You Are My Praise

I have been convicted lately of not praising God enough. Here in Jeremiah 17:14 ESV, is one of the reminders.

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
    save me, and I shall be saved,
    for you are my praise.

Jeremiah went through a lot in speaking out for God. Friends and family all rejected him. Yet he knows that by asking God to heal him, He will heal him physically, emotionally and spiritually. God will save him not only from those who are out to get him but spiritually too. That is why he praises God.

BUT you don’t know what I’m going through, the hurt, the pain, what do I have to praise God for?

You are alive and reading this post, that is something to praise him for.

Paul talks about this in Philippians 4:4-8 ESV.

 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Right off the bat, Paul states we are to, “”Rejoice in the Lord always;” He doesn’t say when things are going great rejoice. Nor does he say to rejoice only when you feel like it. He says, ALWAYS. So if the power went out overnight and your alarm didn’t go off, you overslept, the car has a flat tire, and you are late for work, still rejoice in the LORD because He may have prevented you from getting in a serious accident.

A little far-fetched, you might say, well Paul goes on to say “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” So then you thank God that the alarm didn’t go off and you overslept, asking Him that the spare may not be flat too, and would He speed up AAA to change the tire.

To top it all off, Paul gives a list of things that we need to focus on. Summing it all up, “if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” The spare tire wasn’t flat and there was a 15 car pile-up on the freeway this morning that you would have been there if you had gotten up on time.

So take a few minutes and look at your situation as to how God has been doing a work that you might not be thinking of and praise Him for it. Remember He will heal you and save you from whatever the situation you are in, just call on Him.

(Photo by Haley Rivera on Unsplash)