Praise Power

Psalm 22: 26

The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!

There is no better way to a deeper level of communion with God than by praise and worship. A good song of praise can get you unstuck and free your spirit. When I am really struggling, I sing to God, which, by the way, I learned from Him. Funny story: one day I heard Him say, “Sing our song.” I didn’t even realize we had a song but like young lovers, we did, and it only took a moment to realize which song He thought of as ours. What a joyous time together that ended up being and there was no doubt about His presence in the room with me which is always the greatest of all joys.

This verse says that those who seek the Lord will praise Him. Which comes first? Praising Him is a way of seeking His presence. Some people praise in song, others simply speak. It certainly can be awkward at first. Some people are very good at it. Others, not so much. I am one of those who is not quite so eloquent, so I usually sing a praise song. What I find is that even though I may begin in awkwardness, as I stay with it, I relax. As I relax, I get in better touch with my own spirit. Praise lives in my spirit so once I am connected to my spirit, it becomes easy to pour out words about His greatness and His unfailing kindness.

I hope you will employ this way of seeking the Lord and a deeper relationship with Him.

Finding the King

Psalm 22: 26

The afflicted (poor) will eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!

I am struck by the phrase, “those who seek Him will praise the Lord.” That is such a confident expression. One thing is sure, if you seek Him, you will find him. In Jeremiah 29: 14 God says, “I will be found by you.” Well, if we know that when we seek Him we shall find Him, then I suppose it is not a great logical leap to conclude that there will be praise. How could we find God, or better yet, have Him reveal Himself to us and there not be subsequent shouts of praise? I think the real issue is that we don’t seek Him enough and likely most of us don’t really know how. It really is simple but it is the answer you already know. He can be found in His word. He is His Word. We don’t want to spend the time in the Bible or prayer that we need to. I am not saying it takes a lot of time. By no means! Sometimes I have found Him waiting for me when I just bothered to spend even a little dedicated time with Him. You just are not going to see His glory by saying to Him, “Lord, show yourself to me.” You have to actually seek Him. That is what the verse says. The way you do that is to get into your Bible. It is so much like the Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams. Costner’s character kept hearing a voice in his head saying, “If you build it, they will come.” And come they did. Now hear this voice in your head, “If you seek Him, you will find Him.” You already have the promise that you will find Him so there is no risk to you. Don’t you want the King of all creation as your personal friend? Of course you do! Open your Bible and look into His heart and mind.