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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is my habit to daily read and confess Psalm 91 for myself and my family. This morning I just kept going and read Psalm 92.  There I found such a gift!

Easter Sunday was a day of powerful praise and worship at GatewayCommunityChurch-my church home. Yet we were doing so in the midst of electrical problems, some who were not feeling their best, and other issues that the world, the flesh and the devil had instigated.

But God (one of my favorite Biblical phrases) through His Holy Spirit inhabited the praises of His people.

Verses 1 through 5 of the psalm express what the congregation, the band, the choir and praise singers were engaged in doing corporately that morning:

IT IS a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises [with musical accompaniment] to Your name, O Most High, To show forth Your loving-kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night, With an instrument of ten strings and with the lute, with a solemn sound upon the lyre. For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your works; at the deeds of Your hands I joyfully sing. How great are Your doings, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep.

Verses 6 through 9 speak of what we were up against:

A man in his rude and uncultivated state knows not, neither does a [self-confident] fool understand this: That though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to be destroyed forever. But You, Lord, are on high forever. For behold, Your adversaries, O Lord, for behold, Your enemies shall perish; all the evildoers shall be scattered.

Finally, verses 10 through 15 show what we received from the Lord through our genuine heartfelt praise of Him:

But my horn (emblem of excessive strength and stately grace) You have exalted like that of a wild ox; I am anointed with fresh oil.My eye looks upon those who lie in wait for me; my ears hear the evildoers that rise up against me.The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.[Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment].[They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Isn’t that always the result when we give ourselves wholeheartedly and unselfishly to praise and worship of our Lord and Savior?  When we do so in the midst of problems-manmade and otherwise-He works through any situations and gives us so incredibly in return.

What a gracious and mighty God we serve.

Love,

Brother Bill