PRAISE AND PRAYER DURING OUR TRIALS

Proclamation:

"Do not withhold Your mercy from me, Lord; may Your love and Your faithfulness always protect me.  For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.  They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.  Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me."  Psalms 40:11-13 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm was written by King David, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  David was quick to praise The Lord and to pray.  He prayed and praised The Lord when things were going well in his life and he prayed and praised The Lord whenever he was in trouble.  He confessed his many sins and asked for God's forgiveness and His help.  He praised God for delivering him out of deep distress. (Psalm 40:1-5)  He praised God for his salvation. (Psalm 40:6-10)  Then he prays for God’s mercy and grace. (Psalm 40:11-17)  He not only prayed for himself but he also prayed for all of the people of God. (Psalm 40:16)

Application:

We could all learn a lot from David.  For even though he committed many sins, he acknowledged them and asked God for forgiveness.  He never broke his communication with God and he was always aware of his relationship to God.  That is probably why he is often referred to as "a man after God's own heart." (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22)  We would do well to imitate that part of David's behavior.  We should pray and praise God in good times and bad.  All too often we forget to pray when things are going well and we forget to praise God when things are not going so well.  We need to praise Him and thank Him for what He has already done.  We need to quit worrying about the things that we don’t have and praise Him for that which we have.  Our glass is not half empty, it is half full.  Praise The Lord for that.

PRAY AND PRAISE GOD MORNING AND NIGHT

Proclamation:

“It is good to praise The Lord … proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night …” Psalm 92:1-2 (NIV)

Explanation:

Most Bible scholars, but not all of them, attribute this psalm to King David.  This is a song for the Sabbath day which was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Here the psalmist expounds upon the virtues and benefits of praising The Lord.  The benefits are that: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  Those that be planted in the house of The Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing ..." (Psalms 92:12-14)  He clearly states that the people ought to praise The Lord more than once each day, i.e. morning and night. 

Application:

These verses were recorded in a psalm for the Sabbath day.  Unfortunately, some of us only praise The Lord on Sunday when we attend worship services.  We breath every day, we eat every day, our hearts beat every day, and we should thank God and praise Him every day.  As believers we should give thanks and praise to The Lord in prayer the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.  Doing this several additional times during the day would not be a bad idea either.  In fact, it would be good to praise Him all day long. (Psalm 34:1)  He is worthy of all of our praise. No one can comprehend the extent of His greatness. (Psalm 145:3)  Regularly and repeatedly praising The Lord will lead to the blessings of a long, productive, and fruitful life, even into one's old age.  “Praise The Lord…Let everything that has breath praise The Lord. (Psalm 150:1 and 6)

Our Hope Is In The Lord

"Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."  Psalms 42:11 (NIV)

This is one of the psalms which was recorded by the Sons of Korah, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The exact occasion and situation which resulted in this psalm are unknown.  It is clear that the individual human author was lamenting something intense, which was aggravated by the people around him that were mocking him. (Psalms 42:3 and 10)  He rebukes himself for being despondent, and then expresses his hope in The Lord God.

Sometimes, life has a way of getting us down.  Some things depress us, or disturb us.  And all too often, some of the people around us make the situation worse instead of better.  In times like these, we need to turn our attention to The Lord.  We need to remember how He helped us in past situations.  We need to remember that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus, His redemptive blood, and His righteousness.  We need to pray, and read The Holy Word of God, and then praise Him for who He is, knowing that whatever we need is already done.  Be strong and take heart, The Lord preserves all those who place their hope in Him. (Psalm 31:23-24)