"Psalm 33. Read it. Ponder upon it. Live it." Those were the words given to me at 1:30 this morning. Before I could get up to do so I fell back asleep. God woke me up early this morning and the first thing I did was read this Psalm in different translations. I have so many thoughts going through my head about it. It's a Psalm of praise to God. The first eleven verses show what Matthew Henry describes as 'holy joy.' He describes it as "the heart and soul of praise" that those who live a righteous life experience. As we are thankful, we will receive more of the Lord's joy in our heart. Yesterday as I read of Billie's blood work results being better than last time I was thankful. I was also thankful when I read the tumor is responding to the chemo. On the other hand, I think of my friend whose mother is being made comfortable in what appears in her last days and a family who lost their husband/father/grandfather this week. How can they be joyful during such times? How can we not allow situations on this earth to take our joy from us? We can still be sad but yet still have His joy. We must never allow the enemy to steal our joy. I remember some dark times a few years back where I felt my joy was gone. Marlene gave me a little trinket that said 'joy' and told me to never allow the enemy to steal my joy. What a great reminder to have hanging in my kitchen. As we think of joy, we need to remember to keep Jesus, Others, Yourself as our mantra. When we put Jesus first, He will encourage us through tough days. He will be there to carry us when we feel like we can't carry on. Too many times the enemy will see an open door when we are going through tough days and push his way in. Jesus wants us to be strong in our faith and trust Him through the tough days. We can always look around and see someone worse off than we are. We need to praise Him through the storms of life. It is a shame so many people can't see how this is possible. Henry wrote:
What a pity it is that this earth, which is so full of the proofs and instances of God's goodness, should be so empty of his praises; and that of the multitudes who live upon his bounty, there are so few who live to his glory!
It is necessary for His praises to flow from our lips to beat the enemy down. When we praise Him, the enemy gets mad. Sometimes it makes him come down harder on us. But when he does we have the opportunity to go deeper in our faith. Our 'faith thermometer' will go higher as we trust Him more. I love the last two verses of Psalm 33...
Yes! We must wait on Him during tough days. He knows what we need before we even need it. He will put people before us to encourage us when we feel like we can't go on. We need to dig our heels in deeper so our 'faith thermometer' will soar.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the reminders of Psalm 33. Thank You for laying it on my heart to ponder upon these words. Father, there are so many people in my little world hurting due to tough days. I pray they will trust You through them. I started to pray the enemy out of their situations but then realized when he attacks, our faith can grow. It also can weaken but I pray against that with my friends. I pray for people to be with them today that will encourage them and for them to turn to You during their storm. Father, I also pray for the storms that come my way. Cleanse me so I can be filled with more of You. I know that is the only way to get through storms without losing my joy. Thank You Jesus for being The One Who Carries Me Through the Storms of Life. Amen.
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