Category: He Is Worthy of Our Praise

1 Chronicles 17:1-27 CSB

[1] When David had settled into his palace, he said to the prophet Nathan, “Look! I am living in a cedar house while the ark of the Lord’s covenant is under tent curtains.” [2] So Nathan told David, “Do all that is on your mind, for God is with you.” [3] But that night the word of God came to Nathan: [4] “Go to David my servant and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. [5] From the time I brought Israel out of Egypt until today I have not dwelt in a house; instead, I have moved from one tent site to another, and from one tabernacle location to another. [6] In all my journeys throughout Israel, have I ever spoken a word to even one of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, asking: Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar? ’ [7] “So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. [8] I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a name for you like that of the greatest on the earth. [9] I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done [10] ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies. “‘Furthermore, I declare to you that the Lord himself will build a house for you. [11] When your time comes to be with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who is one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. [12] He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. [13] I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not remove my faithful love from him as I removed it from the one who was before you. [14] I will appoint him over my house and my kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.’” [15] Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.  [16] Then King David went in, sat in the Lord’s presence, and said, Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me this far? [17] This was a little thing to you, God, for you have spoken about your servant’s house in the distant future. You regard me as a man of distinction, Lord God. [18] What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? You know your servant. [19] Lord, you have done this whole great thing, making known all these great promises for the sake of your servant and according to your will. [20] Lord, there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, as all we have heard confirms. [21] And who is like your people Israel? God, you came to one nation on earth to redeem a people for yourself, to make a name for yourself through great and awesome works by driving out nations before your people you redeemed from Egypt. [22] You made your people Israel your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God. [23] Now, Lord, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and his house be confirmed forever, and do as you have promised. [24] Let your name be confirmed and magnified forever in the saying, “The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.” May the house of your servant David be established before you. [25] Since you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build him a house, your servant has found courage to pray in your presence. [26] Lord, you indeed are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. [27] So now, you have been pleased to bless your servant’s house that it may continue before you forever. For you, Lord, have blessed it, and it is blessed forever.

David desired to build a house for the LORD to dwell in. He didn’t feel right that he had a house to dwell, but the LORD only had a tent. So, King David inquired of Nathan the Prophet to see if the LORD was with him for this project. Nathan, without inquiring of the LORD, told David to not only build it but that the LORD was with him. When Nathan returned home that night, the LORD came to him and told him to tell David that he wasn’t to build the LORD a home.

David got the idea, checked it with the prophet, got the prophet’s approval, then was told no. It would have been easy for David to become upset and discouraged. He could have easily become angry and aggressive. Instead, David praised the LORD.

David understood the LORD has good plans for His people. Even though, David had a plan himself, he knew that God’s plan was better. That God’s plan was best. So he didn’t just accept God’s plan, David rejoiced in God’s plan. He praised the LORD.

We all have plans and desires for our lives, so does the LORD. Sometimes, our plans are good, but they aren’t right for us. They’re a good thought, but the wrong outcome. Therefore, we must rejoice and praise, even when God says no. Why? Because there is nothing greater than the plan God has for your life. Therefore, cling to the plan of God regardless of your own. Praise Him for His plans are good and just.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Praise In No.

¹ Praise the LORD. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. ² Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness. ³ Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, ⁴ praise Him with tambourine and dancing, praise Him with the strings and pipe, ⁵ praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals. ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. ~ Psalms 150:1-6

This is a hymn of praise to the LORD. The Psalmist is imploring everyone everywhere with everything to praise the LORD. In the little church that I grew up in as a young boy, we did not have musical instruments like electric guitars and drums; everything was done a cappella. But that is not God’s way; He wants us to praise Him with all of our instruments; Psalms 100 says to make a joyful noise unto the LORD…come before His presence with singing. Look also at the last verse of the Psalm we just read, Psalm 150:6, which says, Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

I was on vacation one time and visited a church. They, too, did not have musical instruments, but they even took it a step further. No one in the congregation raised their hands in praise or worship. No one said, “Amen,” in agreement with what the pastor was preaching, or even utter a word of encouragement for him. But God didn’t even make a distinction between the Christian or the sinner; in fact, He was very specific; He said let EVERYTHING that has breath praise Him. If you have breath in your body, you ought to be praising God.

The thing to remember here is not to get confused with intercessory prayer and praise; they are different. Prayer – except for the prayer of repentance – is for the saints; praise is for everyone, so go on and praise Him today.

Heavenly Father, I lift up a shout of praise to You today for all the blessings I enjoy, all the prayers You have answered, and for all the times that You have been there for me when no one else understood. I praise You, LORD, for who You are and for what You have done for me. I praise You and give thanks for the great work of salvation that You so freely give to everyone who will accept it. LORD, may Your great and matchless Name be lifted up in my life and among the nations, and may Your praise never depart from my lips. May songs of rejoicing continually be in my mouth, and may You be exalted in all the world, for You are good, and Your mercies endure forever. Be glorified in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

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¹⁷ Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. ¹⁸ He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. ~ Daniel 2:17-19

Daniel was facing execution. His faith was being tested. But Daniel’s faith was strong in the LORD. He knew the God in whom he trusted and served. He knew that no matter what His God did, it was for His good.

When Daniel received the answer to his prayer, He didn’t immediately run to the king. He didn’t stop everything he was doing and go tell his friends the good news. No, Daniel praised the LORD. We ask and ask and ask, but how often do we stop and praise when we receive?

God is a good good father. He enjoys blessing His children. He enjoys giving them good gifts, but He desires a thank you in return. An offering of praise. That doesn’t cost us anything. It doesn’t cost us money, only a little bit of our time.

If we expect God to hear us and answer us, we need to be prepared to praise Him for His answer. He’s a good good God. His desire is for our good. There’s no one like Him. And He is more than worthy of our praise.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Praise For The Answer.

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¹ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! ² Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! ~ Psalms 100:1-2

The LORD God wants us to be celebratory in worship. He does not want long sad faces but happy, joyful faces, and elated spirits. He wants us to clap our hands enthusiastically and sing with triumphant voices, for He is good, and His love endures forever.

The LORD gives us joy and peace because He has reconciled our souls to Him. God does not take pleasure in us losing or in our sorrows but in joy and in celebrations.

So, make an effort today to say that this is the day that the LORD has made and given to me. Therefore, I will rejoice and be glad in it. I will take pleasure in serving the LORD as He takes pleasure in me serving Him.

It is a joy for the LORD to bless us in everything we do. Therefore, we will bless the LORD with our mouth, with our hands, with our feet, and with all of our strength, and with everything that is within us. Will serve Him with gladness of heart.

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us joy. Help me to forget about today’s hurts and tomorrow’s pain. Help me to focus on you as you deliver me from the hand of the enemy so that I can rejoice and be glad. Thank you, Father, in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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⁴⁷ And all the royal officials have gone to King David and congratulated him, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s fame even greater than your own, and may Solomon’s reign be even greater than yours!’ Then the king bowed his head in worship as he lay in his bed, ⁴⁸ and he said, ‘Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who today has chosen a successor to sit on my throne while I am still alive to see it.’ ~ 1 Kings 1:47-48 NLT

We aren’t meant to stay in the same position forever. God raises us up and brings us into high places for a season. We aren’t immortal yet. One day every one of us will die, so God raises up another to replace us. Sometimes He raises them up before we have died so that we can pass the mantle on to them while we are still alive to so them succeed and guide them. And sometimes this is difficult to see take place.

It can be discouraging and make you feel like you’re no longer good enough or that you’re now used up. But that’s not the reason God does this. He wants you to raise up the next generation so that they might be prepared to take over when you’re gone. So that they have all of the lessons and words of wisdom that you passed down while you were in your place of authority over them. Don’t look at it as being replaced; look at it as being succeeded. Guide them, and you’ll live on through them.

One of my favorite shows ever made was Boy Meets World, and Eric, the oldest son in the show, said this to his dad:

You said to me that there would come a time when you weren’t around, and that’s not so… I remember everything you taught me, and I’m gonna turn around and teach that to my children. So you see, Dad, you’re always gonna be around.

See, when you pour out yourself and your knowledge and wisdom into someone else, you leave part of yourself with them even after you’re gone. King David understood that. He praised God that he was able to see his son succeed the throne. It’s a blessing to be able to influence and guide the next generation, so when you get the opportunity to raise up another and pass on your mantle, don’t be discouraged or disappointed. Most good things must come to an end but praise God that you got to see the beginning of the next good thing.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pour Into The Next Generation.

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⁹ And the crowds that went before Him and that followed Him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” ¹⁰ And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” ~ Matthew 21:9-11

By the time Jesus reached Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. Why? Because the crowds that followed and surrounded Jesus were boldly proclaiming,

Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

The praising and rejoicing of the crowd caught the attention of the entire city and stirred something inside of them that they had to seek out who all of these people were worshipping and praising. Genuine praise and worship will always catch the attention of others. Why? Because the Spirit of the LORD rests on the praise of His people.

Even if you don’t know all of the Scriptures, or can’t speak eloquently, or aren’t walking in the gifts of the Spirit, you can be used by God to get the attention of others just by your genuine worship and praise because it won’t be the you that’s catching their eye, but the Spirit dwelling in you. If you are saved, you have become the Temple of God. The very Spirit of God dwells within you, and Jesus lives through you.

You don’t have to be a theologian, preacher, scholar, or anyone of great influence for people to notice something different in you. You just have to love your life, genuinely worshipping and praising God with everything you do. In your actions, the way you speak, the way you treat people, your emotions, your personality, and the vibe you give off are all acts of worship because we are to do everything to the glory of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Your Actions Give Glory To God.

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¹¹ Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! ~ Psalms 32:11

Equilibrium is the state of balance or the adjustment of conflicting desires. In other words, when your inside does not match your outside, you have an imbalance in your equilibrium. Your body will then work to adjust the one with the other, and usually, the one with the strongest emotion, or the one you push the hardest, will be the dominant one.

For example. Suppose you are feeling good inside, but you pretend to be upset, and your face shows it; your words tell of it, and you act like you are upset. Soon your inside will begin to match your outside since it’s your dominant emotion, the one you are pushing the hardest, and you will begin to feel angry or upset, and you won’t even know why.

That is your equilibrium adjusting to balance the two; your inward and your outward. That is why God commanded them to be glad, or in other words, to begin celebrating with song and with clapping of hands. With shouts of elation and with whatever other outward expression of celebratory joy there maybe. Even before they begin to feel it inwardly.

Express it outwardly, and in due time, the inward will match the outward, and you will begin feeling the joy of the LORD, and the heart will rejoice and be thankful and grateful for all the LORD has done because His goodness is forever.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Celebrate The Goodness of The LORD.

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²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,  faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23

God doesn’t say be happy because happiness is based on your circumstances, whereas joy is what God gives, in good times and in bad. The problem with happiness is it can be fleeting or even misleading. What I mean is this. Sometimes people smile on the outside and even laugh, while all the while, they are troubled on the inside. They have thoughts of suicide, worries, concerns, and day-to-day fears and doubts.

While joy gives us God’s peace, even in the midst of the storm, joy will take us through tribulation. Joy surrounds us even in the face of death. Joy changes our attitude even when gloom is hanging over us. Joy gives us hope.

If you want to experience the Joy of the LORD, you must begin with celebrating even when there is nothing to celebrate or nothing to celebrate about. If you celebrate God, a spirit of thankfulness will overshadow you, and joy will enter your heart.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Experience The Joy of The LORD.

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