Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. (Ps 150)
The last psalm of the book...could it be any clearer that we are to praise Him??? David introduced music into the Tabernacle and Temple services. I'm sure it was loud (look at the list of instruments played throughout the Psalms). Rejoicing and singing, glory to the Lord!!!
Regardless of the road we chose early in our walk, we all eventually find our way onto His path, if we are persistant and allow ourselves to be led. Once we are forgiven, once we are born again, we will forever be compelled to praise God and do His work. Once the Holy Spirit fills you, you cannot walk away. There can be instances of deliberate disobedience, but none as great as what they were before we reached out and accepted the hand of Jesus. And in those moments of disobedience, we immediately know, without question, that we need to ask for forgiveness and strength to continue on and not repeat that same "sin" again.
Our temptations will never end. Satan will taunt and temp us throughout our journey. He looks for any opportunity to drag us away from the light. He whispers in our ear that we are a failure, we are not worthy (which, we aren't, but we've been redeemed), that we can have a better life on this earth if we ignore many of God's commands, that success is all about power and wealth, that we deserve some measure of earthly royalty and that we can be happy!
We weren't put here to be happy! We were put here to serve. Our lives were not meant for laboring, our "comfortable" lifestyle was ended with the first sin - the sin of disobedience that removed our ancestors from the Garden of Eden. We cannot get that back while on earth. That will come when our bodies die and our soul moves in to receive our eternal gift...but until then we will work, we will struggle, we will serve, we will praise, we will pray and we will sin. We will ask for and receive forgiveness, we will be blessed and we will be loved by Him!
So sing songs of praise, dance and shout "hallelujah"!!! Lift your voice and your hands, tap your foot, sway to the rhythm. Dance to the beat of His drum, not the enemy's! Look beyond that which Satan sends in an attempt to defeat you. Walk away from it, pray for it and learn from it. You may not deserve the hurt and pain others heap upon you, but you can, nonetheless, grow from it and turn it into a mighty blessing! Sometimes it's very hard, because often those who strike the hardest blow are those closest to you. Yet, in all of that, remember Jesus - He forgave His betrayer, He forgave His crucifiers, He forgave them all. He hung on a tree for our transgressions as well as those who sinned against God centuries before and for centuries to follow. There is no greater love than that! Praise Him - for He has set you free!!!
