WORSHIP - AN ACT OF FAITH
13th Feb 2014
It’s never easy to praise and worship God when everything in life seems to be going wrong. It is at this point when we are truly offering a sacrifice of praise, trusting God in spite of His “seeming” lack of answers.
Psalm 34:9 in the Message says, “Worship God if you want the best; worship opens doors to all his goodness.” and Psalm 50:23 declares, “It’s the praising life that honours me. As soon as you set your foot on the Way, I’ll show you my salvation.”
Over and over again I’ve found that when life is difficult, choosing to praise and worship not only prevents me from becoming miserable and negative, but somehow releases God’s power to act on my behalf.
Psalm 35 is the cry of David when he is having a lot of opposition, early in the psalm he says, “Frustrate all those who are plotting my downfall. Make them like cinders in a high wind with God’s angels working the bellows.” He is quite realistic about the circumstances, but also expecting God to act on his behalf. “Reassure me; let me hear you say, “I’ll save you.” After all his groans and moans he is confident in God’s ability to prove his power and faithfulness, and the psalm concludes, “God is great - everything works together for good for his servant. I’ll tell the world how great and good you are, I’ll shout Hallelujah all day, every day.”
Shout Hallelujah every day! It seems that our praise is “an act of faith” which prompts God to respond with His deliverance. We so often wait for the action or the answer to come from God before we praise. God’s ways are so different from our ways, but His ways will ultimately be the best ways.
At one time, when I was feeling very discouraged God prompted me to write my own “psalm of thanksgiving”. As I wrote down my own expressions of thanks and praise, the load lifted, and soon God gave me the answers I needed.
by Joyce Sibthorpe
