“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.” Psalm 150:1.2
I needed these verses today.
Sometimes I need help finding the words to adequately praise God.
There are days when I can feel the unseen battle waging against me. Some may say it’s hormonal. Maybe it’s too much sugar or winter itself (I am a summer girl.) Yet my spirit knows it’s something else.
Once in awhile I get stuck, and I can’t seem to do the things I need to do.
That’s when I know I need to simply worship God. On those days, weeks or months when I can’t seem to move forward, energy lacking while blessings overflow–these are clues that the antithesis of Good schemes to stop my work for the Kingdom or at least slow it down. And he wants to steal my joy.
[bctt tweet=”But the devil can only steal what I allow.” username=”wordsbyandylee”]
Even as I write, a smirky smile has formed on my face and I feel the shadows dissolving.
Worship.
Praise.
The strongest weapon against “the powers of this dark world.”
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 5:12).
As I chose the verses for the Bite of Bread reading plan this week, a plan for encouragement during gray days, I knew that some of those verses needed to be praise scriptures. The irony is that when I wrote that post and planned the Bites, I wasn’t experiencing such struggle myself. But God knew I would.
He loves us so much.
Many of you have told me that the “bites” of Scripture have often been exactly what you needed for the day. I can only marvel, “Me too! Praise the LORD!” Confession: I need my reading plans. Though I write them every week, I have to look them up every day. I have to make myself pen the verses to paper before I post them on our Fellowship page. But I’m always so glad I’ve done it after I push through the initial “I don’t want to or don’t have time” arguments.
It’s a battle.
“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.” Psalm 150:1.2
So, we worship.
- And reading psalms of praise helps get those worship juices flowing.
- And writing them down etches it deeper into our spirits.
- And digging into the ancient text unites our hearts with the writer who inscribed the praise. (Which is why I love to study with my Key Word Bible.)
David begins his praise with, “Praise the LORD.”
Do you notice anything about the word “lord” in this sentence? Look it up in your Bible too. Are all of the letters capitalized? Have you noticed this before?
The word “LORD” has been translated from the Hebrew word Yah.
Yah is a contraction for the word YHWH.
YHWH is the covenant name of God most known in relation with Israel. It is a sacred name, so holy, that devout Jews would substitute it with the name adonay. Most English Bibles translate this name with all capitals to distinguish it from the more commonly used word, “lord.”
Rabbi Irwin Kula explains in his book Yearnings:
The name of God is not meant to be uttered. YWHW is not meant to be known. YHWH is meant to be breathed.
David said, “I praise Yah in the sanctuary.” In biblical times the sanctuary of God was found in His dwelling place–the Tabernacle and then the Temple. More precisely in the Holy of Holies.
But today God has made our spirits His dwelling place, His sanctuary.
“Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit lives in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16)
Breathe.
Breathe my friends.
Praise Yah in the sacred places of your soul.
He is there.
What helps you praise God when depression shadows? Your comments encourage others and me!
With Purpose and Joy,
Love this, Andy. I will whisper my praise to the God of my breath. Thanks.
I’m whispering with you!