five reasons to sing alleluia

The LORD will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the LORD!

Psalm 146:10

The LORD will reign. He rules. He will always be the God Who reigns. There is no second place for God. He is above all, over all, in control of all, the king of everything! And He reigns well. God is the wise King. He is the loving King. He is the sovereign King. Nothing escapes His royal decree. God is the emperor of everything.

The LORD will reign forever. God has always been in control of His universe. He is reigning over it now. And this will never stop. And for those He has redeemed, no matter what is going on in the world now, an eternity of His loving, glorious control over everything awaits them. God reigns forever. Jesus is Lord forever. We will love Him forever!

The LORD is your God. This infinite, eternal, reigning God is a personal presence to all who love Him. He is a God Who makes Himself known intimately in Jesus and personally in the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit. He is not a cold or distant deity… He is personal. God is dear. God is relational. The Lord is our God. The Lord is my God. The Lord is your God.

Praise the Lord! Alleluia! He is to be praised because He rules us. Alleluia! He is to be praised because He reigns forever. Alleluia! He is to be praised because He is faithful to every generation. Alleluia! And this day, I join in an unceasing, unending, unbroken Alleluia! Praise the Lord!

Your Wondrous Works

On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Psalm 145:5-7

Your works, O Lord, are wonderful.

I will think on what You’ve done

worshipping Spirit, Father, Son.

Saving me from fallen state

on all Your grace I meditate.

You have done awesome deeds.

I cannot help but tell

all You have done so well.

Help me declare all my days

the greatness of Your mighty ways.

Abundant good is everywhere, my God.

As I worship Your great name

and spread to all Your saving fame,

lead me, Lord, to always sing

with wild abandon to my King!

suffering to brag about

Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

2 Thessalonians 1:4

Paul, of all people, knew the costs of personally following Christ and joining a hated minority. He was the original persecutor of Christians. Yet God sovereignty intervened on the road to Damascus and Jesus turned Saul the persecutor into Paul the persecuted apostle. And everywhere Paul went with the gospel, lives were changed, churches were born, and afflictions eventually came to those who followed Jesus. Paul knew this as a sure sign of faithfulness to the gospel: sinners would take offense when other sinners were saved AND the world would turn against those who faithfully follow Jesus.

But when Paul thought of these believers addressed in this letter, he was filled with a sense of gratitude. Their persecutions signified their faithfulness. They suffered regularly with endurance because they were legitimately following Jesus. They had abundant, growing faith (2 Thessalonians 1:3a). They modeled legitimate, Christlike love for one another in a growing care and fellowship (2 Thessalonians 1:3b). And Paul would “boast” of all this in thankful worship to God. Serious believers will look more like Jesus, including the fact that they will suffer as their Lord did.

So we should not be surprised when the world maligns Christian faith. This culture does NOT owe us some kind of alignment with Christian values. It has been opposed to Christ from the start. It ALWAYS has been against the gospel and until Christ returns it ALWAYS will. We don’t expect anything else. In fact, something is wrong when the world speaks glowingly of a church… Jesus Himself expressed that His blessing falls on and stays with the persecuted in His Beatitudes. He warned His disciples that a chummy reception by the world is a warning, not an achievement (Luke 6:26).

Lord,

Until You are revealed from heaven with Your mighty angels we will expect to be hated as You are. Give us steadfast faith and endurance! Strengthen us for this daily experience.

Amen

against the darkness

But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Luke 11:20

Jesus explains most succinctly why spiritual activity surrounded His public ministry. God’s kingdom had arrived with Him. And it was being met with a show of force by Satan’s armies. Jesus faced demonic spirits because a kingdom was being opposed. But it was not difficult for God to defeat demons. God barely had to lift a finger. Jesus spoke and demons fled. Those once held captive in demonic darkness were set free under the new King’s love and power.

Detractors to Jesus’ miraculous works attributed His control over spiritual forces to the Devil. But this was not possible. The Devil would not divide his own kingdom. Instead, the True King now walked the world. Jesus is that King. And He was taking back occupied territory! He attacked the strongholds of Satan. He took away demonic gains. He spoiled the enemy (Luke 20:21-22). That power was on display every time Jesus confronted the demonic.

And that power is still found in Jesus. He changes lives. Jesus can break strongholds of sin if we let Him rule over them. Past abuse, sexual immorality of any kind, pornography, alcohol and drug addiction, occultism, sexual confusion, self-harm, self-worship, relational pain, racism, hate, and a host of other demonically fueled strategies all fall when we allow our Risen King to storm the strong man’s lair and break the armor of the enemy. Oh that the gospel would continue to pillage the foe!

“The prince of darkness grim

we tremble not for him

his rage we can endure

for lo, his doom is sure

one little word shall fell him

That word above all earthly power

no thanks to them abideth

the Spirit and the gifts are ours

through Him Who with us sideth…”

faith over feelings

I cry to you, O LORD;

I say, “You are my refuge,

my portion in the land of the living.”

Psalm 142:5

This is a song that David wrote while hiding alone in a cold, dark cave, This probably occurred in the days when Saul was hunting him down to kill him. He cried out to God. David complained to God. He told his trouble to God (vs 1-2). And David felt horrible. His spirit felt weak (vs 3). He felt unseen and alone (vs 4). He felt like nobody cared (vs 4). He was being actively persecuted (vs 6). His enemies were stronger than he was (vs 7). You might label David as depressed in the common therapeutic vernacular.

As bad as David truly felt, he still fought mightily to hold on to faith. He instinctively cried out to God (vs1). He knew God’s mercy would be what he needed (vs 1). The troubles and complaints poured out TO God and not AGAINST God. Faith can honestly tell God the rough stuff. God can handle our unprocessed raw emotion. David believed God knew his situation (vs 3). He knew God cared (vs 4). He cried out in faith that God was his solution and his salvation (vs 5). He prayed in faith, requests for deliverance (vs 6-7a). He envisioned by faith a time when he would not be alone and afraid, but instead, surrounded by righteous people in an experience of God’s lavish grace (vs 7b). Faith was tenacious despite the hard feelings.

Lord knows all of us have times where difficult feelings come in overwhelming circumstances. And scripture calls us to believe God. We believe God AND we hurt. We believe God AND we complain. We believe God AND we pray hard for difficulties to change. We believe God and envision a brighter promise from Him. But always, and deeply, we must believe God.

In Jesus we have a Savior Who NEVER fails us. In His darkest hour, bearing all of the sin of all the world, of all time, Jesus felt abandoned by the Father. And Jesus know unspeakable sorrow. He bore all that for us. Yet… three days later Jesus emerged the Victor over sin and the grave! By faith we too can believe that the Man of Sorrows is now the Lord of Life! And He can deliver us as we trust Him even in our coldest, darkest, loneliest caves.

Worship Prayer

Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,

and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

Psalm 141:2

I come to You, O God

My heart enthralled

by You I am called

and in You I see

all I ever need

my prayer in worship of You

I lift my voice, O God

to You Who hear

and are always near

my praise I give

as in You I live

my praise in prayer to You

I lift my hands, O God

extolling Your great name

telling of Your fame

my heart worships only You

I’m grateful for all You do

my thanksgiving offered to my God

I remember Your works, O God

I read them in Your book

I see them everywhere I look

Your deeds so wonderful

Your grace so powerful

I know You live, my Lord

As I pray to You, O God

my soul with truth aligns

with Your sweetness satisfied

my soul You raise

as Your name I praise

my worship prayer to You, O God

the wicked against the righteous

Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;

preserve me from violent men,

who have planned to trip up my feet.

Psalm 140:4

This prayer for deliverance in all of Psalm 140 helps us to understand the desperate lengths evil people will go to in order to stamp out righteousness and make wickedness the accepted social standard. This psalm is very descriptive of what characterizes people who are evil, and how this world works against those who stand for God and His truth.

What evil people are:               What evil people do:

Evil (vs 1).                                 Plan evil (vs 2)

Violent (vs 1).                            Stir up wars (2)

Slanderers (vs 11).                     Serpentine speech (3)

                                                   Plan to trip up the righteous (4)

                                                   Try to ensnare the righteous (5)

                                                   Plot evil (8)

                                                   Seek exaltation (8)

Sin has not stopped creating this kind of evil chaos. If anything, it is increasing. It is imperative that Christians pray against the actions and plans of evil people today. There is a war here… now… and eternity is at stake.

Lord,

Deliver us from evil. There are many who plan against You and Your righteousness. They stir up wars continuously. They speak with the serpent’s wicked lisp and foment rebellion against You and all that is holy. They plan to trip up any person who stands for righteousness. They set traps. They plot evil. They cancel what is true. They seek the worship only of what is wicked.

Maintain the cause of the afflicted! Execute Your justice for the needy righteous people under their attacks. Lord, help Your people to dwell safely, thankfully, in Your presence. Turn the evil plan of evil people against them!

Amen