Psalm 69:30. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Oh Friends, a nice, cool breeze is blowing in over the hills this Tuesday morning as I sit on the balcony of the little mansion in Mo Bay to write to you. I’m admiring the lush garden down below me, while sipping a concoction of sorrel and pineapple. Now don’t get any ideas, there’s no alcohol in it. (smile) It’s simply a cold, refreshing drink. However, I did hit the daily double yesterday; a nice physical day at the beach with the Duchess at Doctor’s Cave, then later in the night, at a restaurant in the city, I revived it with an exotic cocktail also called ‘a day at the beach.’ And was it ever delicious! Just the thing to round off the day! Oh, sorry, I forgot about the wonderful goat-belly soup that I had in between! I know some of you are wrinkling up your faces in disgust, but that’s your misfortune. I came here to get strong and healthy and that’s the kind of food that performs that function. Consequently, I had to change my first choice of a Bit today, because it was too sad and beggy-beggy; (smile) a cry of distress. And right now I’m certainly not in distress. After all my good fortune, blessings and mercy, with being granted another sunny day on God’s wonderful, bountiful earth being the most exciting and enthralling, I had to give praise and thanks, thus our much more appropriate Bit: ‘I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.’ That’s for sure Friends! The Lord’s praise has continually been in my mouth since I hit the goodly shores of J.A. But overall, His children ought to give Him much more praise and thanks, and magnify His glorious Name much more than we normally do. We shouldn’t only praise Him when things are going well, but also in the rough times. I recently read a book where the author insists that praising God for the misfortunes in our lives, enables Him to work faithfully and turn those situations around. In other words, instead of griping when trials and troubles come our way, we should thank and praise Him for allowing them into our lives. Yes my people, whatever the situation, good or bad, praise and thanks is always the best way to handle it. It shows that we have the utmost faith and confidence in our God to make all things right, if it suits His purpose. It’s time we stop the everlasting whining and complaining about our mostly petty troubles, and instead just keep on doing God’s bidding and being thankful. Being thankful also has an added psychological effect, in that when we concentrate on giving thanks, we tend to forget or ignore our problems. The mind just concentrates on the good aspects of our lives, of which there are many. Like Bruh David in Psalm 13, where he begins by crying out and asking the Lord how long He’ll forget him and hide His face (Ps.13:1) but ends up: ‘But I have trusted in thy mercy (LOVING-kindness); my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.’ (Ps.13:5-6) Yes Friends, we tend to forget all the good things the Lord’s already done for us when new troubles come upon us. We ought not to though, for if we truly believe that our God is faithful and powerful, can do all things, then why should we think that He’s forgotten us? We should be claiming, like Bruh David: ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.’ (Ps.28:7) I have to chuckle yes people, because the two psalms of Bruh David I’ve quoted here, all begin with crying out for help and mercy, but both end up with praising, glorifying and admitting trust and faith in God’s power and LOVING-kindness. And that’s how it should be with us my brethren; when we cry out for help, it should always be with confidence and trust that it will be given, which ought to lead to the eventual giving of thanks for the sure coming of relief. And Bruh David does it again in Psalm 69, a cry of distress, from which our Bit is taken; he begins by bemoaning his unfortunate plight, but ends up with praise and thanksgiving. Because: ‘This shall also please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.’ (Ps.69: 31-34) Please mih people, let’s make it our priority today to adopt that praise and thanksgiving attitude, regardless of what comes against us nuh. It will endear us to the Father and thus give Him more reason to cherish and bless us. Much LOVE!…the lips of all God’s creatures…should be constantly, continually dripping with His praise, thanksgiving and glory…
SCRIP-BITS 