Praise YE The Lord

It has been a real blessing for us and my Papa to stay with him over the summer! We have enjoyed putting lots of smiles on his face and spoiling him a little while we are here. He and Clint are such cute buddies.

Rise and Shine for Jesus!

by Pam Iannello (my late mother)

"Praise YE The Lord"

Are you comfortable with worshiping God in the presence of others?  Are you comfortable praising God in the presence of others?  These might seem like ridiculous questions to some of you, but there are many (even Christians) who consider worshiping God a private matter and prefer to keep it that way!  They simply are not comfortable hearing or participating in praise to God or in worshiping along side of others in a public setting....  Yet on the other hand, there are those of us who thoroughly enjoy coming together with God's people, that have no problem with it at all.  Why the difference?  What do you think it is that makes worshiping God in the presence of others such an easy, desirable thing

to do?  Let's find some answers to these questions in light of Psalm

111...  

Verse 1 says, "Praise ye the Lord, I will praise the Lord with my whole

heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation."    The psalmist begins here with stating a promise - a promise TO the Lord to praise the Lord!  In whose company did the psalm writer promise to praise the Lord?  In the assembly of the upright AND in the congregation!  In front of small groups (assembly) AND in front of large groups (congregation) he is committed to praising God.  By this we learn WHO will be praised, HOW the Lord will be praised (whole heart) and WHERE the Lord will be praised - all purposed in the HEART of the believer.  Yes, praise and worship is reflective of the condition of our hearts...  This is a commitment the psalmist has made and challenges you and I with in the very first part of the psalm - "Praise ye the Lord."  Have any of you ladies ever purposed in your heart to continually praise God before

others - no matter the size of the setting?  

 Or are you a "secret agent

Christian", silently standing by...

Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name,

there am I in the midst of them."    Picture for a moment three women gathered together over tea, you being the third person in the setting. How would you feel if the other two other ladies chatted amongst themselves ignoring your presence altogether, leaving you out of the conversation entirely?  That's exactly how it is for the Lord oftentimes...  We ignore His presence, forgetting to include the One who died for us!  Whenever God's people are gathered somewhere, He IS in the midst of the group, yet do we ever properly acknowledge the Lord's presence in our conversations, do we ever try to include Him or introduce Him to those we are gathered with??  (It might help put an end to some of that gossip you get caught up in, amen?)   How many times have you left the Lord standing by, 

never once acknowledging

Him at all?  

 "Praise YE the Lord."

What inspired the psalm writer to praise God?   

What motivates you to

praising His name?  In verses 2-4, we find the reasons are clear...    "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. 

 His work is honourable and glorious:  and his

righteousness endureth forever. 

 He hath made his wonderful works to be

remembered:  the Lord is gracious and full of compassion."  Here we find quite a long list of reasons to praise God, amen?  The common word mentioned throughout all three of the above verses are the WORKS of God.  The Bible says they are great, sought out, honourable, glorious.  Great works ought not to go unnoticed, amen ladies?  For instance, let's say you've worked all day on fixing a very special dinner.  You've decided to try out some new recipes on your family and the meal turned out beautifully!  The big moment has come for you to serve it up, and as you sit down to eat in anticipation of your family's enjoyment and praise of your efforts, nobody says a word!  Do you like accomplishing something worthwhile only to have it go unnoticed?  It leaves a sinking feeling in your heart, doesn't it?  I wonder how the Lord feels when He performs His wonderful works in our lives and then we are tight lipped and never praise His name for those works... Ladies, God made His works to be remembered! Remembered how?  By the fruit of our lips bringing praise to His name, that's how!  As God's children, you and I ought to WANT the works of our Heavenly Father to be lifted up, amen?  We ought to want to brag on our "Daddy" and talk about how big and strong He is!  We ought to desire not only to speak of His works ourselves, but also to remind other believers of them, praising our "Daddy" before our brothers and sisters in the Lord, reminding them of His awesome capabilities, provoking them to speak up too.  What better way to

encourage one another in our faith and trust in God, especially in these

last days when things are worsening and hope is needed.    Verse 4 says that the Lord's character is gracious and full of compassion...  These are the very qualities that sent Christ to perform a perfect work of love for us on the cross! Is there any better motivation to force open our lips in praise of His wonderful name?!  No wonder the psalmist found praise an easy, comfortable thing to do!  It should be a natural outpouring of our souls to those who are in close fellowship with the Lord, who know Him as their personal Savior!  Praise is born in those who are truly thankful for this marvelous work in their lives - a work none can accomplish on their own.... Yes, the first of God's wonderful works was the saving of our soul, amen?!  Have you praised Him for that dear lady,   from the smallest of gatherings, to the largest of

gatherings?  There could be a lost person sitting nearby listening to the

fruit of your lips praising His name....  I remember when I first attended church as a lost person, I did not like praise of God at all!  I was not comfortable with people singing praises to God in song, I was not comfortable with listening to them talk about the Lord.  I wasn't comfortable with them lifting up His name in any fashion...  Why?  Because I did not know the Lord personally as my Savior, I had not lifted Him up in my own life by accepting His payment for my sins.  "Self" was lifted up in my life, I was my own god, therefore I couldn't praise God!  However, I was curious when I heard about the marvelous works of God as a lost person.  My heart was pricked to want to know more about God for myself and what could motivate people to be so open about the Lord.  I was that lost person sitting nearby listening...  Are you open about the Lord today??  Ladies, we who have been bought by the blood of the Lamb ought to start right there at the cross where He took our sins away and praise His name in the assembly of the upright AND in the congregation, if for no other reason!  Through

praising the Lord we remind ourselves regularly of the works of God in

our own life, remembering where it is He brought us from! 

Psalm 40:2, "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."   

 In closing, there are many benefits to praising God in the company of others.  Be careful that feelings, perceptions or even attitudes don't prevent you from publicly praising the Lord.  Most of the verses written about praise in God’s Word were penned by men and women who faced crushing heartaches, injustice, treachery, slander, and scores of other intolerable situations.  Praise will cost you something...  You'll have to trade in your anger, your fear, your logic - your screams that God doesn't know what He is doing, to set your lips free!  In what ways could you praise God with others more often?  Perhaps it's time to remind yourself of His wonderful works toward you in the past... You don’t learn to praise in a day, especially since you may have been complaining for years! New habits take time to develop. But you can begin today, and practice tomorrow, and the next day, until it becomes part of your heart.  Yes, you can motivate even yourself by praising God!  Don't forget there is also someone nearby who will benefit from you recalling His memorable works and praising God in their presence as well!  Make a promise to your heavenly Father today to include Him in ALL your conversations, to publicly praise Him in every setting.  How in the world can God's children remain silent?!  He is such a great God, we should desire to have a thousand tongues to praise Him with, amen?  Though we don't have

that many tongues, let's be a good steward of the one we have been given...

Psalm 139:14, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:  marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well."

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer's praise!

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,

Assist me to proclaim,

To spread thru all the earth abroad,

The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

That bids our sorrows cease.

'Tis music in the sinner's ears,

'Tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood availed for me.

Hear Him, ye deaf, His praise, ye dumb,

Your loosened tongues employ;

Ye blind, behold your Savior come;

And leap, ye lame, for joy!

Glory to God and praise and love

Be ever, ever given,

By saints below and saints above,

The church in earth and heaven.

God Bless,

Pam

Isaiah 60:1&2 

Copyright 2000  Pamela A. Iannello