Turn your heart to praise Him

How in the world did I end up here? I am the happy person. The one people want to know where my joy comes from. The one that doesn’t seem to have any problems. Yet, I find myself in this place.

This is the ebb and flow of life.  Living in the joy of knowing that I am loved and redeemed and in the despair that I can never measure up to who He has designed me to be.

Perhaps it has to do with heart issues that affect the way we feel? We’ve been talking about loving God with all her heart and turning our hearts back to him, but the question remains how do we really do that? How do we turn our hearts back to God when they’ve chosen other things and other people. How do we become face-to-face again with God?

In Psalm 42:5 the Psalmist asks, “Why so downcast O my soul” and then he goes on to say, “put your trust in God.”

Interestingly all of Psalm 42 gives us a picture of someone who once had an intimate relationship with God but now feels the distance. He writes,

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

Have you been here; Totally set free to love Jesus, desiring to be in His presence?

So what happens to us that we find ourselves like the Psalmist crying out in verse 5

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? 

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Downcast- Bowed down, crouching, sinking

Disturbed means literally,

• to growl as a bear;
• to sound, or make a noise, as a harp, rain, waves;
• to be agitated, troubled, or anxious in mind: to moan internally.  (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible )

Here is my version of the verse, 

Why soul are you bowed down, sinking under the weight that you are feeling? Why are you so agitated and growling like a bear?

Life is full of struggles. Each of us face little ones and big ones on a daily basis.

Struggles of

Faith

Finances

Feelings of insecurity, anxiety, anger, resentment, jealousy….

Friendships

Frustrations

Family

Fear

When we turn our heart toward God and see who He is, our hearts can once again rejoice even in the midst of struggles. This is the reason that we can rejoice in the Lord always. Struggles come and go, but His character stays the same!

It is then that we can begin to understand what the psalmist was talking about at the end of Psalm 42:5-6

Why, my soul, are you downcast? 

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, 

for I will yet praise him,my Savior and my God.

My soul is downcast within me;therefore I will remember you

Let’s focus today on turning our hearts to praising God.

The act of praise flows out of our reverence and gratitude for God. When we praise God for who He is we are invited into a deeper relationship with Him. Praise turns our heart focus from our struggles to the unchanging character of God.

 He is 

• Full of glory  Psalm 138:5
• Great Psalm  145:3
• Wise and powerful  Daniel 2:20
• Good Psalm  107:8
• Merciful and faithful  Psalm 89:1
• The One who saves us  Psalm 18:46
• Keeps His promises  1 Kings 8:56
• Forgives sin  Psalm 103:1-3

Praising God turns our hearts back to Him and when we do, we find peace.

Isaiah 26:3  We will have perfect peace when we trust him

May you today turn your heart to Praise Him.

Prepare My mouth to Sing your Praises

Day 15

I love me some good worship!  Worship songs are deep within me. From the time that I was first a Christian they have played a huge part in my life. They have gotten me through some tough days. I particularly love the ones that are scripture based because I feel as thought God's word continually plays in my mind and heart. 

 Here are a few lines of some of my favorites.

Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me

It is well with my soul

How Great is our God

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever

Your loving kindness is better than life

I stand, I stand in awe of you

When you take your eyes off of your problems and start praising the Lord for who He is, your focus changes.

When I was in high school during the time that my parents were getting a divorce there were many people who couldn't understand how I could have so much joy in the midst of the pain I was feeling. I was a very young Christian but I remembered that someone had shared with me about Peter walking on the water. As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus he was fine and the moment he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the stormy sea he began to sink. In the midst of a difficult time I kept my eyes on Jesus. It is what got me through, kept me from sinking into despair and filled me with great joy!

The same is true when we sing praises to God.  Our eyes are lifted up and fixed on to Jesus and to who He is. When we look to Jesus first our eyes are not focused on our problems. Suddenly everything seems to be a little better for we are not alone.

It's when we put our eyes on our problems and start focusing on the things that are too difficult for us that we begin to sink spiritually. It is easy to begin to think that we are lost, that there is no hope when we see the large unsurpassable problem in front of us.

What are some of your favorites?

I love this worship song may it be a blessing to you today!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw