A Special Blessing to Him!

April 8, 2015

A Special Blessing to Him!

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!

Psalm 43:5

It is a beautiful spring morning as I write this. At the breakfast table it was easy to give thanks to God for this beautiful day. Six weeks ago when we were in our third day of being iced-in, it wasn’t quite as easy. Praising God during the hard times of our lives doesn’t come naturally to us, but when we choose to praise God, regardless of our circumstances, we become a special blessing to our Abba.

Jesus helps us understand this truth through a very interesting interpretation and change he made to Psalm 8:2 when he quoted it. Verse 2 states, “From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength” (NASB). In Matthew 21:16, Jesus quotes this verse saying, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’” (NASB). So which is it? Has God ordained strength, or praise, out of the mouths of infants and babes?

Yes. Our strength comes from our praise of the LORD, or as Nehemiah proclaimed, “Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10). Dr. Robert Frost developed this same theme in his book, Our Heavenly Father, when he wrote,

“There is nothing more precious to God than our praise during affliction. Not praise for what the devil has done, but praise for the redeeming power of our loving heavenly Father. What he does not protect us from, He will perfect us through. There is indeed a special blessing for those who do not become offended at God during adversity. Furthermore, we become a special blessing to Him!”

I like that. I purpose in my heart that the next time I feel discouraged, the next time my heart is sad, I will turn to God. “I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!” I will be a blessing to my Abba!

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.