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Jubilant songs songs and expressions of great joy are a part of the believer’s life of praise to the Lord. Sin, death and devil are the enemies that prevent us from experiencing the joy of the Lord; and even after we have experienced the joy and peace in believing they are taking that joy away and replacing it with sorrow and care and anxiety. Spiritual enemies prevent and rob.

When these enemies are defeated and the Lord is taking pleasure in us the joy of the Lord is restored and the high praises of God are on our lips, feet and hands. This renewing of joy and praise happens every day when we repent of sin and believe the Gospel; then the beneficent reign of God comes back into our lives under which we are loved, cared about, provided for, protected and guided.

We can also rejoice today and go nuts with praise because of anticipated future triumph for His people and because of the future judgment and final confinement of our enemies.

Furthermore, we (the believers, the saints, the godly ones, the meek and humble, the people of God) somehow participate in that judgment and get to see the eternal confinement of the enemies that will bother us no more.

 

 

 

 

 

Everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in all the seas is called upon to praise the Lord, the Creator of all; this call to praise is given to animate and inanimate creation, visible and invisible creatures, absolutely everything that exists, except God Himself.

Every created thing does praise God when it fulfills the purpose of its created design. Everything praises when it obeys perfectly and is subject to the King. When every created thing is obedient and in submission then everything works in perfect harmony and order for the good of all. For instance, if any celestial body were to veer off its designed course and go its own way life would be impossible and unpredictable.

Human beings, who rebelled and got out of line, are being called back to God, to submission to God, and to praise of God. They are gently called with cords of love, not with chains of force. They are called by the Gospel, which announces the violent overthrow of all forces, beings, and entities that are opposed to God and the peaceful and orderly running of the universe under the Eternal King. Believers in the Gospel praise God gladly; opposers of gospel will praise unwillingly.

 

 

 

 

 

The power of God is indeed awesome and almighty; God can only be praised when His power is witnessed and experienced. The love of God is amazing and marvelous; God can only be thanked when His love is felt personally. When the Lord combines His power with His love to perform blessings and good things for us it is truly wonderful; thanks and praise is the only response.

The same God who counts the stars and calls them by name is the same God who heals a broken heart, who binds up a wound, and who knows how to put things together again in the human soul better than they were before.

The same God who sends rain and grass and food for the inhabitants of earth knows how lift up the weak and the meek and how to cast down the strong enemies that seek to ruin our lives.

The same God that sends snow and ice and wind also sends His Word and command to secure peace and safety for His people.

To know the true God who uses His awesome power and His relentless love for our temporal and eternal benefit is a remarkable blessing.

 

 

 

 

Even though most believers basically know and fundamentally profess that trust in God alone is the only way, it is tempting to look for help to the things we can see before turning to God whom we cannot see. When we need help we tend to turn to the Lord last instead of first.

God will use humans in most instances as the instruments through which He brings the help we need, and when we see the providential hand of God behind the human help we will believe Him first and trust Him more. “While I live will I Praise the Lord.”

God helps, saves, rescues, restores and gives life and hope to the weak, the vulnerable and the helpless. Look at the list: oppressed, hungry, prisoners, blind, bowed down, righteous, strangers, fatherless and widow. The “righteous” are included in that list because they have accepted the risk of dependence. They put their trust on God alone and have given up on their own strength and invincibility, their own self-righteous understanding, and their own independent do-it-myself spirit.

Only God can make us righteous, and God loves the righteous. And God helps the helpless, the best position from which to pray.

 

 

 

 

God is so great and so good it takes all of space and time to praise Him; every living creature needs all of eternity to give God adequate praise. God’s kingdom is not even actually in space or time; His reign is universal and eternal, infinite and unlimited.

When and where the rule of God is unchallenged and there is no rebellion anywhere, then and there the subjects who willingly submit are extremely well taken care of, abundantly provided for, and securely protected. Every sin is a challenge to God’s authority and causes a breakdown in His care, provision and protection. Every praise is a strengthening of God’s authority, which brings about the greater wellbeing of His subjects.

God’s kingdom rule comes into our hearts and lives when the Gospel is proclaimed and believed. His rule is strengthened when we pray, praise and give thanks, and when His authority is strengthened blessings and good things are poured out abundantly like Holy Spirit rain. He fulfills our desires and hears our prayers. He preserves and saves those who respond to His compassion and mercy, grace and kindness, His willing subjects; but the wicked who do not respond to His love will be destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. Yahweh is our God; He is the God of His people. His people worship Him, praise Him, and trust in Him. When they do they will experience victory and prosperity.

As long as enemies threaten our lives and families and property there can be no peace, and without peace there can be no prosperity. So it is spiritually: we make Jesus Christ our God and Lord every day by repentance and faith; we confess our sins; we confess our sins are forgiven; we confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

This Lord, this Yahweh, this Jesus, teaches us to war, takes notice of us, shows up in our life, gives victory over sin, death and devil, grants health and prosperity to our family and property and business. God grants it all: my response is only to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him.

The logic is simple: Jesus is my Lord; the Lord Jesus is my God; blessed am I. Focus on Him, praise Him, trust Him, not the blessings, for they follow.

 

 

 

There is no help and no hope for any man or woman from any source or under any condition; there is only one place to turn for help and hope, and that is to God. God must be merciful because there is no place else to turn. God will be merciful and hear our prayer and save us because he made a covenant promise, and He is faithful to do what he said.

I may feel like I am in or near death, but the Lord will deliver me; I may feel overwhelmed by spiritual enemies, but the Lord will destroy them; I may feel like I am in despair with no visible hope, but the Lord will lift me up out of trouble.

The Lord’s commitment to the covenant is the only basis of the appeal for aid. And the only way the covenant can be sustained is by the continual forgiveness from God. The Lord must be, and He will be, true to His Word and promise in the covenant for His name’s sake and His righteousness’ sake. If the OT believer could be certain of this, so much more can the NT believer hope in God.

 

 

 

 

The Levites were not given any allotment of land , as all the other tribes of Israel were given a heritage of land by which they could support themselves. For the Levites the Lord was their “portion.” God Himself was their life support system by which they would sustain themselves. “The Lord is my portion” came to be a statement of faith for every believer whether he had land or not, for it was the Lord who sustained him through the land anyway.

When in the course of our pilgrimage we find ourselves on a sickbed or a deathbed, in prison or in distress, or all alone and no one cares, then the Lord is my refuge and my portion. I trust God alone to keep me safe and keep me alive.

if God uses land, livelihood, and other people to keep me safe and alive He is still my refuge and portion. If I feel deserted and stressed out with no tangible support then I believe the same truth: the Lord is my refuge and portion in the land of the living.

In the presence of enemies I cry to the Lord; He will deal bountifully with me. That’s a promise.

 

 

 

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” These daily petitions are desperately needed by every child of God. Jesus is so wise to give this prayer.

One way to avoid temptation is to avoid the circles of people and places where sins in word and deed are evidently right in the open. Ask the Lord for simple strength and wisdom to say no to such parties and socials. Ask the Lord to set a watch at your mouth. Ask the Lord to not let your heart incline to any evil thing. In many cases we know well enough the right thing to do and to say, but we can only do the right thing if given the grace and strength. We can admit the sinfulness and weakness inside of us and ask for help in avoiding and resisting the temptation. Ask for grace and strength.

At other times we walk into temptations oblivious and unaware. We do not even see the evil or the harm in speaking or activity. Satan sets camouflaged snares and traps that we don’t even notice until too late. We pray for wisdom and discernment while admitting blindness and stupidity. Our Lord delivers.

 

 

 

 

 

The NT believer loves his enemies, turns the other cheek, blesses persecutors and does not avenge. This applies to flesh and blood human beings, whom we will love, pray for, and be kind to. The spiritual forces driving people to evil words and deeds, however, are real enemies that must be prayed against. The vengeance is God’s and our prayer is for His justice. Most of these imprecatory prayers are prophetic in nature and for reaping the consequences.

Sin, death and the devil are not to be loved and treated kindly. But we are too weak to fight them alone, so we pray for our Lord, our Shepherd, our Savior, our Warrior to fight for us and crush our enemies in serious spiritual warfare.

I am in danger from wars against me, poisonous snakebite, and from hunters’ snares. It’s OK to ask the Lord to send coals of fire from above and open up the pits of earth beneath. This warfare is deadly serious: ask your Defender and Protector to maintain your cause and bring you into His Presence.