Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Praise In Despair

 

     It’s so difficult to praise God when we are suffering. When grief overwhelms. When we are going through treatment. When someone we love isn’t doing well. The list goes on. But even in the darkness, praise brings us to a place beyond anything on earth. It brings us to heaven, where we find hope. God explains in His word, the sacrifice of praise.

 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that openly confess His name.  Hebrews 13:15

     Can we praise Him through the darkness? King David did.

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. Psalm 42:5

     Somehow, over time, God replaces our despair as we continually look to Him.

Provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.  Isaiah 61:3

     The verse above is filled with hope. God fills us on the inside. He gives us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, joy in place of mourning, and our praise replaces our spirits of despair. What beautiful promise these words hold for us!

Father,

You are in heaven waiting for us to arrive home. Fill our spirits with joy, beauty and praise. We trust You with it all.

In Jesus name,

Amen

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