"Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms."
Psalm 95:1-2
How many of the people of the Lord actually sing to him and bring to him thanksgiving? We're too busy. Our attention is on the cares in our world. We know God is there, we know all comes from him, but we can't seem to make time for him, nor do we have time to speak to him other than when we need him. We're glad we can go to church on Sunday because there we will worship him and fulfill that "obligation," but how can one relegate worship to our God to one day a week?
Friends, we have to make time. There is nothing in our lives more important than praise and thanksgiving to the One who provides for us and sustains us. When you're driving in your car, you can be singing. When you're upon you bed, you can be singing.
Praise and thanksgiving are two of the most powerful tools we have in our walk with the Lord. The great apostle Paul was never too busy to bring his love and worship to the Lord. Let's look at an incident in his life in which he gave a response that almost no other human being would even think to give. He and Silas lay bloodied and bound in a dungeon. What could be worse than that?
"And when they had laid many stripes on them,
they threw them into prison,
commanding the jailer to keep them securely.
Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison
and fastened their feet in the stocks."
Acts 16:23-24
It's almost beyond belief what their response to these terrible straights was:
vs 25:
"But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the prisoners were listening to them."
You scratch your head and wonder "How on earth...???" Singing hymns to God??? While laying black and blue, bloodied and bound in a dungeon?
Prisons in those days were not like the prisons of today. There was no tv to watch, no three meals a day, this was a dungeon, cold, dark, damp. It's hard to imagine how on earth these men could enter into praise and thanksgiving while in such pain and in such a terrible place, it's SO contrary to human nature. When we're hurt, when we're unjustly accused, unjustly punished, treated unfairly, our reaction is a deep and overwhelming anger, a brooding over the injustice of it all. But Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God in their pain !!!
What did they know that we don't know? What kind of depth did they hold in their relationship to God? What could possibly motivate a hurting human being to be singing while in the worst possible circumstances?
A surrendered heart singing praise to God in terrible circumstances evokes a response from heaven:
vs 26:
"Suddenly there was a great earthquake,
so that the foundations of the prison were shaken,
and immediately all the doors were opened
and everyone’s chains were loosed."
Oh WOW! Put yourself there. Can you imagine seeing that?! The response from heaven was an earthquake! They must have been stunned!
A short testimony: one night when I was in a terrible situation, I was laying in bed late at night. It was totally dark because my bedroom was on the backside of the house and there wasn't even a light pole anywhere out back, it was totally dark. In that darkness, with tears rolling down my face, I raised my arms in praise to God - and suddenly I saw light coming out of my arms. I was absolutely astonished as I realized this was a response from heaven.
And another short testimony: my sister, my daughter, my granddaughter and I were sitting around my kitchen table talking and praying. We were grieving the death of a loved one. I began speaking of this story of Paul and Silas in the dungeon and how they had so much love for God that they were singing praises to him in their terrible state, and how there was an earthquake and the prison doors flew open. As I was telling this story, the four of us sitting there around my kitchen table, the table and the whole room began to shake as a small earthquake took place even as I was finishing this story. We looked at each other absolutely shocked. My granddaughter's husband called, nervous because miles away, he had felt the earthquake too and wanted to make sure we were ok. We knew that God was affirming to us the importance of living in a state of praise and thanksgiving no matter what the circumstances. The Lord gave us this absolute confirmation that in all circumstances we must maintain an attitude of praise and thanksgiving, and that he would move heaven and earth in response.
If you're in a terrible situation, refuse the demands of your human nature and turn your heart instead to praising God for all that he is, and for all that he does. Bring to him thanksgiving for all you can think of. Sing hymns to him. And then watch for the response from heaven.
If you’re struggling and in desperate need of answers, here’s a series of messages that might greatly encourage you:
When Life Hurts
“There is a generation that is pure IN ITS OWN EYES, yet is not washed from its filthiness.” Proverbs 30:12 When a people reject God and the laws of God, they justify to themselves all the evil that they do - thus, they are pure IN THEIR OWN EYES, and they reject the whole concept of sin. It has come to pass in this generation that a man and a woman living together without marriage is the norm. No one thinks anything of it. The fact that the Word of God speaks against fornication does not even enter their mind, and should one remind them of it they’d only be laughed at and told to mind their own business. It’s good and right and accepted by them, it’s right IN THEIR OWN EYES, and they feel no pangs of guilt. But …they are not washed from their filthiness. When a woman finds herself pregnant unexpectedly these days, it seems like nothing to her to destroy the child growing within, because abortion is now so commonplace that to many it doesn’t seem wrong anymore. She justifies her deed IN HER OWN EYES and goes forward with it. She remains in her filthiness. When a man finds himself attracted to other men these days, it no longer carries the shame it once did. He justifies himself in his own eyes, tells himself that this is the way God made him, and lives in what God calls evil, calling it right IN HIS OWN EYES. He remains unwashed from his filth. This generation is like no other. It demands a freedom never before known to mankind, the freedom to be their own god, to make their own rules, to throw off the restraints God himself has set forth. They feel no shame, they live by the motto, “If it feels good, do it,” and don’t anyone dare say anything against it. They insist on dwelling in their filth, calling it good. And …they remain in their filth. “There is a way that SEEMS RIGHT to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12 This is a formula for disaster. God in his mercy and patience has warned and warned and warned, sending men to call out the immorality of this generation, but they couldn’t care less about God, they are their own gods. They remain in their filth. “There is a generation - oh, how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up.” Proverbs 30:13 This generation lives in the pride and arrogance that will bring them to destruction. How can they think judgment won’t fall upon them? They think that because judgment doesn't fall immediately, so in their eyes, there won't be judgment at all. They don't realize that God has been merciful, giving them time to repent. But they mock God, and they mock his servants who speak to their immorality. And they remain unwashed in their filthiness. The prophet Jeremiah was the last prophet God sent to Israel to plead with them to come to repentance. He was mocked and laughed at and even thrown in prison …until judgment fell and destroyed them. Their Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem fell in total devastation. Judgment hadn't come immediately, so they believed it never would. After many warnings ...it came. Before God sends judgment he sends men to plead with the people. It took Noah an entire generation to build the ark; he was "a preacher of righteousness" and all that time he pleaded with the people (2nd Peter 2:5). They laughed at him and at the huge boat he was building in the desert where it never rained. They laughed him to scorn. But finally, judgment fell ...and they all perished. That entire generation, destroyed. "...and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;" 2nd Peter 2:5 Truly this is a generation lofty in its own eyes, dwelling in pride, arrogance, self-will and defiance, hating the faithful, and demanding that all sin not only be tolerated but be approved. Dissenters are punished, preachers are hated, and evil has filled the land. They are invincible IN THEIR OWN EYES, reminiscent of what was said about the Titanic before she set sail, “Not even God himself could sink this ship.” But it sank, didn’t it! Don’t be deceived, God is not mocked. He has held out mercy for a very long time, giving ample opportunity for repentance. But there comes a day when it’s over, and all the signs say that day is almost upon us. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. BUT …the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…” 2nd Peter 3:9-10 "As a thief in the night" - meaning suddenly and unexpectedly. Hear the call to the proud: it’s going to bring you down. It will send you to hell. IT'S NOT WORTH IT. God pleads with you to come to repentance. Humble yourself before him and be saved, or else he will humble you and you will be lost forever.
Humble yourself, or he will humble you.
"Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked that he would show them a sign from heaven." Matthew 16:1 How ridiculous for them to ask something like this. He had already healed multitudes and opened blind eyes, casted out demons, even raised the dead - yet they asked for another sign! As the Scripture says, they were "testing him." How audacious! How presumptuous! How insulting! And Jesus gave the perfect answer, telling them that they had enough proof to recognize who he is. Who else has ever been able to raise a lame man to his feet, or cast a demon out of someone, restoring him to his right mind? vs 2-3: "He answered and said to them, 'When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times!" But there is more to this. Jesus was saying that they SHOULD know who he is because these religious men have studied the Scriptures, and the Scriptures speak of him in every Book in the Bible. There was no excuse for not recognizing him. "Behold, I come; in the volume of the Book it is written of me." Psalm 40:7 We are in a period of time unlike any other. The Word of God has spoken extensively about how to recognize "the last days." Signs? It's all unfolding exactly as those ancient Scriptures foretold. If people only realized the seriousness of this and the danger they are in if they ignore those Scriptures that are calling out to them, they would quickly repent in sackcloth and ashes. But they don't. They refuse to even look into it. And those who take the Word of God lightly (or who don't take it at all) will settle their own fate as someone who avoided the One who put them on this earth and who gave us all the tools we need to recognize the time. Friends, the end of the age is upon us. The wars, rumors of war, earthquakes, famines, and pestilence - all of which Jesus foretold for "the last days" - are right before our eyes. Scoffers say, "oh there have always been those things on the earth, nothing is different." They don't realize that in saying that, they are actually fulfilling prophecy: "...knowing this first: that SCOFFERS will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.'” 2nd Peter 3:3-4 Every century has had its great earthquake or great war or great pestilence (disease). What characterizes THIS generation is that they are ALL happening at the same time. In recent years we saw the four "blood moons," each falling on God's feast days and ONLY on God's feast days, none happening other than that. We saw two total solar eclipses. We saw the Revelation 12 sign in the constellations - these were all like road signs revealing that we are near to the Tribulation. God in his mercy placed those signs early enough for all the people to be made aware of them and come to repentance. Along with the wars and the rumors of war, the earthquakes, famines, diseases - what more does anyone need in order to believe? Many have forgotten about the signs God put there to signal our attention. But believers haven't forgotten. The earth is filled with violence and the "New World Order" is nearly upon us, the kingdom of the Antichrist taking shape right before our eyes - yet undeniable as all this is, people still ignore it. As was foretold. Jesus said the last days would be "as the days of Noah." Noah's day was a day of sexual perversion and a time of violence. Noah warned of the coming flood while he built that ark, the ark of safety. He told the people the flood was coming, and they scoffed, they laughed at him. They're not laughing anymore; they perished, and they would give anything now to escape hell and have another chance. Eternal regret. How awful. "Then the Lord saw that the WICKEDNESS of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Genesis 6:5 vs 11: "The earth also was CORRUPT before God, and the earth was filled with VIOLENCE." That's what it was like in the days of Noah. That’s exactly what it is like now. The good news is that the Kingdom of God beckons all who will "hear" to come to repentance and find the safety offered at the foot of the Cross. Don't put it off. You may not have another chance. Receive Jesus Christ today. He loves you more than you have any idea. Come to him. Don't play Russian Roulette with your eternity. Don't risk having to spend eternity in regret.
