“The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the
voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that
shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is
good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the
land, as at the first, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah
33:11).
Praise
is the food God eats. When praises go up, His blessings come down but there are
times when you do not feel like praising God. It could be as a result of
challenges or difficulties; times when you feel all hope is lost and your
miracle seems far away. God says, you must never give up. Do not lose hope.
Hold on to his word and praise Him. He will show up for you.
In
1 Samuel 29, Saul had been pursuing David. He tried to kill David 21
times but every time he tried, he failed. David ran from one enemy to another
enemy. He ran to the philistines. One day, the king of the philistines drove
him away. In
1 Samuel 30, you see that David was rejected in the battle front. He ran
home with only six hundred men. When he got to Ziglag, all his houses were
burnt down. The Amalekites had destroyed their home, taken their wives,
children and property. In verse 4, they wept until they had no more
strength to weep.
In
verse 6, David was greatly distressed yet they picked up stones to throw
at him. You can imagine the condition of David; Saul was pursuing him, the
philistines rejected him, the Amalekites took everything he had, and his own
people picked up stones to throw at him.
David
had many reasons to lose hope and not give God praise but in that same verse,
the Bible says, “...but David encouraged himself in the Lord...”
meaning, David still had hope. In Psalm 42:5, David said, “Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope
thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the
help of his countenance”. In verse 18,he recovered all. If you were in David’s shoes or if you were in a situation
which looks hopeless, will you still praise God? Your hope in God will never
make you ashamed; while your Praise will give you the victory.
Prayer/Confession: O
Lord, I celebrate my victory. I praise you because you are a faithful God; the
same yesterday, today and forever. I praise you for i know i shall never be
ashamed in the name of Jesus.
Further Reading:
Habakkuk 3:17-19; Hebrews 11:1
Words of
Wisdom: When you praise God
when it is not convenient, it becomes a sacrifice of praise.
Eagles Devotional: Ayo Oritsejafor Ministries (Word Alive Publications)
Photo:http://www.stjamesmtairy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Praise-08-782013.jpg
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