Do I accept what God is Doing For Me? - In Praise
- TJC
- May 10, 2022
- 2 min read
Via TJC
“But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.” ~ Psalm 59:16
Praising God is a God-appointed calling. God has formed for Himself a people "that they may proclaim my [God's] praise" (Isaiah 43:21). And it is having an intimate relationship with God that is sufficient reason for praising Him.
My journey to experiencing praise at an intimate level with God has happened over the past four years. Four years ago I had the deepest sorrow I have ever experienced, the death of my eldest son, Jeff. For any of us who have gone through a tragedy like this you know the physical feeling of a giant cavity that has opened right in the middle of your chest. A giant hole left from the deep grief of suffering a loss so great. In that “day of my distress” reaching out to and feeling the presence of God’s mercy, love, protection, and calm in the tornado of grief in my life was when I witnessed the power of praising God more than any other. He alone could fill the hollow space in my heart. And turning to Him in praise changed me and continues to in more profound ways than anything else ever has. We don’t all have to go through a devasting loss to experience the true joy of praising God, but if you do, embrace the opportunity! You will surely find Him there!
DAILY BATTLE ORDER:
The Book of the Psalms is our centerpiece for understanding and practicing praise. Psalms builds to a remarkable crescendo of praise (Psalms 145-150), in which all creatures are summoned to incessant praise of God. Are you praising God incessantly? I love the DBO which our warrior king David expresses in the last verse of this beautiful book – “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150:6).
He gave you your breath – give it back to Him in joyful praise!
I also lost my son about 4 and a half years ago. In reading this DBO, I reflected on how God's comfort and the comfort of the Holy Spirit takes many forms; the comfort of learning the man that I am, the one God created. The comfort of realizing I was living my life vicariously through my son and it was time to stop that and live my life as the man I am. The comfort of developing a deeper and truer relationship with my daughter and the strong, wonderful woman she is. Being kinder and more compassionate to my ex-wife rather than blowing her off. The comfort of the Holy Spirit is worthy of all my praise!