Praising the Lord, Part II

        Okay, part II the joy of praising the Lord…because I think we all need reminding!  

We worship Almighty God, because He is infinitely worthy of all our praise (see yesterday).  But here’s the amazing part—the Lord also uses our worship to bless and encourage us!  Yet another example of His amazing grace!  

        Listen to these ten benefits to our worship as shared by Louie Giglio: First, our worship changes the soundtrack of our circumstances.  When we’re struggling mightily with some sort of problem or pain, that can become our soundtrack—the thing we’re always thinking about and talking about. But when we choose to praise God in the midst of the trouble, the soundtrack changes!  We begin to recognize that God is right there with us.  We change that soundtrack running in our brains to one of praise rather than panic or worry.  

        I can share a literal example of this in our family when our daughter, Janie, lay unconscious in a coma.  The moment the doctors gave us permission, we started softly playing praise music.  We kept that music on pretty much 24-7, and I can tell you, it radically transformed the atmosphere in Janie’s ICU room.  Right in the midst of the fear and pain, we were continually reminded of our Great God’s presence, power, and faithfulness.  It changed the soundtrack…and changed and strengthened us.

Secondly, worship allows us to reframe our circumstances.  Sure, our circumstances may not change, but we put a new frame around them—the Lord’s in control here.  His goodness, grace, and power frame our circumstances.  

        Third, worship puts God in view.  Darkness conceals but praise reveals.  Oh my, how thankful I am for His illuminating presence…and praise allows us to see Him when darkness has hidden His face.  

        Fourth, I love this one: worship displaces worry.  Because you absolutely cannot worry and worship at the same time. It’s impossible!  One always displaces the other—so let’s choose worship!         Fifth, worship dispels the darkness. God’s first words as Creator in Genesis 1 were “Let there be Light.”  John 1 tells us that Jesus is the Light that “shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”  When the Lord enters the picture, darkness always flees.  

        Sixth, worship breeds hope.  When we worship we’re reminded that our Father is forever faithful, and He will always come through.  

        Seventh, worship repels the enemy.  Satan, our enemy despises worship and cannot remain wherever and whenever the Lord’s name and greatness is lifted high.  

        Eighth, worship welcomes Jesus.   Ps.22:3 declares that “God inhabits the praises” of His people.  It’s as if we build the Lord a throne in our hearts with our worship and welcome Him into our lives.  

        Ninth, worship preaches the truth to us.  Oh my, this is so important, because nobody preaches to you more than you!  And the most powerful preaching you can ever do is to praise Almighty God by rehearsing and reminding yourself of His faithfulness, power, love, grace, goodness. 

You know, it’s funny.  If we have a friend who’s really struggling, think how quick we are to encourage them by sharing truths from God’s Word.  We exhort them by telling them things like: “God’s faithful!  Don’t give up.  He’s got all the power, and He has great plans for you and your loved one.  He’ll pull you through this.”  

        Yes sir, we’re johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to encouraging others with God’s faithfulness, but then what about ourselves?  We can all too easily fall into that woe-is-me, what-on-earth-are-we-going-to-do mode when what we really need to be doing is stop worrying and start worshipping.  We’ve got to preach the truth about God to ourselves!  

        Finally, tenth, worship restores our soul.  We find healing and rest for our troubled souls in when we worship the One who is our Peace.              

        Oh my, worship changes everything!  Tim Keller says, “Who cares about the acclaim of the serfs, if you have the love of the King?”  Seriously, think about that!  If the King of the Universe loves and adores you, then what does it matter if you don’t enjoy the applause and approval of the world around you?  

        There is one glorious King; everybody else on this planet—including every single one of us?  Serfs!  So let’s get busy adoring and praising the only One worthy of all our worship! 

        To God be the glory.