'Open Wide Your Mouth'

Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash

“The Lord makes us strong! Sing praises! Sing to Israel’s God! Sing, accompanied by drums; pluck the sweet lyre and harp. Sound the trumpet! Come to the joyous celebrations at full moon, new moon, and all the other holidays. For God has given us these times of joy; they are scheduled in the laws of Israel. He gave them as reminders of his war against Egypt where we were slaves on foreign soil.”—Psalm 81:1-5, Living Bible

On the way to church (sometimes this is my story, but thank God, not today. But it might be yours)…

I like to sing, but sometimes I don’t like the sound of my own voice.

I am a musician, or at least I like music, but sometimes the song within can seem silent.

I am tired. Who isn't?

All the more reason to let this new day remind your soul all over again what God says:
“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to Your Name, O most high.”—Psalm 92:1

“But good for who? God has everything, does He really need my praise?”

Good for you!

It's true—God doesn’t need it, and certainly doesn’t need it to make Him feel good

But He really wants praise—your praise, even this morning.

Because you need it.

Not to go through the Sunday morning motions, or follow a neat and tidy program

But to wake up the wonder again within you...and then stand back and see what God does!

To be filled up again with what is True and good in a world gone mad.

Because, as Dwight L. Moody once said…

“If a man just stops to think what he has to praise God for, he will find there is enough to keep him singing praises for a week.”

So let the praises ring. Remind yourself all over again.

And while you’re at it

Fight to engage your heart with His—even if it’s only your first cup of coffee

Fight against the adversary’s lie: “Pft, it doesn’t matter.”

Because he knows that it really does.

Since ancient times, God has ordained praise from His people to confound enemies, make darkness flee, lift heavy hearts, fuel amazing signs and wonders, and most of all build up His Church.

You.

And not just when you're in church but for your everyday crazy life, and for those He brings into your everyday crazy life.

You know this. You just need to put on the garment of praise all over again.

As the psalmist says in Psalm 81: “The Lord makes us strong! Sing praises!”

So sing and don’t hold back, because God says it is good.

And let the praises remind your soul, and the accuser of your soul, that God through Jesus Christ has forever set you free when He brought you out of Egypt from the bondage of sin:

“I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.”—Psalm 81:6

You can sing your heart out about that forever!

And let your praises remind you that it keeps your focus in the right place of true satisfaction in life and off the cares and idols and temptations of this world:

“I AM the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it!”—Psalm 81:10

And that is just the beginning, because as you know but may have forgotten in the insaneness of this world's events:

Praise is the Song that will never end and cannot be contained.

Not even by darkness or unrest or pandemic. So…

"Doth not all nature around me praise God? If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe. Doth not the thunder praise Him as it rolls like drums in the march of the God of armies? Do not the mountains praise Him when the woods upon their summits wave in adoration? Doth not the lightning write His name in letters of fire? Hath not the whole earth a voice? And shall I, can I, silent be?"

—Charles Spurgeon

The Big God Who Loves Small

"Does the place you're called to labor seem too small and little known? It is great if God is in it, and He'll not forget His own."—from the gospel hymn "Little Is Much When God is In It"

“It was nothing, really.”

How many times have you—have I—caught myself either saying or thinking those four words in response to:

“Thank you. You don’t know how much it means.”

??

I mean, maybe not nothing, but it really seemed pretty small compared to performing CPR or bringing fresh water to a third-world village. Except while those things are noble things, in the upside down world of the Kingdom of God, they are no more noble than picking up your cell phone when you find out (or even sense) someone is in trouble or hurting and then doing something really outrageous:

Actually calling someone on it. (And invariably, according to the person on the other end, at just the right time.)

That "thank you...you don't know how much it means" comment this week was a re-reminder: Being faithful in the seemingly small and relatively unimportant things matters. A lot. In life. To God. Never underestimate the ministry of the phone call, or the mowing of the lawn when you’d rather be doing something else that by its action is a simple “thank You” for the goodness of the land God has created, or even holding open a door for someone whose shocked expression seems to cry out, “Wow, someone cares about me.”

Jesus had a lot to say about loving your neighbor as yourself, but this is much more than just being nice or neighborly. Because Jesus also had a lot to say about the importance and goodness of doing all the seemingly “it was nothing, really” stuff, and giving what you have, with all your heart...

• To His guys on the hillside wondering how they were going to feed thousands with just a loaf of bread and a few small fish, He said, in so many words: “Give me what you’ve got, and watch what happens.”
• Of the widow who lovingly gave to God out of the stress off her poverty rather than the comfort of abundance, He said, in so many words: “I love this—she gave what she could.”
• Of the man who thought he only had one measly “talent” compared to the ones who seemed ridiculously gifted, He said, in so many words: “Little is much when I Am in it. Don’t bury it—cultivate it.”

The same God whose greatest commandment is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…” isn’t just talking about Sundays or songs and prayers and sermons, and then going home to get on with our to-do list. Sometimes, quite often really, the greatest of all God’s commandments is most powerfully lived out loud on Monday and beyond, being faithful in the smallest, “It was nothing, really” moments of our days. Because…

“To GOD, there are no small offerings if they are made in the name of His Son. Conversely, nothing appears great to Him that is given for any other reason than for Jesus’ sake. If we cannot die for Christ, we can live for Him—and sometimes, this is more heroic and will bring a larger reward.”—A.W. Tozer

Parable of the Procrastinating Disciple

 

“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”—from "The Sound of Music"

Based on a true story from this week...

In a land not very far away—in fact, very, very close

A long-awaited package arrived

It was big and looked very inviting on the outside

But on the inside, it got complicated

Too many things to figure out, too many hours involved

Too much uncertainty as to how it might all turn out

The long-awaited package continued to be admired

Every day, you looked, you liked, but walked past it

Perhaps another time

When I’m more motivated

When I get these other things done

When I’m in the mood

When I know for certain that everything is going to go as planned…

“Then another said, ‘I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.’

Jesus said, ‘No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.’”—Luke 9:61-62, Message

…And then one day, after looking and admiring but still walking by

A step, then another, then another

Until admiration became determination—and you begin

Even though all that was involved inside the box still looks like a puzzle

But look—there’s a Manual for that!

And it didn’t yell at me: “What is wrong with you?”

Instead, it brought (and still brings) order out of chaos

And suddenly, all that was inside the box began to make sense

A lot of sense

And soon, what you had kept in the box all week until the mood was right

Became joy unexplainable inside and out

And a great sense of relief

Not easy, though, and still lots to learn

But so worth it

Not just that first, Life-changing moment either

But all the everyday ones—even all the other difficult boxes that are encountered along the Way

Because Following always begins by beginning

And the best way to begin is to just begin…for the rest of your life.

Or until He returns:

“So be ready all the time. For I, the Messiah, will come when least expected.” (Luke 12:40, Living)

“The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped — it requires an active participation in following Jesus as He leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in the pauses and reflections where we engage in prayerful conversation with one another and with Him.”—Eugene Peterson