October 9, 2019
“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.”
—Psalm 34:1-3
That word “continually” convicts me. We don’t need to be in conversation very long before it turns inevitably to complaining about this or that. Christians are just as prone to grumbling as anyone else; we all find it easier to see what is wrong in this world than what is right. Whether it’s politics, religion, the weather, our health...there’s always something wrong. Politicians thrive on our dissatisfaction. Even writing about these things becomes a subtle form of complaint.
Praise, on the other hand, isn’t usually on the tip of our tongues. We have to stop and think about what we are thankful for; we have to work on praise. When I started focusing on gratitude, it felt as if I were somehow neglecting my responsibility to correct people or stand for what is right. Praise somehow seemed inadequate for dealing with the great issues of our day. However, the Scripture is clear about this: if we bless “at all times,” if praise is “continually in our mouths,” there can be no room for complaint and criticism. “All” and “continually” are pretty comprehensive.
The last phrase is instructive. We are invited to magnify the LORD together. If we look through a magnifying glass or telescope, we don’t make the object any bigger than it already is; it just appears bigger. We cannot make God any bigger than he already is, but when we praise him together, he appears bigger to us and our problems shrink to their proper size. It’s the “together” that makes the difference. This morning I met four other pastors for a time of prayer. Each of us had situations that concerned us; people we were praying for, problems we were facing. But we also had the Scriptures and we had each other. In our prayers, we reminded each other of the goodness of God, his mercy, power, and wisdom. God wasn’t any bigger, but we saw more of him, in greater clarity, than when we began. He was magnified, we were encouraged, and I am thankful.
Hello Pastor Meembeepa. I am also a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honoured to get connected with you and know you as a servant of God who served the Church for 33 yrs. I am truly blessed and encouraged by your blog post. I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one anoother. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 40 yrs in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted, We also encourege young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to ahve young people from your family and friends circle as well as from the church of which you are a part of and serving their in the Pastoral capacity to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. I am sure they will have a life changing experience. Looking forward to hear from you. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is diwakar Wankhede. God's richest blessings on you, yuor family and ministry. God willing I will be coming to the United States in the month of April 2020 and will be so glad to stop by your place and meet you if it is possible.
ReplyDelete