are human; we are imperfect.

But there is nothing we can do to cause God to stop loving us, nothing we can do that  He will not welcome us home.  In the midst of those times when we find ourselves in our own little wilderness, God is always calling, always seeking to redeem us.  Just as Jesus welcomed sinners into His life so that He could minister to them, we too enter God’s presence and find cleansing and healing.

At times we may feel too unworthy or that we are too far away to be found.  Yet there is no depth too deep for God’s love.There is no east or west too far for God’s redemptive power.  He always hears our cries and our prayers.  God is good.  His love endures forever,  His mercies are new every morning.  His compassions never fail.  Praise be to God.

Scripture reference: Psalm 107: 1-7 and 33-37


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Sing to God

The Book of Psalms was like Israel’s hymnal.  The songs they sang recounted their history and their relationship with God.  Both the good and the bad are in there – psalms of praise and psalms of lament.  Most of the time they sang songs to remember their past, to seek God’s help in present trouble, or to praise their God.

The songs we now sing on Sundays or in our car or… are also ways that we connect to God.  Some of our hymns contain ‘history’ but many hymns and most contemporary songs celebrate our relationship with God and Jesus and what they bring – hope, peace, love, strength, mercy…

Song has a way of uniting us as a people of God or of bringing us to a common place.  For example, to some songs offer hope for the future while for others the same song is a call to work for justice and freedom for all.  In another way, our songs can be like scripture passages that we memorize.  We can have ‘favorites’ to sing as we praise God, as we seek to find strength or comfort in God, or as we try to connect or reconnect to God.

What are your favorite songs to sing to God?

Scripture reference: Psalms 105: 16-22 and 45b


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Hosana to the King!

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the large crowd of people gathered there threw their cloaks and palm branches on the road into the city.  The soft path that they created symbolizes a special entrance.  They must have sensed that there was something special about this man on the donkey and colt.  Perhaps the people’s kind act even brought comfort to Jesus as he pondered what was to come in the days ahead.

The people raised their voices to welcome Jesus too.  Their shouts sought what we too seek from Jesus –  healing and salvation – and what we offer to him – our praise and thanksgiving.

May we be full of praise and thanksgiving as we walk into and through Holy Week so that we may also experience the healing and salvation that the week yields!


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His Mystery and Power

How does God see our hearts today?  Does He see us like the Israelites who saw the mighty miracles of their exodus story yet chose to test God almost as soon as they were across the Red Sea? (Psalm 95: 7b-11)

In our lives we see the beauty of creation, witness the miracle of a birth, experience healing from a rare disease, … We give thanks yet so often in the same breath say, “but could You also…?”

Instead we should take the time to rest in the creation and mystery of God.  Maybe even sing a song of praise to Him!  But most importantly, acknowledge Him as the creator and ruler of it all.  Bow or kneel before His awesomeness and take notice of the Lord almighty.  Draw in a deep breath, focus in on His presence, and lift up a long, slow thanks.