30 Days of Praise-Day 8 Psalm 40:3

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

The verses that preceed this one are important to keep in mind to put this into context:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

Isn't it true that out of the slimiest pits come the greatest praises? Whether the mud or mire we're experiencing is a difficult trial or a consequence of sin, God is always there to make things new. He puts a new song in our mouths and even though we might have made a mess of things, what's even more incredible is that our lives can actually be used as a witness to others.

What an amazing, powerful God we serve! He is the author of all restoration and redemption, even when we're broken or covered in dirt and stuck in a rut. There is no situation too hard for him, no one too far gone for Him to save. All we have to do is cry out to Him and then wait patiently...which might be the most challenging part about these verses!

30 Days of Praise-Day 7 Daniel 2:19-23

During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: "Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king."

I am really enjoying my Beth Moore Daniel Bible Study. Any study in the Word is amazing and leads to peace, righteousness and a better relationship with God. But for some reason, Daniel has been extra rich in my life.

In this particular passage, Nebuchadnezzar has threatened to kill all the wise men of Babylon because none of them could tell him what his dream was and then interpret it for him. That is, except for Daniel. After urgent praying with his friends, God reveals not only the dream the king had but its interpretation, thus sparing multiple lives. Verses 19-23 of Daniel 2 are an outpouring of thanks to God for his wisdom, power and "illumination" of the situation (vs. 22's "And the light dwells with Him").

I love that Daniel gives all the credit to the Lord immediately. Nothing was done in his own power except urgently praying and then waiting to hear from the Lord about this mystery. If we truly believe that God is who He says He is, we can trust in the fact that He will reveal to us the deep and hidden things we ask of Him, give us wisdom and discerning and will answer our prayers one way or another. The key to all of those things is urgent and consistent prayer.

30 Days of Praise-Day 6 Psalm 42:11

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.

I thought I would reference a commentary for today's verse. Chuck Smith always has great things to say in his commentaries and I have copied his words below:

It is important that you be honest with God. You are never going to deceive Him. You are never going to fool Him. And if you are upset, confess it. Be honest with God. "Oh God, my soul is disquieted within me." There are some people who say, "How is everything going?" "Oh great, just great, great, great." But in reality they are just covering, because things are going horribly and they are really upset. They are at their wits' end. They don't know what to do. And yet, they put up a good front. And we sometimes carry this over with God. But it is best to be honest with God. "God, I am so upset. My soul is disquieted. It is cast down. That's one of the things that people quite often cast at the Christian when something goes wrong. "Where was your God when that tragedy happened? Where was your God?" As though God is supposed to deliver us from every problem in our lives. God doesn't promise to deliver you from every problem. In fact, there is a promise that you don't really like that says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psalm 34:19). I hate that promise. I don't like afflictions. And in afflictions people are always saying, "Well, where was your God then? Where is your God when children are starving to death in Cambodia? Where is your God when earthquakes happen in Algeria? Where is your God when Mount St. Helens blows its top? Where is your God?" It does get discouraging sometimes when we don't have answers.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? why are thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God (Psa 42:11).

Hey, I am going to come through. One of these days I will be praising God even for this trial that I am presently enduring. I will yet praise Him.

30 Days of Praise-Day 5 1 Peter 1:3-7

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

This passage of Scripture gives me chills. It's such a powerful truth and the basis of our faith. Through Jesus's death on the cross we are born into a "living hope"...the hope of our eternal inheritance that we will one day receive when we get to heaven. I am reminded of another verse in II Corinthians 4:17:

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us a glory that far outweighs them all.

When we go through hard times we can either have a pity party and wonder why God is allowing them to happen (which is a natural human reaction-no judgement intended) or we can rejoice because we know God is refining us. I think it's interesting how the Scriptures compare our faith and the refinement of our faith to gold. In the dictionary, “Refine” means several things:

*to reduce to a pure state, as with sugar, metal, or oil
*to free from moral imperfection
*to improve by pruning or polishing
*to free from what is coarse, vulgar, or uncouth, as with a refined person

Gold has to go through a fire so that all its impurities rise to the surface to be removed. Without this process, it's not "pure" and doesn't have a lot of value. However, it can be completely destroyed if the fire gets too hot (vs.7 above). So much more is true of the refining of our faith, which is "of greater worth than gold", and actually withstands the fires of our trials if we allow it to do its work. It comes out on the other side with more value than one of the most precious metals on earth-gold.

The only way to be purified is to go through the fire. One of the excerpts I read about the process of refining gold stated "The purer the gold is, the more difficult will be the process of refining." This might not sound like good news but maybe explains why trials and life gets a little more difficult the closer we get to reflecting and emulating the Lord. Even though its difficult, I wonder what would happen if we changed our perspective when hard times come upon us. If I know that God is working together all things for the good of those who love Him, submitting to the refining process in my life might be a little easier...welcomed even. I want to be like the purest gold-closer and closer to revealing Christ in my life and actions.

30 Days of Praise-Day 4 Psalm 9:1-2

I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

According to Strong's, "heart" in vs. 1 is the Hebrew word leb meaning "inner man-will, understanding,soul, mind; in the midst." The same word is used in Deuteronomy 4:29:

"But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul."

and in Deuteronomy 6:5:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

So the same fervency we employ to seek our Lord's face in order to find Him, to love Him with everything we have in us-with the entire "inner man"- should be the same passion we use when we praise Him and share all he's done for us. I think praise is the natural outpouring of a relationship of someone we're in love with. We want to spend all our time and energy with them and we can't stop talking about that person. May that someone be Jesus Christ, the ultimate Lover of our souls, our Redeeming beautiful Savior and a Friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Jesus, today I want to praise you with my whole heart, all of me-my mind, soul, strength and will. I praise you for life! I praise you that I have breath in my lungs, that I am able to see the beauty of the changing of seasons, and everything I've been blessed with. Help me to appreciate the little things and pleasures that you've given me and help me to be content in any and all circumstances. Thank you, Lord for everything you are to me. May my love for you be as necessary to me as breathing and may Your love fill me up so it can spill onto others.