Remember and Praise Him

So another Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hoshahah has passed without the Lord's return. That's okay, we are watching every day. Next year, should the Lord tarry, it will be paid special attention again, and again the next year and so forth till the Lord comes back or this writer dies.

Why pay special attention to things like the Lord's feast days and other things the Lord points out to us in the bible? Because we are told to REMEMBER in a world that likes to forget. How short our memories become. The Lord does something great for us today, tomorrow we forget. Isn't there something terribly wrong with that? You bet there is. In fact, remembering has been one of the themes the Lord has had on my heart for some time now. Why?

Psalm 106 7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

10And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

11And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.

12Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

13They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:


Psalm 111:2The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

3His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

4He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

So, as you can see from the title of this post, the 1st topic is remember. Okay, so we remember, then what? We PRAISE HIM...

There's the "punch line" in all this. We were created to praise him. Read the book of Psalms from start to finish, and what will you see? "Praise Him" written over and over and over again. We are to "enter his gates with praise." Praise Him? That's right, for all the many things He has done, and He continues to do on our behalf. My list of things to thank Him for just for the past month could probably fill up a CD ROM.

When we read the bible, we see men throughout it reasoning with our Lord.
Consider this writer's reasoning with the Lord:

Psalm 88:9my eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, O Lord, every day;

I spread out my hands to you.

10Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah

11Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destructiond?

12Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,

or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

13But I cry to you for help, O Lord;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14Why, O Lord, do you reject me

and hide your face from me?

What is this writer's case to the Lord? He tells the Lord "i'm going to praise you, but do the dead praise you?" He argues that if things keep going downhill for him, he will be among the dead and then where will the Lord's praise come from? You might think that's a trivial argument but I would argue that the writer of that Psalm REALLY knew the Lord. He knew which "buttons" to push to move the Lord. Of course, the Lord authored the bible utltimately so there must be a really really important lesson in there for us...

The Lord is calling this writer to the basic fundamental's of the faith, and He is moving me to call you to the same. We don't need an ABC PHD HIJKLMNOP degree from some manmade institution to get it right with our Lord. We are to be like little children, simple right? Yep, until you start listening to other men.

Remember what He has done, for the world, for the brothers, for your fathers, for your family and for you. Praise Him for all of it. If you want to see heaven and earth move before your eyes, then get this right.

Stop feeding yourself earthly garbage like the "news" in any form, and start focusing on the essential few things in life. There are an "essential few" things in life and a "trivial many." Which are you going to spend your time and emotional energy on?

I've been reading a book about the ancient general "Hannibal." As part of the book, the ancient Roman army is described as not being very fancy in the art of warfare, but they were 1. persistent, and 2. very VERY good at the simple things they did. They chose to master a simple few things. They did and they almost conquered the world. We are called to master the simple things "in Christ." Want simple? Remember what He has done and praise Him for it, then watch heaven and earth move.

One last thing. I want to remind you, again....that our God answers prayer. This writer has seen prayer after prayer after prayer answered over the years, and in recent days. These prayers are answered NOT because this writer is something, but because our God does what He said He would do. He is faithful. His Word can be trusted to the uttermost. This writer (perhaps foolishly) has tested the Lord and His Word over the years and I have found them both to be absolute truth, down to the letter.

Remember and praise. Grace and peace