I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:1-4
“I will bless”—let’s break it down. ‘I’ of course makes it an individual thing; it’s the pronoun we use when we want to convey the type of person we claim to be. The word ‘will’ signifies that the act is of our free choice. And finally the word ‘bless’ means to convey something to another for the purpose of bringing pleasure. Does this describe us; are you (am I) one whose freewill is bent on blessing the Lord at all times? Is this the type of Christians we claim to be? Reflective questions not meant to bring us grief, but that we might ponder if it is a model we should be drawn to.
When we consider King David’s example our first impression may be that it was an easy thing for him to bless the Lord at al times, being king and all; living in palatial luxury. I might agree if he hadn’t written the Psalm when he was in fear of his life, fleeing from King Saul, feigning to be a madman before Abimelech so he wouldn’t be killed. In one of the worst times of his life, David willed to bless the Lord with his praises. It’s who he was. David praised the Lord during the good times, but he also continually and consistently praised Him in the bad times too. Why? Because it was a blessing to the Lord; it was David’s sacrifice of praise.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1
Delivered!
We know that David was delivered from this and many other troubling situations. That should give us pause. Do you keep a prayer journal? Let’s go back a year or two and read about the things we were asking of the Lord. What happened? I submit to you that there is a very good chance we were delivered; sicknesses were cured, jobs were found, ministries were grown, relationships were healed, and the bills were paid. And for those others things that didn’t change much, we likely discovered that God changed us (for the better) in the process. In all instances, we were delivered–praise be to God alone!
So why do we fret over our current situations?
We will pray without ceasing, but let’s bless Him at all times knowing (because He has already proved it to us) that He is faithful in all things. We are confident, as the Apostle Paul wrote, that He who has begun a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of our Lord! So [like David] we will bless Him at all times, we shall boast in Him and magnify Him for He is our deliverer, despite our circumstances. Considering all God has done, is doing, and will do for each of us, it is our reasonable sacrifice.
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23-24
These ramblings are typically (but not always) a byproduct inspired by God through my personal Bible study at SearchLight with Pastor Jon Courson and with my pastor at my home church, Calvary Chapel Coastlands
Thank you!
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To be honest with you it would be a long story if I were to try and explain. There are many reasons for why I walked away from the Lord. I have just recently started my journey to find faith. I have been studying many different religions since I was 15 so I have a good idea of what is out there. For some reason I am always lead to continue to re-read the Bible. To my surprise (considering what I write about) I have many Christian readers and sometimes I think this is a sign from God
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No explanation necessary–I been there. My friend, I think what you are experiencing is the Holy Spirit drawing you closer to the truth. I believe what you say (about your Christian readers) is a sign from God. I am going to pray that the next time you feel ‘led’ to read the Bible, that you do and the Lord will reveal Himself in a way that is significant to you.
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I admire those who have strong faith. This is something I have never been able to achieve for many different reasons. Thank you for the read
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Faith is a muscle that needs to be exercised. What’s been holding you back?
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