Winning Song!

I love this song which took first place as an Israeli entry in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest held  in Jerusalem, Israel.  The first and only time I heard it was on a tour bus in Israel in 2003.  It’s amazing that I recalled the tune and could find it on You Tube!

Psalm 122:6 (Amplified Bible) says,

“PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM!  MAY THEY PROSPER WHO LOVE YOU [THE HOLY CITY]!”

http://youtu.be/C33kO3fvjkI

All Nations Will Worship Him, Shofar eBook Chap. 5

The prophet Zechariah writes about the coming of the Messiah in Zechariah 14 and says that there is a day coming when “the LORD shall be king over all the earth” (vs 9) and “everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King” (vs 16).  We were created to worship God for He is worthy of our praise.  In Chapter 4, David, A Man After God’s Heart we learned how important God’s Word was to David and that he praised the Lord with all his heart.

CHAPTER 5, SOUNDING THE SHOFAR- Exhortations for the End Times, eBook

     WORSHIP AND PRAISE     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

SING PRAISES, GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD!           

Phil 4:4,6 state,“Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice … in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.’”1Thes 5:16-17 state,“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’”And in Psalm 92:1 it states,“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To show forth thy loving kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night…”

The Psalms, mostly written by David, are filled with praises and thanksgiving out of a heart that sought after God,“For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods” (Ps 95:3); “For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods” (Ps 97:9).

How blessed we are to know our Father God in heaven, to love Him and know that HE LOVES US! That is why we praise Him and thank Him! PRAISE GOD DAILY! David  said, “I will BLESS the LORD at all times: his PRAISE shall continually be in my mouth”… O magnify the LORD with me, and let us EXALT his name together” (Psalm 34:1,3).   David never ceased to praise God despite adverse situations in his life, when his enemies rose up against him and times he experienced rejection, disappointments, persecution, and extreme oppression on every front.

In Psalm 86:10-13 he stated,

“For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.  Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.  I WILL PRAISE THEE, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will GLORIFY thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.”

The whole chapter of Psalm 107 is a testimonial of God’s goodness and loving kindness, the reason we should PRAISE Him:

“Oh that men would PRAISE the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them EXALT him also in the congregation of the people, and PRAISE Him with testimonies of His goodness” (vs31, 32 paraphrased).

When we worship the Lord in our praises, we enjoy fellowship with Him and He makes His very presence known to us and gives us wisdom, understanding and revelation of Himself. To have a relationship with God is to spend time with Him, whether in prayer, praise, and in the Word.  It is the same in the natural; we cannot have a relationship with someone without spending time with that person!  How much more important it is in our relationship with God– to experience His presence daily in praise and thanksgiving.

This is the first commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).

David, who loved God with his whole heart, whom God spoke of was “a man after mine own heart” (Acts 13:22), whose heart was ‘perfect’ before Him (1 Kings 11:4) said, “I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.  My meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD” (Ps104:33,34).

CREATED TO PRAISE HIM!

When we look into the Psalms we can learn about praise and worship and prayer that form the basis of a solid relationship with God, even as David had. The Lord created us to praise Him. We are reminded:

“Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord; Praise ye the Lord” (Ps 150:6). This the how the last chapter and last verse of Psalms end.

The Bible tells us that in the beauty of creation we can see God’s handiwork and give Him praise. There is none like you, O lord, for you have made the heavens and the earth and all that is in it. Praise the Lord for He is good and His truth is from everlasting to everlasting!  As we sing and praise the Lord, He blesses us, quickens us, as the Word of God says. God blesses our praises by blessing us. That is why we should PRAISE THE LORD DAILY, so that we can know His love and presence in our lives, so that He can reveal more and more of Himself to us. Praise God! 

There are many benefits for us when we praise the Lord, but from God’s point of view, He created us to PRAISE HIM FOR HIS BENEFIT!  This goes back to Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord; Praise ye the Lord.”  We can praise God for the beauty and wonders of creation, but HIS CREATION PRAISES HIM also: the heavenly bodies and living creatures, everything He has made proclaims His glory above the earth and on the earth.

Psalm 148:5-13 state,

“Let THEM praise the name of the LORD: for He commanded, and they were created.”God’s power and majesty are seen in “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind…Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars…Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the LORD; for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.”

God, above all, desires US to praise Him and He takes pleasure in those who reverence and exalt His name, in those that place their faith and hope in Him for His loving kindness and tender mercies, whose hope is in Him for their salvation (Ps 147:11; 149:4)

PRAISE THAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO GOD

God created us to praise Him and to give Him glory.Hebrews 13:15 tells,“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”God seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in truth because,“God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth” (John 23,24).God accepts and blesses only those–

“that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.  He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Ps 24:3-5).

Any praise short of coming from a sincere heart who truly loves and obeys God, is regarded as ‘strange fire’ as in Numbers 3:4; 26:61.  Paul tells us to “pray with holy hands”(1Timothy 2:8).  In 1Samuel 15:22 it says, “to obey is better than sacrifice.”  A life lived in obedience to God’s commandments, following His ways, is what God looks for. Then God will acknowledge our praises and worship, and find them acceptable. 

TRUE WORSHIP AND PRAISE

God created us to PRAISE Him and to give Him glory for who He is and what He has done. Only PRAISE that centers on HIM ALONE is ACCEPTABLE as it says in 1Peter 2:5, we are “to offer up spiritual sacrifices, ACCEPTABLE to God by Jesus Christ”, and in Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

True worship from our hearts touches the heart of God resulting in transforming power that saves, heals, and delivers us from the power of the enemy, freeing us from our problems, afflictions, and oppressions.  We need to tap into the power of praises from which flow Holy Spirit guided prayers and intercession for ourselves and on behalf of others. Through praise we can expect God to bless us with spiritual blessings as well as wisdom and revelation, dreams and visions and prophecy.  He will reveal Himself to us through the Holy Spirit who will “guide us into all truth” and “show you things to come” (John 16:13);“show you great & mighty things..” (Jeremiah 33:3).

Whether individually or corporately, Jesus said,

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him” (John 4:23).

A word about church praise and worship:  Jesus said,

“my house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves” (Mt 21:13; Mk 11:17; Lk 19:46).

Not all praise music is anointed worship that glorifies God.  In fact much of the ‘Christian’ music today has the appeal of secular entertainment and is of the soul or emotions, rather than spiritual realm that focuses on God, is pleasing to Him, and gives Him all glory and praise.   An imitation cannot substitute for true worship because true worshippers worship God in spirit and in truth.  All praise and worship to our Heavenly Father must be acceptable to Him, by giving HIM glory and must come from sincere hearts and holy hands.