Scripture: Psalm 67: "To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song. God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
5 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him."
If our hearts are filled with praises to our Father and Jesus what's in our hearts shall come out of our mouths. If our minds are full of the Word of God, our hearts will be strong and we will speak forth His Word with confidence.
What we get when many are joyful is the Righteous Judge over our nation. Our God will govern those nations in fairness and mercy. If those in authority oppose Him they will be in crisis after crisis. South Africa is a prime example.
Being a Communist Socialist government the chances of any sincere Godly praise is very unlikely so our woes continue to escalate. The Judge is doling out punishment for how they treat Israel. Those who bless her will be blessed, those who curse her will be cursed.
Take a deep look at those nations that are in distress through floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, severe storms, economic meltdown, government corruption. What is the relationship of those nations to the Lord Jesus Christ?
The Lord will bless those who praise Him with pure hearts with health and wellbeing. The Earth will yield its fruit to fill our pantries with His blessings. Those who continue to vote for an unrighteous government will suffer poverty and lack. Our nation is struggling to keep the poor fed and give them clean water. Their meagre social grants are often delayed. They have very little to be thankful for.
Praise is linked with prayer for a balanced spiritual life. Adoration followed by supplication brings the Lord of the Harvest close to you.
Years ago an army chaplain in the USA, Merlin Carruthers, was counselling a young couple who wanted to marry. They were both part of the army base personnel. Unfortunately he was being transferred with his unit across the country. She was an orphan with no other family and was visibly upset. She would be left alone when he was transferred.
The chaplain prayed with them and told them to start praising God for their problem. Astonished, they hesitated at first but really praised God for the difficulties, thanking Him for solutions as yet unseen. The chaplain asked her if he could have a private word with her fiance. She went back to the waiting room where the next person for an appointment was already waiting.
They got talking, total strangers, when he suddenly showed her a photo of his family. She had only ever seen one photo of her mother until now. Right in the middle was a photograph of the same person! She was sitting right next to her half-brother looking at the family she had never known. God works in mysterious ways but He knows how to set the solitary in families!
Now she had answers straight from the Lord and her prayers for His solution had been instantly met. She had many reasons to keep on praising Him.
If we are in a serious situation, instead of worrying, complaining, fretting, panicking or crying, get down before the Father and lay it upon Him. Praise Him for our problems in great detail then thank Him for the solution that will favour all parties involved. Leave it in His capable hands and in His perfect time it will be resolved in a wonderful way.
Now if our government could get hold of this Godly plan and apply it vigorously to all the emergencies besetting us, how wonderful that would be. Lord if they refuse, please reshuffle our government for one that will seek You for the answers we desperately need. We praise and thank You Lord for an answer to this dire need.
There is power in praise. When we sing and lift up our hands its like a little child asking to be lifted up in its parent's arms. It wants to be up there and close to the parent's faces. It wants to be comforted, reassured or given a treat. That's exactly how God sees us when we lift up our hands in the Holy place and bless the Lord.
Psalm 149 v 6 - 9: "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;
7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
When we are brought into effective spiritual warfare praying we start with high praises to our God. O Father we worship You in Spirit and in truth. We exalt You as You are high above the clouds. Your wisdom, love and power is mighty to behold and we stand in awe of the blessed works of Your Hands as we do battle against unseen enemy forces.
We use the two-edged sword of Your Word to resist Satan as Jesus did in the Wilderness. We resist his temptations with vigour and strength and we praise You with our faith as this frightens Satan and his demons. They will flee. We give You thanks for Jesus defeated them so that we can overcome them.
He picks us up in His arms and gives us all we have need of. Comfort, blessing, love, peace, joy, and the wonder of being in His Presence. So never neglect to worship Him and thank Him for all that He does for us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father You are mighty in Your abode within our hearts. We honour You with our worship and praise. We thank You that You hear our prayers and give wise and powerful answers. Our God is an awesome God who reigns over Heaven and Earth in wisdom, love and power. In Jesus' name. Amen.