“Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
He has blessed your sons within you.
14 He makes [i]peace in your borders;
He satisfies you with the [j]finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He casts forth His ice as fragments;
Who can stand before His cold?
18 He sends forth His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
19 He declares His words to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any nation;
And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.
Praise the Lord!” – {Psalm 147:12-20}
Wow! Look at the Sovereignty of God in these verse. His Reign, Mighty Power on display. Drink deep from each verse. Note the word “HE.” “He” does it… His ability, His Work brought into being. Him in action in creation, Him at work for the benefit of the people. His Word. His favor upon them…
CELEBRATE HIM;
Look at the phrases “He has strengthened… He has blessed… He makes… He Satisfies… He sends forth… His Word… He gives snow.., He scatters the frost… He casts forth His ice…{Note it is “His ice!}… He sends forth…. He causes the wind to blow…and the waters to flow… He declares …His statues… His ordinances… He has not dealt… His ordinances” and then ends with how verse 1 begins…”PRAISE THE LORD!” And all these reasons to focus the mind, capture their attention, recall His work, His Word… and celebrate, The LORD! He gives them reason after reason to “PRAISE THE LORD!” Celebrate Him and in order to do so, they had to fill their minds with truth! The truth about Him, and as you fill your mind with truth it is “fuel’ for you to mediate upon and see the world, creation from His perspective, and glory, boast, Praise Him for who He is and what He has done and is doing!
CONTEMPLATE HIM;
Notice He uses truth, to REMIND them of Him and so we need reminding and we come to read His Word, hear His Word, meditate upon His Word, apply His Word. We need to be reminded of Him, His Word, for we are prone to forget or have other thoughts crowd Him out of our thinking.
Philippians 4:8 says we are to set our minds to dwell on truth so as to influence us to practice truth in v 9 . Truth is what we need and we need to renew our minds, have them transformed so we align our minds up with His as revealed in His Word, Romans 12:2 says. Psalm 1:2 says the “Blessed” person, “Delights in the Law of the Lord and in it Meditates day and night.” In other words continuing to bring the mind back to thinking, dwelling on His Word and what it contains about Him, His will, His way, His Word! His Word is our necessity. Think on it. George Mueller who was greatly used by the LORD once said that before he prayed he read until he got “his soul happy” in the LORD. He read and then would come upon a verse that would catch his attention and ignite his joy! Sometimes we can read and get on a “plan,” to read the Scriptures. Nothing wrong with this, but sometimes it can happen where we “speed read,” just to get through it and check it off our “to do list,” and in doing so, we miss Him! The Psalmist said, “Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.”-{Psalm 119:18}. That’s a good prayer! Look for Him, and if need be slow down as we read and take one verse and meditate upon the truth from it.
COMMUNICATE HIM;
The Psalmist REMINDS those whom he communicates with of the LORD. And you too can be used of Him to REMIND others of Him and cause them to THINK RIGHTLY about Him. Contemplate Him and Celebrate…HIM! You never study or read just for yourself, but also to help others! – {Read Ezra 7:10.}.
He can use you to help others, BY WAY OF REMINDER. Peter did this in 2 Peter, three times he said “I write to remind you of these things..!”- {Read 2 Peter 1;12,13, 15}. Keep that in mind, God wants you to know Him better and also to use you to help, encourage others to know Him better, and that is for the lost and also for followers of Christ. And one way is to call them to REMEMBER the LORD! You tell them, You Testify of Him to them. You call them to celebrate, “Praise the LORD!
Assignment;
1. Re- read verses 11-20, and note it starts of with “Praise the LORD.” Re-Read each verse and, substitute the word “He, His” with “The LORD” and re-read it… and See How the LORD is intimately, actively involved, based on His knowledge, love. Be encouraged and prime your heart to praise Him!
2. Personalize it. Read again each verse and before each blessing, benefit say, “LORD, I PRAISE You Because You ____” and fill in what each verse mentions and as you worship Him in truth you honor Him “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.”-{John 4:23}.
3. Count your many blessings- PRAY and Ask Him to REMIND you of what He has done in your life and praise Him for each benefit, blessing!
Whatever about anyone else, YOU Choose to praise the LORD. Contemplate Him, Celebrate Him. Communicate Him!
“PRAISE THE LORD.” -{Psalm 147:20}