1 “Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Psalm 103: 1-5 NIV
4min read
I don’t know about you but there are moments when I pause and look at creation and marvel at it’s beauty and splendour. And I have to remind myself that our God, the creator of the universe spoke all of this into existence. And when I look around it is clear to see that everything has its time and purpose. The birds, the sun, the moon, the rain, the stars, the flowers. They rise and they fall at the exact time that God appoints them to. Their purpose is what they are created for, not in their own abilities, but in the purpose that God declares over them. And as their purpose is displayed it glorifies and praises His name.
5 “for at his command they were created”
Psalm 148: 5 NIV
Throughout my journey there have been times I have struggled to praise His holy name. I have fallen into unbelief, doubting what God has declared over me. And my thoughts are drowned by the simple-mindedness of what I can see and grasp in the natural, that I lose sight of how great our God is. He is so much greater than our thoughts, He is so much greater than our doubt, He is so much greater than our history. And He calls Himself our redeemer, our healer, our sustainer. He declares that He will restore all that has been broken and redeem it with greater than what was lost. And in these times I get down on my knees and I surrender, praying ‘forgive me Father for my unbelief.’ And I am reminded that our sin is great but His love is so much greater. And though I stumble in my unbelief, He calls me to worship Him so I can believe. Believe that He is so much greater than my circumstances, believe that He is so much greater than my timeline, believe that He is so much greater than my limited understanding. We are called to worship Him, so that in our surrender He can break down the stronghold of unbelief and we can praise His sovereign name.
1 “Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.”
Psalm 148: 1-4 NIV
And it is so profound to me that through the praise He ministers to our souls, ushering us to rise up and break the burden of unbelief. At times I have found this idea too simple for a worthy God that I am deceived to believe He deserves more complex worship. But it is not for His gain or His reward that I praise His holy name, it is to encourage myself and turn my heart back in alignment with His. It is declaring my surrender, knowing that our God can turn what seems impossible and declares over it, ‘it is possible.’ Our God is so kind and gracious that even in times of bondage and burden He still desires to give us good things to set us free. Our worship is not for His gain, it is for our good. He invites us to take back what was stolen from us and rise up Sons and Daughters of Zion and declare His praise in the dark times, in the despair, in the sorrow, in the weeping….because there will be joy in the morning. He calls us to praise and in our act of surrender we can believe. Let the name of our God be glorified through our worship.
Nadia x
All for His Glory