It is all too often that we receive blessings from God, and in return, we show our gratitude with grumbles and complaints. This is evident when we read about the Israelites, and their escape from slavery in Egypt. It is also evident when we see God bless the United States of America time and time again, and in return we grumble and complain day after day after day. As parents, we peg this time of behavior as being SPOILED ROTTEN, and I’m afraid we are spoiled rotten. God does however deserve PRAISE when He pours His love and blessings upon us!!!

I’m thankful to be ‘stuck’ in the book of Psalms. I say ‘stuck’ because I believe with all of my heart that I could spend a lifetime reading and learning from what God shows us through the life of King David.

Before I speak about David’s heart of Praise, first I want to tell you this: God spoke to me during a recent sermon, the main message was on (Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs are the Kingdom of Heaven). If you haven’t realized it yet, this was the first words Jesus spoke during His (famous) Sermon on the Mount. Months ago, I read this verse and was confused, because I thought to myself, how can we have the Holy Spirit inside of us and be ‘poor in Spirit’. This sermon from God through the Pastor clarified this verse for me – Praise God!!!

Pastor John pointed out that one could interpret this verse many different ways: lonely, depressed, crushed Spirit, worried, lost…But what God had spoken to him was this: Poor in Spirit is when we are DESPERATE for God. And if you ever get to the point of being ‘ACHIEVED’ and not desperate for God, then watch out! I immediately thought about my kids Lauren and Jack and how I am desperate for God to keep them safe!!!!!!!!!!!!

At the time, I was looking for employment, thus I was also desperate for God to bring me work. We are a desperate people, just as the Israelites, especially the Israelites if you think about all of the obstacles they had during the 40 years in the desert. Time and time again God poured out His blessings on His people by displaying His awesome miracles before them (safety, food, water) – He even parted the Red Sea, and they walked on DRY land. Now, we could say that they saw many miracles, thus they should have praised God more than us. Folks, God should have wiped the U.S.A off of the map years ago, when we turned this great nation from forefathers founding this nation on the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Sodom and Gomorra, greedy, and wicked nation it is today.

God does pour out His blessings upon us time and time again, yet where is the praise? Most people who do praise Him on Sundays are too tired to praise Him. Is it because we are too tired? The lack of praise might come from our hearts not being in the right place!!! We are spoiled, more so than the Israelites, and we see how angry and disappointed God was towards them. He has to be angry with us, many times over.

So, how should we praise God? Dance like David danced would be a great start! I love reading Psalms, because time and time again we see David desperate for God’s help and deliverance from the wicked around him. Then, when he is delivered, David turns back to praise God. And not this phony/fake praise we see in church, he really gets excited!!! Maybe it’s not me stepping on toes, maybe its God, when it comes to teaching us the proper way to PRAISE HIM. Growing up in church my entire life, I always heard things like ‘David had a heart for God’, or the ‘great heart of David’, or ‘David danced’, ‘David sang and lifted his hands’, folks Psalms takes up a big part of the Holy Bible, and again this is not coming from me. When God delivered me from years of being a slave to sin, I could not keep it quiet, and I couldn’t hide it! I immediately threw my hands up in the air and I sang like never before, and believe me when I say this: I am the MOST SPOILED (just ask my siblings). God has shown FAVOR to me, as he has shown to many who have been oppressed!

Psalm 65:3 When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions.

Psalm 65:8 ….you call forth songs of joy.

Psalm 66:1-7 Shout with JOY to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make His praise glorious! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!” So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth BOWS down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.” Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot – come, let us rejoice to Him! He rules forever by His power, his eyes watch the nations – let not the rebellious rise up against Him.

Psalm 66:20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

Psalm 68:3 May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and

joyful!!!

Folks, this is David’s song throughout the book of Psalms. David faced greater

obstacles than us. In book III of Psalms, David explains that he is all alone, that the other profits are ‘wiped out’, that all of the worship ‘centers’ for God have been destroyed, and he has enemies seeking to kill him next. He prays to God and God delivers David over and over (unconditional love). Just like us, just like us! With exceptions, our worship centers aren’t destroyed, Americans have little persecution, and there are plenty of Christians around us to support us. So what is our excuse?

Stop being imitators! Stop being so spoiled to the point that you can’t PRAISE GOD!!!

If you're going to a church that doesn’t get excited, don’t worry, we don’t spend most of our time there. Let’s come back to our ‘comfy’ homes and PRAISE GOD the rest of the week!!!!!

Don’t forget the song attached!

God Bless You All

In His Hands,

Love, Glen