“I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in You, I will sing the praises of Your name, O Most High. My enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before You. For You have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.” (Psalm 9:1-4 NIV)
The Lord hands us unlikely tools to cope with corruption: praise and worship. According to His Word, life-encompassing worship is a means of supernatural safekeeping. I think of Paul and Silas in prison; praising and singing until the earth shook and their chains clattered to the floor. (Acts 15:25-26) That night they went forth as free men. Worship lifted them out of earthly circumstance and into the realities of God’s presence.
This first full week of January has certainly been rough one. There have been lots of things to distract us. Rob and I have discussed misdirection more than once. Misdirection is an enemy tactic designed to draw our attention to one thing while something significant is happening elsewhere.
Halfway through Thursday I remembered that this week is the Assemblies of God Annual Week of Prayer. My feed had been so full of other things, somehow this yearly rhythm had fallen off my radar. Isn’t it interesting how the very week that sixty-nine million Christian constituents collectively turn to God, maybe many have been like me, preoccupied with the politics and failings of mortal man? I’m sad that I missed the front end of the opportunity, but it’s certainly not too late to begin again.
Will you join me in seeking God’s presence? Will you trust Him for the safekeeping that accompanies His face-seeking?
“Those who know Your name trust in You, for You Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalm 9:10 NIV)
Lord, please forgive us for losing ourselves in the diversions of this week. Pardon us for trading out worship for worry. Today we turn again to You. We choose to worship, even when it’s costly, when we don’t feel like it, when it’s the last thing we long to do. Right now hope is most precious and we surrender it to You; sure of Your sovereignty, sure of Your justice, sure of Your love for Your people. We worship You for who You are, even while we are still unsure of what You are doing. We trust in You. Amen.