My Psalm 17:3 Challenge...it's still becoming a lifestyle. I still have good days and bad days. However, just knowing the power of guarding my tongue keeps me in check. It is good when I weigh what I'm about to say, wondering if it's of any benefit. I just pray there will be a time when I ALWAYS choose right! :)
This morning I was doing some homework for a class on Isaiah that I'm taking. I was answering a question regarding Isaiah chapter 12 (one of my favorite salvation prayer chapters), when something jumped out at me. First, take a look at Isaiah 12:
1 And in that day you will say:
“ O LORD, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘ For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’”
3 Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day you will say:
“ Praise the LORD, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.
5 Sing to the LORD,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Now, this passage is dealing with Israel at the return of Christ, but that's not what jumped out at me this morning. What the Holy Spirit showed me is found in verses 4-5...and is directly related to my Psalm 17:3 Challenge!
In these verses, Isaiah mentions 5 things that believers will do with their mouths. They will:
1) Praise
2) Declare
3) Make Mention
4) Sing
5) Shout
Now, at first glance these 5 things may all seem the similar. But I believe the differences although subtle, are powerful tools when we know how to use them.
1) Praise
What is praising God? It is telling him how much he means to me, why I love him so, etc. Praise is not something we do when we go to church and respond to the music. Praise can involve music...but the only reason music is considered praise is because of the words of adoration you sing from the heart. In other words, praise, whether accompanied with music or not, is all about my personal love language to God. Praise is my romantic conversation with God, towards God, and for God. Praise has nothing to do with the people. It has nothing to do with evangelism or prophecy, etc. Although my praise can directly effect the people, be prophetic, etc., it's not about the people - it's all about God. So, praising is a setting of the heart to continually be in an intimate conversation with Him.
2) Declaring
Declaring the deeds of God is joyfully proclaiming what He's done in my life. Sometimes, this declaration is to God - "God, you are my all in all!" Sometimes it's to myself - "Desiree, you are a child of God!" Here in this passage, it says the declaration is towards the people, to tell others about God's wonderful works. Call it evangelism. Call it preaching. Call it prophecy. I don't care what you call it- I just know that declaring what God has done releases faith in the atmosphere. Declaring his awesome power shifts things; it changes things. It will bring in souls. It will be a form of preaching although it sure doesn't have to involve a pulpit! Declaring what God has done is a form of prophecy, because 'the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy' (Rev.19:10). This releasing of your testimony will always bring power to the situation - because where Jesus shows up, power is released! But notice...it takes your mouth to release him!
3) Make Mention
I love this one! I think it may be my favorite. This passage again says, 'make mention that his name is exalted.' When I first read it, I thought, "That's kinda weird. Am I suppose to say, 'Hey, Fred, pass the potatoes...and by the way, God is exalted?'" And then it hit me...THAT'S IT EXACTLY! YES! That is what I'm suppose to be doing every single day! You see, making mention that God's name is exalted has to do with my casual conversation. It's the sprinkling of the Father's grace and love into my day to day chatter. It is the natural outflow of my praise creeping into my speech. I love this! Isn't this something the Lord loves, too? Look at what He said in Micah 3:15-17
16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
And the LORD listened and heard them;
So a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the LORD
And who meditate on His name.
17“ They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts,
“ On the day that I make them My jewels.[a]
And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”
Did you see it? Every time we discuss the Lord, his heart is moved and he writes about it in his diary! He keeps a record of it! How awesome it is to remember that my conversation moves the heart of God. How awesome it is to 'casually' discuss him. So, keep the conversation going. Pass the potatoes...God is exalted!
4) Sing
The children of God are called to sing! This has nothing to do with talent or ability! This is what we are made for! We each have our own song - the song of our life, the song of our remembrance, the song of our love for God. If we keep a song upon our lips, it is so much easier to keep our joy, our peace, and our love for God going all day long. Singing is a weapon; it is an A-bomb against depression, stress, and all the other little grenades that Satan tries to throw at us. Remember, what Christ himself said, quoting the Psalmist: From the lips of children and infants, you have ordained praise (Matthew 21:16). He was quoting Psalm 8 which says, "Out of the mouth of babes...you have established strength because of Your enemies that you may silence the enemy and the avenger.' Oh, man, I hope you are getting this. Jesus equated praising with strength in battle! He says it silences the enemy! It truly shuts the devil up when we keep a song of love upon our lips! Sing on, Saints! Sing on!
5) Shout
Last but not least, is shouting! This says that when it's all said and done, a shout rises up out of us proclaiming that God is great! God is in our midst! God is in love with me! Shouting comes from a heart overflowing in joy and excitement! Sometimes, there is nothing left to do but shout! Every time someone wins the lottery - they shout. Every time someones team wins the big game - they shout. It's a sound of joy! The people of God have the One 'anointed with the oil of joy' inside of them. They have the strength of Divine Joy in their midst....literally, within their spirits. We have more reason to be excited than anyone else. We are in a relationship with the Living God. We know his power, his love, his salvation. We are saved from sin and from death! We will reign with him eternally! We have reason to shout. It's the sound of victory rising up in us. Even our Savior will return for us with a shout! Can you imagine how he will feel in that moment? Jesus, finally reunited with his people, his holy bride? In that moment, he will have such joy and victory roaring inside of him that all he will be able to do is shout! Doesn't that make you...well...wanna shout?
This morning I was doing some homework for a class on Isaiah that I'm taking. I was answering a question regarding Isaiah chapter 12 (one of my favorite salvation prayer chapters), when something jumped out at me. First, take a look at Isaiah 12:
1 And in that day you will say:
“ O LORD, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘ For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’”
3 Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day you will say:
“ Praise the LORD, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.
5 Sing to the LORD,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Now, this passage is dealing with Israel at the return of Christ, but that's not what jumped out at me this morning. What the Holy Spirit showed me is found in verses 4-5...and is directly related to my Psalm 17:3 Challenge!
In these verses, Isaiah mentions 5 things that believers will do with their mouths. They will:
1) Praise
2) Declare
3) Make Mention
4) Sing
5) Shout
Now, at first glance these 5 things may all seem the similar. But I believe the differences although subtle, are powerful tools when we know how to use them.
1) Praise
What is praising God? It is telling him how much he means to me, why I love him so, etc. Praise is not something we do when we go to church and respond to the music. Praise can involve music...but the only reason music is considered praise is because of the words of adoration you sing from the heart. In other words, praise, whether accompanied with music or not, is all about my personal love language to God. Praise is my romantic conversation with God, towards God, and for God. Praise has nothing to do with the people. It has nothing to do with evangelism or prophecy, etc. Although my praise can directly effect the people, be prophetic, etc., it's not about the people - it's all about God. So, praising is a setting of the heart to continually be in an intimate conversation with Him.
2) Declaring
Declaring the deeds of God is joyfully proclaiming what He's done in my life. Sometimes, this declaration is to God - "God, you are my all in all!" Sometimes it's to myself - "Desiree, you are a child of God!" Here in this passage, it says the declaration is towards the people, to tell others about God's wonderful works. Call it evangelism. Call it preaching. Call it prophecy. I don't care what you call it- I just know that declaring what God has done releases faith in the atmosphere. Declaring his awesome power shifts things; it changes things. It will bring in souls. It will be a form of preaching although it sure doesn't have to involve a pulpit! Declaring what God has done is a form of prophecy, because 'the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy' (Rev.19:10). This releasing of your testimony will always bring power to the situation - because where Jesus shows up, power is released! But notice...it takes your mouth to release him!
3) Make Mention
I love this one! I think it may be my favorite. This passage again says, 'make mention that his name is exalted.' When I first read it, I thought, "That's kinda weird. Am I suppose to say, 'Hey, Fred, pass the potatoes...and by the way, God is exalted?'" And then it hit me...THAT'S IT EXACTLY! YES! That is what I'm suppose to be doing every single day! You see, making mention that God's name is exalted has to do with my casual conversation. It's the sprinkling of the Father's grace and love into my day to day chatter. It is the natural outflow of my praise creeping into my speech. I love this! Isn't this something the Lord loves, too? Look at what He said in Micah 3:15-17
16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
And the LORD listened and heard them;
So a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the LORD
And who meditate on His name.
17“ They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts,
“ On the day that I make them My jewels.[a]
And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”
Did you see it? Every time we discuss the Lord, his heart is moved and he writes about it in his diary! He keeps a record of it! How awesome it is to remember that my conversation moves the heart of God. How awesome it is to 'casually' discuss him. So, keep the conversation going. Pass the potatoes...God is exalted!
4) Sing
The children of God are called to sing! This has nothing to do with talent or ability! This is what we are made for! We each have our own song - the song of our life, the song of our remembrance, the song of our love for God. If we keep a song upon our lips, it is so much easier to keep our joy, our peace, and our love for God going all day long. Singing is a weapon; it is an A-bomb against depression, stress, and all the other little grenades that Satan tries to throw at us. Remember, what Christ himself said, quoting the Psalmist: From the lips of children and infants, you have ordained praise (Matthew 21:16). He was quoting Psalm 8 which says, "Out of the mouth of babes...you have established strength because of Your enemies that you may silence the enemy and the avenger.' Oh, man, I hope you are getting this. Jesus equated praising with strength in battle! He says it silences the enemy! It truly shuts the devil up when we keep a song of love upon our lips! Sing on, Saints! Sing on!
5) Shout
Last but not least, is shouting! This says that when it's all said and done, a shout rises up out of us proclaiming that God is great! God is in our midst! God is in love with me! Shouting comes from a heart overflowing in joy and excitement! Sometimes, there is nothing left to do but shout! Every time someone wins the lottery - they shout. Every time someones team wins the big game - they shout. It's a sound of joy! The people of God have the One 'anointed with the oil of joy' inside of them. They have the strength of Divine Joy in their midst....literally, within their spirits. We have more reason to be excited than anyone else. We are in a relationship with the Living God. We know his power, his love, his salvation. We are saved from sin and from death! We will reign with him eternally! We have reason to shout. It's the sound of victory rising up in us. Even our Savior will return for us with a shout! Can you imagine how he will feel in that moment? Jesus, finally reunited with his people, his holy bride? In that moment, he will have such joy and victory roaring inside of him that all he will be able to do is shout! Doesn't that make you...well...wanna shout?
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