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"You perceive my thoughts from afar."
Psalm 139:2b


Obviously I don't need to blog for God to know what's on my mind! But I thought this format might be a good way to share my thoughts with you, for what they're worth. Which probably isn't much in the scheme of things, but perhaps you can glean something from these ramblings that will encouraging you or get you thinking about our God and our relationship with Him as worshipers.

I will warn you: no one has ever accused me of being concise, so don't expect Twitter or even Facebook-friendly updates here!

As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments at lee.mayhew@yahoo.com.

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Keep the faith,

Lee

Sunday, March 31, 2013

The Clarity of Praise

I find that in the midst of praise, there is clarity and perspective.  When the world has me stressed out, or I am anxious about things unseen, I need only to worship, to praise my God, and I experience the stress and anxiety melt away.  This does not mean that the act of praising God causes Him to resolve your stressful situations, answer our questions, or reveal the future, though He certainly could if He chose.  Rather, I experience the clarity and perspective needed to understand that these uncertainties simply do not matter or carry any weight or power when compared to the certainties of God's sovereignty and His love. How can I allow any worry to take control when I know that God is God (Isaiah 45:22), He is good (Psalm 119:68),  and He loves me (John 4:19)?

I believe that praise helps us gain this clarity and perspective so quickly because God Himself dwells in our praises in a very real and completely mysterious way.  Psalm 22:3 tells us that God is "...enthroned upon the praises of His people." The King James states that God "inhabits"our praises.  When we praise, we enter in to God's dwelling place.

It is in the midst of unhindered praise that we are the most intimate with the Savior we know and long to know more.  The Apostle Paul understood that compared to knowing Christ, all else pales:
Philippians 3:8
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.
Followers of Jesus Christ are indwelt by the very Spirit of God, and I believe that when we praise God, we provide an outlet for the Spirit, shifting our focus away from ourselves (for once) and on to God and His presence, to the exclusion of all worldly distractions.  The realities of God's sovereignty and love are so poignant and tangible in those moments that they outshine and overpower the fears of the flesh.

The words of the old hymn resonate with truth:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth shall grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

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